La Grande Business and Technology Park ready for industry, near I-84

The La Grande Business & Technology Park is being marketed as a shovel-ready industrial site inside the La Grande city limits with roughly 25 acres certified ready for development and lots configured from one to more than eight acres, La Grande Economic Development and City of La Grande materials say. LaGrandeED describes the full park as 70 acres; the City lists 62.44 net acres with 25 acres certified shovel-ready; Oregon Trail Electric Co-op lists the park at over 62 acres. The park entrance sits 1.5 mile from Interstate 84 exit 263, the city page reports.

City planning pages list paved streets, curbs, sidewalks, underground utilities, fiber-ready infrastructure, and municipal water and wastewater installed to each lot. The City of La Grande gives municipal contact information at 1207 Adams Avenue, La Grande, OR 97850, phone 541-663-9000 or 877-359-9888. Oregon Trail Electric Co-op promotes the site as useful for businesses needing storefront-plus-warehouse space and provides a contact, Erica Jaensch, at ejaench@otec.coop.

Logistics links the park to regional freight and air service. The City says rail freight service is available from Union Pacific in La Grande, and the La Grande-Union County Airport is less than two miles from the park and "can accommodate a wide range of private and commercial aircraft." Union County’s site report (Baum Industrial Park entry) lists a rail line 0.2 miles away and gives a site address at 62500 Commerce Road, La Grande. Union County’s technical table also reports natural gas line distance under 500 feet and telecom service within one mile.

Public incentives and redevelopment funding are part of the pitch and the debate. Oregon Trail Electric Co-op notes the La Grande Urban Renewal Agency’s Traded Sector Business Attraction Incentive can provide up to $200,000 to qualifying relocating or expanding businesses. Separately, the Union County Economic Development Corporation has asked the city’s Urban Renewal District for $1.7 million in infrastructure improvements, a request reported by the Lagrandeobserver. The paper argued that "The park needs infrastructure streets, sewer, water, utilities if this region is going to be competitive with other areas that have 'shovel-ready' sites available."

Ownership and acreage figures conflict across public materials. The Lagrandeobserver reports UCEDC owns 50 acres and the city owns 15 acres; LaGrandeED lists a 70-acre full park; Union County’s Baum Industrial Park entry lists a 60-acre single-owner site for sale at an asking price of $30,000 per acre and indicates the site is outside city limits. Those discrepancies mean parcel boundaries, ownership splits, and the exact count of shovel-ready lots still require confirmation from city and county records.

Zoning and target uses vary by source. City and LaGrandeED promotional material calls the park ideal for light industrial, warehousing, and general office operations; Union County’s Baum Industrial Park table lists zoning as Heavy Industrial (I-2) and permitted uses including food processing, general manufacturing, and warehouse/distribution. The Lagrandeobserver urged higher design standards to create a campus-style park, writing that the city and UCEDC "must also set design standards for at least a significant portion of the business park that would make it unlike any other industrial park in the region."

Local businesses already in the park point to quality-of-life and community support. Charity Walters, president of Dainty Jewells, said in LaGrandeED materials, "We are thrilled to be in such a beautiful and supportive city. Our area holds a lot of potential for growth in the clothing retail category, which makes it ideal for a company like Dainty Jewells. Our community also does such a great job of supporting local; it’s our pleasure to be based out of La Grande!"

Contacts for officials and further verification include Donna Beverage, Union County Commissioner, at dbeverage@union-county.org or (541) 963-1001 ext. 383, and Sierra Gardiner, Employment Lands Specialist, at Sierra.Gardiner@oregon.gov or (503) 689-0119. With shovel-ready parcels, interstate and rail access, airport proximity, and available incentive funding, the park presents a concrete option for light manufacturers, warehouses, and office operations — but public records show ownership, acreage, and infrastructure funding questions that city and county officials still need to reconcile before large-scale development proceeds.