Development Incentives and Resources

Looking to build or invest in Bend? Start here!

Mirror Pond with Cascades in the background.

Bend is Oregon’s largest city east of the Cascade Mountains and one of the fastest growing communities in the state, now home to over 100,000 community members. Bend is a year-round recreation destination known for its easy access to rivers, mountains, trails, and lakes.

As a City, we’ve made big investments to support the new development needed to respond to our growth. In 2016, the City of Bend completed a major update to its Growth Plan, identifying both areas where the city would grow out by expanding the urban growth boundary, as well as identifying opportunity areas where the City would grow up. We are currently in the process of launching a new growth plan, which will identify how and where Bend will grow over the next 20 years.

In addition, the City of Bend invested more than $275 million in capital improvements between 2019 to 2024 to ensure Bend has the infrastructure necessary for continued growth.

Bend is served by the Redmond Municipal Airport with direct service on commercial airlines to 13 destinations, including Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Denver and Dallas. For business and general aviation, we have the Bend Municipal Airport.

We offer a variety of incentives and resources to support the development community. These include tax increment reimbursements and development fee assistance for projects that promote affordable housing and job creation. We also provide guidance on building safety, planning and development within the city, with the aim to foster sustainable growth and enhance the quality of life in Bend.

We are working toward the vision that all community members can find affordable homes and have equitable access to housing. To achieve this, we have developed—and continue to develop—policies and resources to help support both Affordable and Middle-Income housing projects.

Several policy approaches we’ve taken to reduce barriers to housing development including:

Infill Housing

We have made significant changes to the Bend Development Code to allow for additional housing types in more areas of the City including:

Duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes
Townhomes
Cottage developments
Multi-unit developments
Micro-units
Shared courts
Middle housing land divisions

This includes housing in commercial areas. In 2019, Oregon passed House Bill 3450, which allows up to 40 cumulative acres of land zoned for employment—Commercial Limited, Commercial General, or Mixed Employment districts—to be developed with standalone residential properties. View a map of eligible sites. For additional detail, see Bend Development Code 3.8.800: Urben Dwelling Sites.

For more information, visit Infill Housing.

System Development Charge (SDC) Deferrals

System Development Charges are fees that pay for the infrastructure needed to accommodate growth in our city. The purpose of the SDC Deferral Program is to move the upfront cost of SDCs, typically due before a builder can obtain building permits, to a later date when the Certificate of Occupancy is approved without compromising the City’s capital infrastructure funds. Effective January 1, 2025, the SDC Deferral Program is available for all residential development. Effective January 1, 2026, the revised deferral program will be available for commercial development.

For more information, see SDC Deferrals.

No Minimum Parking Standards

In an effort to lower the overall cost of new housing developments, we no longer require minimum parking standards in any zone citywide.

For more information, see Bend Development Code 3.3.300: Vehicle Parking Standards for On-Site Parking.

For more information and resources, visit Affordable Housing Developer Resources.

Interested in data around housing in Bend? Visit the Bend Housing Data Hub.

If you are looking at a housing development opportunity and have any questions, contact housing@bendoregon.gov or 541-323-8550.

Juniper Ridge Land Development

The City owns hundreds of acres of land zoned for industrial use within the Juniper Ridge Urban Renewal Area, with various land sale and development incentive opportunities for developers and businesses interested in developing and relocating to the Juniper Ridge area.

For more information, visit Juniper Ridge Land Development.

Core Area Business Assistance

We have a small business grant program available to businesses located within the Core Area Tax Increment Finance (TIF) area for internal and external property improvements, such as new doors, windows, lighting, awnings, accessibility upgrades, or frontage improvements like sidewalks and landscaping.

For more information, visit Core Area Business Assistance Program.

Visit Bend Sustainability Fund

Your project could potentially qualify for tax-funded tourism grants!

The Visit Bend Sustainability Fund is a grant program provided through an allocation of the City of Bend’s Transient Room Tax to support tourism related facilities that create sustainable experiences in our community.

Past projects that received funding include restoration and upgrades to a local theater, construction of a new indoor climbing facility, and a new pavilion.

Learn more about what types of projects qualify and see which projects have received grant dollars in the past at Visit Bend Sustainability Fund.

If your property is on the National Register, you may qualify for financial assistance—including matching grants—for preservation projects.

For more information, visit Historic Preservation Resources.

For tax incentives offered through the State of Oregon, visit Oregon State Historic Preservation Grant.

Development Sentiment

We send out the Bend Development Sentiment Survey twice a year to collect information from the development community to better understand development sentiment and market conditions. The survey is completely anonymous.

Q1 2024 Development Sentiment Survey Results