Hope for The Shire

Private investors to buy The Shire

A private investment group is in escrow to purchase The Shire, a hobbit-themed housing development in Bend that came to symbolize the real estate excesses of the early 2000s.

Terms of the deal were not available.

The original developer envisioned a community of Old English style homes. Its buildings resembled the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s "Lord of the Rings," complete with thatched roofs and stone accents.

Construction began in 2006 but the market crashed before sales could take off. The Shire was to boast 15 luxury “cottages," 16 townhomes and a common area including an amphitheater for community productions.

After the market collapsed, the project failed.

Umpqua Bank foreclosed on the partly built community over a $3 million unpaid loan and assigned the sale to Realty Marketing/Northwest, a Portland-based real estate auction service.

Realty Marketing/Northwest featured The Shire on the cover of its spring auction catalogue after the property failed to command its last asking price of about $1.3 million.

Umpqua set the reserve at $750,000 for a property that includes one home dubbed “The Butterfly," six acres, six developable lots, eight townhome sites and a common area.

John Rosenthal, president of Realty Marketing/Northwest, confirmed the sale is pending to an unidentified private buyer.

Source: Portland Business Journal

Posted: May 4th, 2009
Author: Floresiensis
Categories: JRR Tolkien

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