From subdivisions to new apartments, housing is key component of growth in Umatilla and Morrow counties

As the population in Umatilla and Morrow counties continues to grow, so, too, are the challenges of finding housing.

The availability of housing depends on several factors — primarily where one is looking and how much an individual or family can afford.

In Hermiston, new subdivisions are offering homes in a range of sizes and prices.

Hermiston Assistant City Manager Mark Morgan anticipates new development this year and during the next several years.

“In terms of larger scale imminent development, I think we will see rapid single-family home development taking place this calendar year in the 270-home Upland Meadows subdivision on East Theater Lane behind Loma Vista Elementary School,” Morgan said.

“I fully expect that to be completely built out within four or five years. Additionally, this year we should see some rapid home building in the Henry K’s Place subdivision just east of Blue Mountain Community College off 10th street.”

Morgan said the Diamond Run development between Diagonal and Elm continues to build out “at a good pace.” He said Diamond Run was originally intended to be a 150 single-family home subdivision but now will be 300-plus duplexes and townhomes.

The Santiago Estates development on Diagonal near O So Kleen has 180-unit capacity for development.

“I anticipate that we will continue to see 20-30 manufactured homes placed in there each year for the next five to 10 years,” Morgan said.

Mike Boylan, principal broker and owner of Boylan Realty in Hermiston, said homebuyers have plenty of choices in Hermiston.

“We are fortunate in our area to have a good mix of existing homes and new construction homes for sale,” Boylan said. “There is a good selection with a variety of price points, even for first-time homebuyers.”

According to Morgan, Hermiston’s biggest housing is market-rate apartment units.

“I always think of the 22-year-old recent graduate who gets hired as a teacher,” he said. “Since they’ll be making $50,000 a year as a single person, that does not qualify them as low income, so they don’t qualify for any available rental housing. But they’re also in debt up to their eyeballs and frankly may not want to commit to buying a house just yet.”

People in that situation then rent an apartment in Kennewick and commute every day to work in Umatilla County and export their income to the Tri-Cities.

“We need to offer an onramp into the community,” he said, “so that people who are coming here to work have the ability to grow their lives here so we can maximize the economic return of the jobs they’re working, rather than just exporting it to Tri-Cities.”

Boylan agreed with Morgan.

“While there’s always been a need for rentals in our area, I have seen the need grow greatly in the past five years as more jobs come to our area,” he said.

Umatilla City Manager David Stockdale said the city has been experiencing a surge in new housing during the past seven years. Prior to 2018, the city averaged about 10 new homes per year.

“Since then, there has been at least 60 new homes built each year, with the most being last year at 109 housing units,” he said.

Despite that, Stockdale said housing is not keeping up with growth. He said new industrial development from Amazon Web Services and other businesses, coupled with some new commercial businesses and temporary construction jobs, have created an “overwhelming demand and need for housing in Umatilla.”

In fact, the city’s Building Lands Assessment indicated the city is approximately 1,200 housing units short of what Umatilla needed at that time to keep up with the demand.

“And, though there has been nearly 600 housing units built in Umatilla since 2018, the continued increases in demand for housing is still outpacing our record-breaking development pace,” he said.

Stockdale said the city needs housing at every economic level.

“We are working hard to find ways to bring in developers to construct more multi-family housing and more affordable housing,” he said. “These types of developments often require incentives or subsidies in order to make it financially viable to any developer. For affordable housing, that often means having shovel-ready land available for developers, or land that has all utilities already available to connect to.”

Pendleton’s challenges

Pendleton finds itself in a similar situation to Umatilla. City Manager Robb Corbett said Pendleton does not have enough housing to keep up with growth.

“We are lacking in all categories,” he said.

Several apartment complexes have been built in the last several years, and Corbett said few units stay vacant for long.

“A developer built a 202-unit market-rate apartment complex across from the prison and they filled up surprisingly fast,” he said.

Corbett said the city did a housing study in 2011 and updated it in 2016. The study prompted Pendleton to place new housing as a high priority. And the city council in May reviewed the city’s latest housing needs analysis.

“I feel in some ways that we’ve had great success, but still have a way to go,” he said.

Corbett said the city created a revolving loan fund to help pay the cost of infrastructure, which the developer typically pays.

“This was done to lower the cost of development in the city,” he said. “We pay for the infrastructure and as they build new houses, they pay us back.”

The first phase of the infrastructure upgrade is happening in the south end of the city, and Corbett said he is confident it will attract housing development.

“It’s a really critical piece of our housing plans,” he said.

Jef Farley, owner and principal broker for the Coldwell Banker Farley Co. in Pendleton, said the city is experiencing a seller’s market. He said Pendleton has 2.65 months of inventory. According to the National Association of Realtors, a balanced market is about five months’ worth of inventory.

“I am very bullish on our local markets and that includes most of Eastern Oregon,” Farley said. “People are wanting to move here, and the lack of inventory is a real problem.”

Boardman, Stanfield

In Boardman, housing development is not keeping up with the population growth, City Manager Brandon Hammond said.

In early 2024, city officials met with a broad range of stakeholders on the topic of housing and what is needed to keep up with demand. Those stakeholders included Threemile Canyon Farms, Boardman Foods, the Port of Morrow and the school district.

“We came to the conclusion that Boardman was about 250 housing units short — minimum,” Hammond said. According to the city, about 60% of Boardman’s workforce lives outside the city.

“That spurred us to create a Housing Committee, and we set up a $1 million rotating fund to help developers who may need some help with development costs. We would loan a developer money to help pay for the development and the developer pays us back as homes sell.”

Like many cities in the region, Boardman lacks enough market-rate apartment complexes. And, Hammond said what is available comes with a high rental cost. The average studio apartment in Boardman costs $1,045 per month. A two-bedroom unit averages $1,350 and a three-bedroom apartment averages $2,000 per month.

Stanfield City Manager Darla Linker said new housing developments are keeping pace with growth, but they sell quickly.

“New development does not stay on the market long at all,” Linker said.

According to Linker, there is a 99-unit apartment complex in the construction phase as is a 14-lot development. Linker said another 16- to 20-lot development is currently in the planning stages.

Linker said Stanfield’s low tax rate and low utility fees serve as an incentive for new development.