State agency approves $7.36 million for unique affordable housing project on Bend’s westside

One of several funded in region, 34 statewide; will offer homeownership and rental units on same parcel

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — Oregon Housing and Community Services announced Wednesday funding for 34 new homeownership development projects statewide that will lead to the creation of 337 new affordable homes, including several projects in Central Oregon, one a novel partnership on Bend's westside.

The goal is to increase homeownership opportunities of low- to moderate-income people and families in rural and urban communities over the next three years.    

OHCS released a notice of funding availability in December and received 53 applications for about $65 million in available funding. All of the developments focus on building housing that is responsive to their community’s needs and are using innovative, climate-friendly and accessible design methods.

Central Oregon housing projects awarded grants including ones from Kôr Community Land Trust in Bend, Woodhaven Community Housing in Bend, Madras and Prineville, and for Bend-Redmond Habitat for Humanity and Habitat for Humanity La Pine.

Here's the full announcement from Kôr Community Land Trust:

Kôr Community Land Trust and Housing Works’ Simpson Community Receives Full Homeownership Funding and National Attention

Kôr Community Land Trust is now fully funded to bring its largest homeownership community to Bend’s westside later this year. Oregon Housing Community Services funded $7,360,000 through its Local Innovation and Fast Track program. The Simpson Community was only one of two projects in the state to receive full funding.  Oregon Community Foundation also provided a mission-aligned loan of $1,000,000 that provides early capital to increase the speed at which the affordable housing can be completed.  

Bend Municipal Planning Organization also recently awarded Kôr Community Land Trust and Housing Works $589,370.16 to support the transportation infrastructure. The City of Bend has provided funding for the project earlier this year through its Affordable Housing Fee funds and Community Development Block Grant program.

The Simpson Community, located at 19755 Simpson Ave, will transform 7.12 acres of former Deschutes County-owned land (which it sold to the partnership for $1.3 million last year) into 40 single-family homeownership units of 2- and 3-bedrooms. Working in partnership with Kôr Community Land Trust, Housing Works has plans to bring 59 rental units to the site. This is the first development in the state to propose affordable homeownership and rental developed jointly on a single site. Together, the development will serve households earning less than 80% AMI, which is $71,900 annual household income for a family of four in Deschutes County.

Housing Works and Kôr Community Land Trust’s innovative partnership model of developing rental and homeownership communities together has attracted national attention. This week, Enterprise Community Partners announced the partnership was selected as semi-finalists for their 2023 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge. Led by Enterprise with the generous support of the Wells Fargo Foundation, Housing Works and Kôr Community Land Trust were selected from 429 national candidates to compete now against 42 semifinalists for $1M to expand throughout Central Oregon. 

The two affordable housing developers have piloted this partnership with their Simpson community. The partnership offers a unique opportunity to develop affordable rental and homeownership, serving the broad housing needs of the community side by side. This means that families living in Housing Works’ affordable rentals would receive preference to purchase a Kôr resale in their neighborhood, in turn staying in their community, school district, and with established family supports, like daycare centers. 

“Without this partnership, a resident living in a Housing Works rental whose income increases has to move out of their subsidized rental unit, displacing themselves further from their community in search of an affordable market-rate rental or homeownership opportunity,” explained Jackie Keogh, Executive Director of Kôr Community Land Trust. “Kôr’s partnership with Housing Works mitigates displacement from household’s upward mobility by investing in the continuum of affordable housing.”

Details of the various state-funded projects are in the document below this OHCS news release:

Some of the funding will be used to advance culturally responsive approaches and increase homeownership opportunities for members of Oregon’s federally recognized Tribes.  

“Oregon has a vast network of partners committed to building housing that will not only be affordable for homebuyers now but will support wealth building that will impact future generations,” said OHCS Director Andrea Bell. “This is especially true in rural areas of our state, where housing prices have skyrocketed preventing many families from realizing their dream of buying a home." 

Among many projects, the pre-development and capacity building funds will support Wallowa Resources to hire staff to focus on the development of a 21-acre site that will lead to the construction of 10-20 affordable homes in Joseph, an area that has fallen behind in building housing. 

Of the seven Homeownership Development projects funded by General Funds, the Williams & Russell CDC Homeownership Project is to build 20 townhomes on land acquired through eminent domain for urban renewal in the early 1970s to make way for the expansion of Emanuel Hospital, now owned by Legacy Health.

In 2017, Legacy Health, Prosper Portland, and the City of Portland formed a collaborative project to develop the vacant property left at North Russell Street and North Williams Avenue. Historically, the site once was part of a thriving community where many Black families lived in Portland.

Through a community-driven process led by Black leaders, Legacy, the current property owner, is donating the land to the Williams & Russell CDC to realize four community priorities: support for entrepreneurs, affordable rental housing, affordable homeownership, and education/workforce training. 

"This funding helps create a path forward for the Black community in Portland to reclaim land ownership where it was once taken from them,” said Bryson E. Davis, president of Williams & Russell CDC. “By lowering the barrier to entry, future homeowners are afforded the opportunity to participate in generational wealth building and create a sense of belonging in a centrally located neighborhood and in a range of housing types informed by community input.” 

And in Blue River, a wildfire recovery area, Local Innovation and Fast Track (LIFT) funds will support a new community land trust (CLT) created by a group of residents. With the help of developer DevNW, McKenzie CLT will build six new homes for those who lost their homes in the Holiday Farm Fire.  

A full list of projects approved for funding can be found on the OHCS website.  

More details can be reviewed here: