COCC: New homes on its Bend land will help offset tuition costs
COCC will get income stream from development
BEND,Ore. (KTVZ) -- Central Oregon Community College and its partners held a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday for a new housing development on college-owned land that school officials say will bring more homes to Bend and help to offset the cost of tuition.
The community college is developing single-family homes on 49 acres of the college's property on the corner of Northwest Shevlin Park Road and Mt. Washington Drive.
The initial development, called the Outcrop Neighborhood, will have 16 single-family homes in a new subdivision that will occupy a 12-acre parcel on the southwest side of the Campus Village.
COCC President Dr. Laurie Chesley said the Campus Village project is expected to provide a steady and reliable income stream for the college.
"I think that this is a great opportunity for our community, as well as our students," Chesley said. "It will allow us to keep tuition as affordable as possible, by providing the college with a long-term revenue stream, and it's also bringing needed affordable housing to the city of Bend."
William Smith Properties Inc., the Bend-based development group is the master developer on the project, and Curtis Homes is the homebuilder.
The homes are expected to cost $500,000 to $600,000. The land is not being purchased; instead, homeowners will be paying a monthly ground lease to the school, along with their monthly mortgage, in what the college says will be a tenant-landlord relationship.
Across Mt. Washington Drive, officials expect apartments to be built, along with medical offices and retail space on 20 to 25 acres of the property.
Peter McCaffrey of William Smith Properties says some of the single-family homes are expected to be completed by this summer, before tours are offered.
"The groundbreaking that we had today -- the model home will be complete before the Tour of Homes this summer," McCaffrey said. "It will be available to walk through during the Tour of Homes. We're planning for the final plat to be recorded in May, and then Curtis Homes will start on four to five more homes at that point."
