PENDLETON — Round-Up City Development Corp. will have the option to acquire 40 acres west of the airport in Pendleton to build a regional youth sports complex after the city council declared the land surplus.
The council unanimously approved Resolution No. 2978 on Dec. 2 at city hall, granting the developing company exclusive rights to the property west of the Eastern Oregon Regional Airport on Barnhart Road, once funding is secured.
The company plans to use the property to build the Pendleton Regional Youth Sports Complex, which will feature a variety of sports fields and courts and host local, regional and potentially national tournaments.
City attorney Nancy Kerns said the city previously granted RCDC an option on the same 40 acres in 2023, but that agreement expired. The new option spans five years with two six-month extensions, for a potential total term of six years.
Kerns said the updated agreement adds a provision allowing the city to provide a replacement property if a higher or better use for the site arises during the option period. She said the change gives both the city and RCDC more flexibility.
RCDC initially sought the option to qualify for grant programs, Kerns said, but no further progress occurred under the 2023 agreement. She said if a third party offers to purchase the property during the option period, the city could provide a replacement site for RCDC and put the property to its highest use, which is an industrial zone.
The property is zoned light industrial and could contain a commercial sports facility with a conditional use permit, according to the city staff report.
Kerns said because this is considered a new real estate transaction, the council must again declare the property surplus. Under state law, the council must also take into account the value of the property. One source, she noted, estimated the land, which is currently used as dry wheat land, at about $35,000 per acre, though the city has owned it for more than a decade, but Kerns also questioned whether that figure is realistic.
Round-Up City Development Corp President Joseph Hull, providing a counterpoint, said the real value he had negotiated was between $1,000 and $3,000 an acre for a dryland wheat farm. He also noted he does not know the current rate of the property.
Hull said the organization originally spent about a year and a half negotiating for a larger parcel farther out at the intersections of Airport Road and Northwest Stage Gulch Road while pursuing a state grant with former Sen. Bill Hansell and Westby Associates. The district had planned to build on that property, but the owner backed out at the last minute.
“We had our hat hung on a larger piece of property that was farther out Airport Road,” Hull said. “Kind of at the last minute, the property owner pulled the rug out from under us a little bit. And so this reaction to this particular 40 acres was instrumental because we had to have real dirt for the grant process. We were successful in the grant process.”
The funding comes from Senate Bill 5701, the major capital construction bill the Oregon Legislature passed in 2024.
However, Hull estimated the project needs a couple more million dollars to begin phase one, which would include at least three full-size soccer fields and three full-size baseball fields.
That phase would also include a recreational vehicle park, which he described as the anchor tenant, providing a year-round business within the complex.
According to Resolution No. 2978, the ultimate goal is to build four baseball fields and four soccer/football fields with all-weather turf, lighting and other infrastructure.
In the spring of 2026, Hull plans to apply for additional federal matching grants to at least seek further assistance.
Hull said on Dec. 3 his team is focused on fundraising.
“This is what I do — help put projects together,” he said.
During the coming months, Hull said he will be working to develop relationships with granting entities and philanthropists.
“I think this is going to be such a financial and economic boom for Pendleton. I really do.” he said. “But we have to get money pulled together to build phase one and then I have to get busy spearheading the design, building it, marketing and managing the complex to start bringing tournaments here.”
Hull described Pendleton as the “center of the wagon wheel” in the Pacific Northwest. “If you picture a wagon wheel over the region, you’ve got Spokane, Seattle, Portland, Bend, Eugene, Boise — all about equal distance from Pendleton,” he said.
Pendleton has a long history of tourism and hosting major events, including the Round-Up and Pendleton Whiskey Music Fest, Hull added. The city has more than 1,000 hotel rooms and more than 50 restaurants. Its strength in hospitality was a key reason state legislators were enthusiastic about a regional sports complex in the area.