Salem Health Hospitals & Clinics purchased the former RAM Restaurant & Brewery property more than two months ago but has declined to disclose plans for the site.

“The current plan for the site is additional parking, with no further plans announced at this time,” Salem Health spokeswoman Lisa Wood wrote in an email. “The building is secured and monitored by Salem Health security.”

The not-for-profit health care organization, which includes Salem Hospital, bought the property at 515 12th St. S.E. during an online auction Nov. 10-12.

The starting bid was $500,000. Salem RAM Café Land Company LLC of Tacoma, Washington, was the seller.

Marion County deed records show that Salem Health paid $1.339 million for the property, which in 2025 had a total assessed value exceeding $2.46 million.

The property is on the edge of the massive Salem Hospital campus, which includes one of the busiest emergency departments on the West Coast, a Family Birth Center with advanced neonatal care, and a Cancer Center with a nationally accredited breast cancer program.

The 1.73-acre property was described as “Turnkey Brewery & Prime Development Land” in the online auction listing. It includes three parcels: a restaurant building on the corner with a dining room, lounge, brewing equipment and small parking lot; and two additional parking lots.

The parking lot parcels are to the south and west, with Salem Health facilities adjacent to each.

The west lot is between the former restaurant building and its parking lot and Salem Health’s Urgent Care Clinic that opened in 2005. Several of the 48 parking spots are still stenciled with “RAM ONLY” in faded yellow paint.

The RAM abruptly closed in June 2024 after more than 52 years in Salem.

The parking lot to the south of the restaurant and across Shelton Ditch is next to Building E (the Psychiatric Medicine Center) on the Salem Hospital campus. The lot has more than 50 parking spots.

Eight years ago, Salem Health purchased State Street property that included a surgery center and a coffee stand. Crews bulldozed both in 2024, and Salem Health declined to disclose what it planned for the site.

Then Salem Health last year sold the property to Koz on 14th LLC, which has submitted to the city plans to develop a four-story, 194-unit apartment complex.

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the Statesman Journal and then was distributed on the USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.

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A property in Salem that formerly held city hall from 1895 to 1972 is gaining a 78,855-square-foot multifamily development.

Construction crews broke ground on the six-story building, Citizen Apartments, on Thursday at 277 High St. N.E. Deacon Development is developing the $25 million project and Dalke Construction of Salem is the general contractor.

“We chose the name Citizen Apartments to honor that history (of the former city hall) and the people who shape the city today,” Kathy Delarosa, development manager at Deacon Development, stated in an email.

Studio 3 Architecture of Salem designed the project. The team also includes civil engineer Westech Engineering of Salem, structural engineer Harper Houf Peterson Righellis, landscape architect Laurus Designs LLC of Silverton, and geotechnical engineer GeoPacific Engineering of Tigard.

Last year, Dalke Construction completed the Rivenwood Apartments in Salem for Deacon Development. Partnering with a local contractor means most of the subcontractors are local as well, Delarosa stated. All subcontractors have been selected.

“This helps strengthen the community, stimulates local economic growth and aligns with our company values,” Delarosa stated.

Citizen Apartments will have 105 units, including studios, one-bedroom units and two-bedroom units. Sixteen will be affordable units as part of the city’s Multi-Unit Housing Tax Incentive Program. Tall window bays will let ample natural light into the units.

The building is designed to feel at home in downtown Salem while still looking fresh and modern, Delarosa stated. The first floor of the exterior will be brick veneer to complement surrounding older structures, while the upper floors will have a mix of metal panels and fiber cement siding to create a contemporary look. Offsets in the siding and balconies are intended to add texture and break down the overall scale.

At street level, glazing and canopies were designed to activate the street corner and create pedestrian-oriented frontage, according to Delarosa.

Building amenities will include a coffee bar, a mail room with parcel lockers, a fitness center, secure bike storage, a pet wash station, Electric vehicle parking and charging (on level 2), a co-working lounge with a private work pod, a community room equipped with a kitchen and games and a semi-private theater room, and a roof terrace with a barbecue area and city views.

The project team received land use approval in May 2024. Construction is expected to wrap up in spring 2027.

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