Credit: Bend-Redmond Habitat for Humanity

The Bend City Council approved the sale of two surplus parcels of city-owned land at the Feb. 7 council meeting. The land, which will be sold for approximately $20,000 each, will become 26 units on NE Franklin Avenue and NE Bear Creek Avenue.  

The sale is an affordable homeownership partnership between the Bend-Redmond Habitat for Humanity and Thistle and Nest, a nonprofit helping buyers with affordable housing. The organizations hope to break ground on the project in 2025 and have the first home for sale in 2026, according to a press release.  

Credit: Bend-Redmond Habitat for Humanity

In a commitment to better meet the need for affordable housing, the Bend City Council committed to encouraging the development of affordable housing by surplusing City-owned properties. Council adopted Resolution No. 3343 in June 2023, adopting a procedure to help meet housing needs.  

 The homes are intended for households making equal to or less than 80% of the area median income. The single-family homes will be income-restricted for a minimum of 40 years. After the 40 years, the organizations recommended incorporating middle-income buyers for up to 25% of the home resales.  

The Bear Creek site will have eight units of two and three-bedroom duplex-style townhomes. The units will include an attached garage and private outdoor space, according to a press release. The Franklin property, a combination of two lots along Franklin Avenue, will have 18 units of one, two and three-bedroom homes. 

 The cottage cluster and quadplex units will sit on a nearly 1-acre lot and have access to central space. Both sites, which are currently undeveloped and contain mature juniper, pine trees and groundcover, are set to preserve trees.  

The organizations are striving for sustainable building and site design, incorporating strategies to reach carbon neutral and passive housing building certification like a community garden gathering space, low-water and functional landscaping and consciously building with quality products.  

To achieve the vision for these sites, the organizations will partner with OSU-Cascades Sustainability Program, The Environmental Center, Heart of Oregon’s Youth Build Program, Bend YIMBY and more.  

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Julianna earned her Masters in Journalism at NYU in 2024. She loves writing local stories about interesting people and events. When she’s not reporting, you can find her cooking, participating in outdoor...

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2 Comments

  1. Of course, they voted in for more affordable. Stupid housing!!! Ask anybody thats over 40 that supplied affordable housing to them.
    We got a generation of losers, this generation Z are lazy, entitled in a bunch of losers!!! You dont like it,? you work as many jobs as it takes to make it on market value apartment, thats the way it was us!!
    Generation Z has no character, or backbone. They have the mentality of we need to be taken care of by the Government
    The losers running Bend already put 270 of them in my backyard and all my neighbors are getting is a bunch of problems, we have more theft in the neighborhood. The traffic is horrible., many of them live tty to store garbage 1970 or 80s campers in front of our homes for days on end.
    they pass this in the middle of Covid when nobody could go down to City Hall and. protest, now all they can focus on is more affordable garbage housing!!!
    People need to go to school and learn a trade, or learn how to make more money, fast food and restaurants cant pay the bills, learn how to do something that can.
    Being able to get stoned, go hiking camping whenever they want so they can work part time is not realistic, you need to work 40 to 60 hours a week whether you like it or not!!
    Im so sick of this, entitled generation of losers, sorry, the truth hurts, nobodys just going to hand you something thats not the way America works, but liberals have another approach, make it easy, give me give me, give me!!! Im sixty years old, I own a home, and I work 40 to 50 hours a week and I have since I was a kid, thats why I own a house thats why I own things thats why Im doing OK because I worked hard and save my money and I didnt spend my time in front of
    Marijuana stores every other day.
    As for the homeless in this town, its an example of liberal leader ship, they ruin everything they are in charge of, they will turn this city into trash, and the word will get out and people would no longer want to come visit this place!! Round up the homeless ship them the hell out of here. They are ruining our neighborhoods and our city. They are not the taxpayers responsibility., when I get approached by homeless, who want money, they are upfront, they tell me Im not going to lie, I want it for whiskey and drugs.
    These people dont want help, these people like exactly where they are. They have no responsibility..

  2. I can understand your frustration when some people don’t respect their neighborhood and the people who live in it. This is where better laws need to be created by the Mayor and council to protect the homeowners in said cases. That said, taking a broad-brush and claiming low income people are all drug addicts and lazy losers is ludicrous at best. Our system and government isn’t designed to help people live the American Dream anymore. Wages have been stagnant for years now. Furthering one’s education leaves many people out due to it’s high costs and the cost of living has skyrocketed due to Big Corporations’ greed. Congress on both sides of the aisle use smoke screens, feet dragging and witch hunts to keep people off track from what they’re really doing…which isn’t much of anything for the American People. What you’re seeing is the result of all of those things taking it’s toll on everyday people and their lives. Most don’t want to be in that situation, but they feel they have nowhere to turn.

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