In an effort to curb ballooning housing costs, the Bend City Council recently approved a new housing development along its urban growth boundary. It’s part of a recent surge in developments aimed at bolstering the number of housing units available across the city.
The 150-acre development, dubbed Caraway, has been in the works since 2016, according to Bend affordable housing manager Lynne McConnell. Pahlisch Homes, a well-known builder in Central Oregon, will lead the development.
A new neighborhood is under construction in Bend, Oregon on Oct. 10, 2022. Where and what kind of housing is built is a big topic this election cycle.
Joni Land / OPB
Once completed, the project will include at least 510 housing units, with a mixture of single-family and mixed-use units. It’s also expected to have commercial development, according to city records.
The Caraway site will likely need major infrastructure built, including water, sewer and transportation improvements.
The site, located in Bend’s northwest corner, was previously home to people living in tents and trailers for years. In July, the city removed dozens of people living along Hunnell and Clausen roads, as part of a wider crackdown on people camping on city property.
The new development comes as the city attempts to ramp up housing production and tackle Bend’s long-standing affordability crisis. The city currently has some of the highest housing costs in the state, with many pointing to the lack of new construction combined with a surge of new arrivals to Deschutes County.
At least 77 housing units in the development will be listed as affordable. The city had set a goal of approving development for 1,000 affordable units from 2021-2023, but Bend officials say they have come just short of that goal, with nearly 900 expected to be built by the end of this year.
It’s not clear how affordable the hundreds of other homes at Caraway will be once on the market, McConnell said. She noted that development costs in Bend have doubled since 2019 to around $300 per square foot.