It was a rainy day late in June last year, the day we made an offer on this empty commercial lot with the idea of turning it into a food cart lot. I remember having this thought as I looked outside and watched it pour...that I would remember this rainy day as the day we started a new life path! It was exciting and terrifying. So many questions and unknowns, the risks and rewards kept us up at night. But the opportunity was here, so we decided to jump ALL in! I am so thankful to have such a brave husband, someone who doesn't just have ideas, but a man who is willing to take action. And yes, he is lucky to have a wife that let's him! Why not, I like to choose the road of possibility, it leads to an interesting life. So far, it has been quite a ride, with a track record of thinking outside of the box. I wouldn't trade our life for anything and I like to think that all our ups and downs have lead us on our journey to this very moment.
Even the trip three summers ago, when David met up with his brother in Portland for a brother trip. This was part of the big picture to plant the seed, when they happened upon a small food cart lot near OMSI. Topher went to one cart and Dave headed to another and thought about how great this would work in Bend, especially if there was a way to sell beer too. At that point we weren't in a space to take on a project like this, though we scoped out a few possible locations. Then a new friend told us that he was working on making a food cart lot in a sweet location off Galveston. That cooled our jets, not to mention we were still chasing the bigbrick.com dream. Then about 6 months later, the stars aligned. Our friend ended up buying a different business to pursue, the frustrations with bigbrick were at an all time high and Dave couldn't get this idea of building a food cart lot with cool, hip atmosphere out of his mind. We decided to take the plunge and called the Realtor. It was a bit anticlimactic because it took the Realtor several days to call us back. I guess he received 20+ calls a day on this property from people wanting to turn it into a food cart lot. But when they learned how much money, time and unknowns it was going to take, they backed off. I guess we were the right people for the job because for some reason we LOVE the challenge of big risk. ;)
So here it goes...after 11 months of paperwork between architects, engineers, city planning and working the OLCC, we got the green light to start construction. The actual building of the project, went fast. We are super happy with CS, the construction company, very professional, amazingly speedy and specifically Darren the general contractor was so on top of every detail...he was just fun to work with. There was all the site work of getting water, sewer and electricity underground for the four cart spots and our little building. Lots of concrete for the beams and slab of the structure, as well as new curb and sidewalk along the two sides of the corner lot. I don't think I ever really appreciated curb and sidewalk along city properties before, but after realizing how much that improvement costs, I now have to smile when I see people walk, bike and skate on the new smooth concrete we paid to develop for all to enjoy. =-) Dave took on staining all the beams, perlins and decking for the ceiling. Then there were all the decisions...oh man, so many decisions. The type of siding, the roofing material, the benches, tables and fire pit design, fence ideas, whether or not to have drains in the bathrooms, just to name a few.
Our friend Shawn Kelly, with BCA architects, spent countless hours, on and off the clock, helping to design and bring to fruition Dave's ideas for the structure. It was great to have such a professional and skilled team in our corner as we traveled down the paperwork trail. But then the day finally came to break ground...here are a series of pictures to show the progression.
It was so fun to see each stage of the building process. It seemed like every day or so there was a new physical difference to the "empty" lot. We were constantly walking, biking and driving by the lot, keeping tabs on each stage of progression.
We had several different ideas for what we might call this food cart lot, but none of them stuck. Then one day after riding by on bikes and realizing how excited our kids were to go by...Piper was always saying "Can we go by the lot, can we go by the lot?!" It was just what we naturally ended up calling it. This realization made me think of my dads car lot he owned while I was growing up. It had it's own name, "I'deal Wheels", but as a family we always referred to it as, the lot. I like the history of the name "The Lot" in my family and I like how naturally it has stuck for this project too. "Let's meet for dinner and a beer at The Lot!" Go ahead, say it, it just feels good! =-)
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| Seeing the slab go in made a big difference to me, just seeing the footprint was cool. |
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| Dave and Darren making sure the fence posts were going in just the right spot. |
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| You can see the roof angle from the beams...look at all the site work. |
Then all of a sudden, BOOM, the building was up and the roof was going on.
We went for raw steel so it will eventually rust and add to the "look" of place.
Though the best place to see the roof is from the neighboring property or the ally. Oh well, we know it is there and looking cool! =-)
Dave spent hours thinking through the angles and spacing of the benches, tables, fire pit and rock wall. Putting that mathematical brain to work. So fun to know that this whole place came out of the imagination of his head. It is such a "one of a kind" kind of place. Just like him. I love this man!
