PENDLETON — The former headquarters of Pendleton Grain Growers is officially off the market.

More than five years after members of the grain cooperative voted to dissolve the organization, PGG agreed to sell its 42,000-square-foot building to the La Grande-based Braseth Properties for $1.8 million, according to Umatilla County property records. The new owners posted a sign at the building advertising for open commercial driver and sales positions, but they did not return a request for comment as of press time.

Braseth Properties does business as Eastern Oregon Rentals & Storage, a personal storage company with facilities in La Grande and Island City. But the Braseth family has its fingers in several pots in the La Grande area.

The Braseth family also owns the similarly named Eastern Oregon Rentals & Sales, a heavy equipment rental company with locations in La Grande, Pendleton and Baker City. The Braseths bought Eastern Oregon Rentals & Sales in 1989, four years after they acquired Mountain West Moving & Storage, another La Grande business.

Once a steadfast presence through Eastern Oregon, PGG methodically sold its assets after the dissolution vote in 2015. In the years that followed, PGG sold its energy division, upcountry elevators and terminals to other companies. The co-op’s Umatilla County retailers all were sold into private hands and repurposed.

But PGG’s Pendleton properties took a little longer to move. The former PGG Energy building was sold in 2020 to Hines Meat Co., a La Grande butchery that now uses the facility as a store and restaurant. The McGregor Co. of Colfax, Washington, completed acquisition of the PGG grain division and the McKennon Station seed processing center, which will continue to operate under the Pendleton Grain Growers banner.

But the centerpiece of PGG’s once extensive holdings was its headquarters at 1000 S.W. Dorion Ave. The facility includes the co-op’s former retail showroom, automotive service center and warehouse.

The PGG building has sat mostly empty as the cooperative sold assets elsewhere. The city of Pendleton considered the PGG building when it was trying to decide a new location for its fire department in 2016, but ultimately opted to build a new facility on bare land at 1455 S.E. Court Ave. In 2019, PGG commissioned renderings of concepts that could fit the building, including a a van or RV conversion business or a Goodwill-like operation with retail and workforce training.

By the time the building went up for auction with a reserve price of nearly $2 million, PGG had lowered the asking price from $2.1 million. When PGG completed the sale of the building on July 23, Braseth Properties bought the property for roughly the same amount as its assessed value.