Construction has started on the property where the Good Nite Inn burned in the Almeda Fire. 

Commercial buildings are coming back to the stretch of Highway 99 in Talent between West Valley View Road and Suncrest Road where the Almeda Fire destroyed structures in September 2020.

Work is underway at two sites. The 10,000-square-foot Clearview Commercial building at 106. N. Pacific Highway, which housed a variety of business, will be built back in the same configuration, while a commercial building and two six-unit apartment complexes will be built on the site of the former Good Nite Inn motel at 210 N. Pacific Highway.

Clearview Commercial’s building on Highway 99 housed a Subway, the Talent Café, Julek’s Polish Kitchen, a Crown Market, a dentist office and a small CBD oil and products outlet when it burned.

“The building will be identical to what was there,” said Evan Archerd, who is a partner in Clearview and also in Good Nite LLC. The Clearview subdivision includes residential and commercial buildings.

Subway has shown interest in coming back, but none of the other businesses are expected to return, said Archerd.

At this stage, it is difficult to get tenants interested in occupancy because timelines are uncertain and they don’t know when they might be able to start a business, he said. The company is talking with potential tenants and would very much like another restaurant at the site. Because the new Clearview building is based on the previously approved plans, the project didn’t not have to go through a full review process. After the fire, the city of Talent allowed those rebuilding to use plans they had previously submitted.

The landscaping plans did need to be altered to conform to current city codes.

Buntin Construction of Medford is handling the rebuild, which started several weeks ago.

As of midweek, footings for the new building had been poured.

No portion of the old structure remained. The project is estimated to be complete in about six months, Archerd said.

Building permits have just been issued for the commercial building at the Good Nite site. Work at the 1.85-acre site has been underway to provide infrastructure. Buntin Construction is also building this 4,800-square-foot building, which will have three retail spaces. Building should start on the commercial structure in about a month and be completed eight months later.

“Cleanup work was done by FEMA quite a while ago. The work you see now is all the side work for bringing in rock for the parking lots, sewer lines, water lines and conduits,” said Archerd.

Because the Good Nite rebuild is not within the precise footprint of the former building, a full site development plan review was required. The Talent Planning Commission held a public hearing and approved the project in February last year.

John Ross Builders, LLC will construct the apartments. Work on those could start in about two months. Construction is expected to take about eight months. Residences would be two-story units with three bedrooms, 1,427 square feet of living area and a single-car garage.

The commercial building will be constructed along the highway with parking behind. One residential building would be north of the commercial unit, while the second would be to the east. Space for a future 4,200-square-foot commercial building is also included in the southeast portion of the property along the highway.

A public sidewalk and park row along the property frontage would connect to the existing sidewalk on the adjacent property. Stormwater draining from the site will be captured and treated by a swale and detention pond before being discharged into an existing storm outlet located in the northeast corner of the tax lot, according to the proposal submitted a year ago.

The Good Nite Inn complex was originally built in 1949, and over the years it operated as a court motel, an apartment complex and a weekly rental establishment. The former site included 14 one-bedroom units, seven two-bedroom units and two studio units. Total living space was approximately 14,684 square feet.

“We would very much like to get a bank on the Clearview site somewhere,” said Archerd. That could either be in the new building or perhaps on a vacant lot north of the building which already has approval for a drive-up, a popular feature for banks.

“That’s our major goal. The city would love to see a bank back in Talent,” said Archerd. “Almost any small down in Oregon has a bank.”

Residences in Clearview were likely saved from the fire because the staff at the adjacent Anjou Apartments complex pumped water from their swimming pool onto those structures, preventing the spread of flames, said Archerd. The commercial building probably burned because it had a flat roof of built-up petroleum materials that may have been set on fire by embers.

In another Talent commercial building development, Talent Maker City has received approval from the city’s Architectural Review Committee on its design for a 7,625-square-foot maker space at the corner of West Valley View Road and Talent Avenue.