At its Jan. 5 meeting, the Silverton City Council agreed to sell 2.28 acres of the Pettit property to Moonstone Resort to be developed into a high end pub and restaurant.
Moonstone has agreed to pay $300,000 in cash for the property. Funds will go to into the sewer reimbursement fund, a combination of sewer system development charges funds and sewer capital project money, Silverton City Manager Bob Willoughby said, adding the fund is where the money was borrowed to obtain the property originally.
Willoughby said the cost of the property plus other expenses adds up $1.2 million. Figures calculated by the city of Silverton estimated with the combination of hotel, tourism and property taxes the loan would be settled in 12 years.
The Pettit property, which is a total of 80 acres including the lake, borders The Oregon Garden. The goal is to make the Pettit property a natural extension of The Oregon Garden.
Moonstone owner Dirk Winter has pledged $50,000 toward the creation of a tram/walking path that will go from The Oregon Garden to what is being called the Pettit Lake project.
Oregon Garden Regional Manager Christine Diacetis said currently the land is being surveyed and the goal to begin construction in the spring of 2016 on an 18-room inn with a 40-seat pub and a 66-seat restaurant. The estimated project cost is $2.6 million. The Oregon Garden Foundation would lease the remaining of property from the city of Silverton and would set aside almost 10 acres for a public park.
“We are very excited that we are able to help preserve the Pettit property for our community as the family had intended,” Diacetis said.
Diacetis has said the reason Moonstone wants to build on the Pettit property is because there is a demand for hotel rooms. For the last six months, she said the Oregon Garden Resort has run at 80 percent occupancy, adding rooms are already sold out for the Brewfest in June.
“I am very excited about having an upscale pub and lodging facility at the Garden to bring more tourists to Silverton and paying guests to the Garden,” Willoughby said.
