Philomath’s goal of developing property at Main and 14th streets is moving along with the city’s intention of finalizing and publishing a request for qualifications.

During a meeting Monday night, City Manager Chris Workman took councilors through an RFQ package that had been designed, which included details about the property and possible uses.

“The RFQ is really just dipping our toes in the water, kind of putting ourselves out there and saying ‘is anyone interested in our dream, our vision for this site?’” Workman said. “This is just testing the water to see where’s the interest, if any. If we float this out there and come March, nobody’s responded with anything, then I’ll come back to you and say, ‘We didn’t hear anything — what do we want to do now?’”

In the RFQ package, the property is described as “a site where the city hopes to see a new landmark structure, marking the entrance to downtown Philomath” and added that it was “being marketed for sale … to development teams with experience building projects that include lodging and/or housing, as well as ground-floor commercial and/or restaurant space.”

Workman even included a few AI-generated images — one of those showing a three-story building with a clock tower.

If the city receives interest, a short list of potential developers would be decided upon. The project would advance to the request for proposals stage, possibly this spring, a process that goes much deeper into specifics, such as a proposed preliminary design, financial analysis, deal structure and so on. Candidates would be interviewed.

The city would then select its preferred developer and project, moving forward with agreements.

“The city would like to see the developer take ownership of the site and break ground within three years,” Workman included in the RFQ.

Last month, the city manager presented three options for the property during a work session — mixed use development (for example, retail on the first floor and two or three levels of residential housing above), a public plaza with visitor services, and a comprehensive redevelopment project. In a Housing and Economic Development Committee meeting that had taken place, the property was identified by the group as best suited for mixed-use, residential or hotel development.

Workman took councilors through the 23-page draft document, which included specifics on the community, a history of the property, design concepts, market analysis and potential development incentives.

“We definitely don’t want people to feel like downtown Philomath is dead (and) we need you to come and revitalize our downtown,” Workman said about the feel of the document. “It’s really more like we’re revitalizing downtown, we’re already seeing momentum and we’re inviting you to come and be a part of that — join it and add to it. But we’re not relying on somebody to come in and transform our downtown for us. We’re already taking very proactive steps to do that.”

The council gave the city manager consensus to finalize and publish the RFQ.

Earlier in the meeting, Workman had mentioned the ongoing project with BB&A Environmental of removing two underground storage tanks and a hydraulic lift station from the property, which was the site of a service garage and car wash for many years. He received surprising news that will add to the cost of the work.

“They found not just three tanks in the ground but three very big tanks in the ground — much bigger than what they had originally thought was going to be there,” Workman said. “So that’s going to cost us a little bit more money for those to be removed and all the slurry and everything that’s inside of those also has to be properly disposed of.”

Workman did not know the final cost just yet with a final invoice not yet in his hands. “It’s all based on their actual time and materials.”

On another matter involving the property, Workman said the contractor “left a pretty good lip where the asphalt kind of meets the gravel area.” As a result, Workman said he will either have the contractor come back out or pass the task on to the city’s public works department to level it out.

“It’s so if somebody’s driving through there at night, they don’t go off a cliff or walk off one,” he said. “Anyway, we’ll get it fixed up so it’s a little bit more safe for people to be on.”