Down to the finishing touches. Waiting on the siding, kitchen, pavers, landscaping, tables, benches...well okay, we still had a ways to go!
Love the stain on the beams and decking....SuperDeck, Valley, if you were wondering.
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| TRESS!!! |
Darren, the GC, basically built this place with his own two hands. What a stud! Smart, thorough and just really kind and respectful. That is my impression of "Darren the Doer" our nickname for him.
It was no easy task to get these steel I beam benches and fire pit in place. But it got done seamlessly. Our welder did an amazing job with David's sketches.
Filling the steel with concrete, makes for some super bomber proof, built in furniture. No one is going to walk away with these benches on their back. We were going to keep it a secret...but it is too cool not to mention, the benches are heated! I can see the caption in the newspaper now.."Toasted buns, free with purchase of beer!"
Oh, the story of this rock wall. The love, hate, love relationship we developed over the 2 weeks it took to make it just right. First off we checked out the piles of river rock at a few locations. We chose one pile that looked like it had mostly bigger rocks, but some smaller rocks. We thought the few small rocks would fill in gaps of the bigger rocks and a few might fall through.
We had a dump truck deliver 10 yards of rock.
Filling in the rock wall was the one project I was super excited about helping with. Well, unfortunately the rock pile we ordered had big rocks on the outer layer, but when it got scooped, the majority of the rocks that got delivered were small. Too small... smaller than our 2 inch square mesh panels.
Ugg, what a mess! The small rocks kept pouring out of the panels, we started hand picking the rocks and only putting in the bigger rocks and that was working better, but eventually we ran out of the big rocks. We wheel barrowed the rest to the swale, so at least they were usable on the property, but we ended up going back to the rock pile 10 more times in our mini van and HAND PICKING (1000 lbs at a time) all the 3 to 4 inch rocks we meant to buy in the first place.
But before placing each of these new rocks we had to pick out and settle each panel so that over time the small rocks wouldn't fall out and leave a big space. Thank goodness Grandma Alice was in town to hang with the kids as Dave and I worked by headlamp until midnight for too many nights in a row, trying to undo the mess we had created by putting in the small rock in the first place.
It became kind of satisfying and almost cleansing as we plucked one by one with screwdrivers all the small rock out. And finally we got to set each "hand blessed" rock in its place to forever not fall out of our two inch square panels. The finishing touch came when the welder put the cap on...and man oh man I am proud of this wall. I must say for all the hours it took, it is a piece of art, and looks damn good!
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| What nice big ROCKS these are! |
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| 26 foot long, bar height table. |
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| Grass and bike racks. |
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| The walk up bar window to order your favorite flavor pint. |
The walk-in refrigerator, keg lines and kitchen was one of the last things to go in. We are super happy with the choice to have 16 tap handles. The ability to keep them rotating will be a fun part of the business.
I love this picture of David, trying out the new tables before he got started on staining.
In the back are our two ADA accessible bathrooms, they are simple, but clean!
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| Here is a picture of the fence cap and the table stain. |
The logo! We still need to get a sign made, t-shirts, hats etc...but super happy with the raw, rustic hand drawn look of the logo. Thanks Sara!
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| The final product...food carts surrounding the coolest, hippest most happening hangout in Bend. |
It is sooooooooo fun to see so many people enjoying themselves, hanging out with friends and family enjoying yummy street food and beer! Yay!
I am happy to see the food carts thriving too. This is a perfect example of power in numbers. Having a variety of food all in one place brings in more customers than if each cart were parked on their own. Well, I have to think that having a fun place to sit and enjoy the food is a big part of the draw as well. It is great to hear that the carts are breaking personal records in sales, they are blown away with the success and good feedback from customers.
We were super picky with the line up of the carts and though the leases are month to month, we cant think of a better group to open The Lot with. The variety to choose from has something for everyone. Authentic Mexican from Ricos Tacos, an eclectic assortment from new comer The Brown Owl, Hawaiian smoked meats from Mauna Kea, the crowd pleaser of Thai food from Thailandia and fill your soul yumminess from Real Food Bistro. It is seriously hard to choose what to eat each time I come!
We have kept things super simple in the bar...$4 pints. There are 16 taps to choose from for a variety of beer, one cider and one kombucha. The taps are constantly changing and another fun reason to keep the locals coming back. Our crew of bartenders are experienced and knowledgable and just plain fun to be around. A great group to start with as "the face" of The Lot.
Wish us luck as this new business evolves!
