When we started Indigo Creek Outfitters in 2011, owning commercial property felt like a distant goal. For ten years, we rented space in Ashland and focused on the things that mattered most at the time: building a business, taking care of our guests, hiring great people, and figuring out how to make a living doing something we loved.

Along the way, we started thinking about the long term future. We wanted to own the place where our business operated. We wanted to put down roots.

We eventually realized that was probably not going to happen in Ashland. The size and type of space we desired was expensive, and the opportunity we needed just wasn’t there for a small, growing business like ours.

In 2020, we made the decision to relocate Indigo Creek to Phoenix. We leased space at The Shops at Exit 24 and kept our eyes on the real estate market.

We had no idea how important that decision would become.

The Almeda Fire in September 2020 was devastating. It destroyed homes, businesses, neighborhoods and lives throughout Phoenix and the Rogue Valley. It was an awful event, and the effects of that fire are still visible and felt throughout our community.

But out of that devastation came an unexpected opportunity. The former Roscoe’s property in downtown Phoenix had burned; and the owners decided they did not want to rebuild. We learned that the property was likely going to be available for sale before it ever hit the market. We were visiting the Oregon Coast when we tuned into a Phoenix City Council meeting and learned what was happening with the property.

We ended our trip early, came back to Phoenix, stood on the property, and made a call to our broker.

It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. But buying the property was the easy part.

Over the next year, we went to school on land-use code, zoning, permitting, engineering, contracting, construction, financing and an almost endless list of things we didn’t know we didn’t know. Because the property was not our primary residence, we had to get a General Contractor’s license to work on our own property. We hired guides and other river people to frame and finish. We used sub contractors (see below) for the work we knew we couldn’t do.

After a couple years of planning, navigating the process and putting the pieces together, we finally broke ground in February 2025.

February 18, 2025: Excavation begins, courtesy of C3 Enterprise

March 24, 2025: Concrete pour with Concrete Concepts of Medford

April 7, 2025: Jon Harned on Day 1 of framing.

Watching construction begin was pretty surreal. For years, it had been a burned-out site. We had stood there in 2022 wondering whether we could actually make something happen. Now we were watching a building go up.

April 10, 2025

April 15, 2025: Trusses delivered by Parr Truss

Thank you, City of Phoenix Public Works, for helping with a lane closure.

May 5, 2025

In June 2026, we received our temporary certificate of occupancy.

Carson and Emma review the building plans.

There is still some much-needed landscaping to finish, but the building is here.

One of the biggest lessons from this entire process is that small businesses don’t accomplish things like this by themselves. We had an incredible amount of support from friends and family throughout the process. Contractors, city staff, friends, family, designers and others helped us navigate a process that was completely new to us. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who helped us get here.

Our Sub-Contractors, Architects, and Engineers:

And the biggest thanks goes to Jon Harned and Ben Koerber, who worked under our GC license and did all the framing, thinking, and a whole lot more. We also had help from our own guides: Brian Helman, Nick Dietz, Kalen Calia, and Ian Gannon. Developers Kyle Taylor and Paul Kay provided us with recommendations and advice. And our neighbors Puck’s Donuts and Los Tres Potrillos kept us well fed from start to finish. Rogue Pacific Lumber assisted with our buy sheets, product, and delivery.

Connecting power

Brent Thompson assists Ben with a concrete pour (curbs). Brent was our commercial landlord for ten years in Ashland.

Nick, Brian, Kalen, and Ben pouring concrete for a walkway.

Pacific Paving takes care of the parking lot

When we bought the property in 2022, we couldn’t have known exactly where the journey would take us. We just knew we had an opportunity to take something that had been destroyed and build something new.

We are proud to be here, proud to invest here, and proud to be part of the Phoenix community.