New subdivision planned for Boardman

Published 10:17 am Monday, October 26, 2020

A new housing development in Boardman will add 30 new stick-built homes to the city’s housing inventory.

George Hale, CEO of Woodhill Homes based in Bend, said the development will be the third phase of the River Ridge subdivision off Wilson Lane, but the first for Woodhill Homes.

“What drew us to Boardman was the abundance of jobs. … What we heard is a lot of people who work in Boardman live in Hermiston,” he said.

He described the new subdivision as 1,200-square-foot homes with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, priced at about $229,000. He said after the 30-home phase is added, they have enough land there to build approximately 70 more in future phases.

Woodhill Homes is currently in the process of laying roads and utilities for the project.

For more information, visit woodhillhomes.net/river-ridge-estates.

In recent years Boardman has used a number of strategies to try to attract more housing to keep up with the booming workforce growth at the Port of Morrow. Those have included cash incentives, such as waiving system development charges for the first four homes a developer builds, or providing gap lending for housing development through the Boardman Housing Development Fund.

Heppner housing

Boardman isn’t the only Morrow County city that could use more housing. Heppner City Manager Kraig Cutsforth said like many Eastern Oregon communities, Heppner has a housing shortage that can make it difficult to attract people to the community.

“I don’t think our vacancy rate is even 1%,” he said. “We have trouble finding a place for people coming in.”

Cutsforth said current conditions — from lumber prices to the commute for construction firms — discourage housing developers from coming to Heppner.

“The rents don’t cover the cost of construction,” he said.

He said the Willow Creek Valley Economic Development Group is working on solutions. One of the volunteer organization’s goals is encouraging economic development through improved housing opportunities.

It won’t result in any new housing units added, but the Mountain Glen Apartments in Heppner are getting a complete makeover thanks to a $7.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support affordable housing in four rural counties.

The money will support a project by Glenhaven Park LLC to purchase four aging low-income apartment complexes, including Mountain Glen, and complete a top-to-bottom renovation. The project will include new siding, roofs, landscaping, windows, doors, lighting, floors, appliances and more.

Shelly Cullin, development director for Chrisman Development Inc., said Chrisman will complete the renovations of the 24 units in Mountain Glen, a project with a $4.7 million total cost.

She said the renovation will start in May 2021. A few tenants at a time will be moved out of their apartments for about three to five days to complete the interior portion of their apartment, but Cullin said contractors can usually move furniture from room to room instead of requiring the apartment to be emptied, and the developer will pay for a place for the tenants to stay during their remodel.