Affordable housing investment hits $220M in Oregon college town, but homelessness is on the rise

In less than half a decade, Corvallis has attracted more than $200 million in affordable housing projects — but despite the stunning surge in investment, homelessness is still on the rise.

The projected value of all pending and completed affordable housing developments is $219 million, roughly double estimates from a year ago, according to a city spokesperson.

“These units are more than I ever was able to achieve in my 17-year career in the nonprofit sector,” Corvallis housing manager Brigetta Olson said. “This is like four years of wow.”

The city’s Urban Renewal Agency, however, says Corvallis needs to build about 8,000 housing units to accommodate population growth over the next 20 years. So far, builders have completed 358 units over four projects, with three more complexes comprising 284 units in the development pipeline.

Nevertheless, the number of houseless people increased from 420 to 566 in the last year, said Dan Easdale, a manager for the nonprofit Corvallis Housing First, citing a preliminary Point in Time count.

The urban renewal agency approved a $190,000 tax reimbursement on June 5 for Wishcamper, a for-profit affordable housing developer, to provide gap funding to Willamette Crossing — a $70 million, 160-unit property set to start construction in mid-August.

Bret George, a partner at Wishcamper, said getting from planning to ground breaking for the Oregon 99 West project should take just over a year.

“The way the community interacts with the developer really can make or break a project,” said George. “This project might be the fastest (approval) I’ve ever seen.”

A bit further down the bustling state highway, Corvallis Housing First is spearheading a 47-unit permanent supportive housing complex, Third Street Commons, which has been delayed due to possible soil contamination. The new goal is to start construction in September.

Andrea Myhre, the executive director of the nonprofit, said she values working directly with residents as the leader of a small organization with only 15 staff members.

“It’s both an awesome job and an extremely heart wrenching, stressful existence that we have, because we’re taking care of people that oftentimes don’t have anybody else watching out for them,” said Myhre.

City officials are also supporting development of market rate housing: The Gordon Hotel, an $84 million complex with apartment and hotel units on the riverfront, broke ground in May, with Gerding Builders serving as general contractor.

Ryan McAlister, president of Gerding Builders, says that affordable housing supports his employees.

“If they don’t have a place to live, then I don’t have a labor force,” he said. “It’s really important that we have stable, affordable housing for the overall health of the state.”

Alongside a raft of parking and zoning changes mandated by the state, Corvallis has streamlined its building code by hundreds of pages and no longer requires voter approval to annex land into the city.

In addition, the city’s construction excise tax funnels money to low-income housing projects and requires that the properties remain affordable for 60 years.

The city has made strides in affordable housing but isn’t producing the 400 units of housing per year it needs to meet state goals. In Corvallis, roughly 37% carry a severe rent burden — meaning they spend more than 50% of their gross income on rent. Low or no-income college students likely exacerbate the number.

Olson, the housing manager, said she has noted a shift in public opinion and policy in favor of affordable housing.

“We want to live in a community where everybody doesn’t have to make the hard choices between food on the table and a roof over their head,” said Olson.

By the numbers:

Here are the details on upcoming Corvallis affordable housing projects:

• South Town Community Land Trust 
  • Number of homes: 27 
  • Estimated value: Not available 
  • Address: 525 to 585 S.E. Firefly Ave. 
• Sunstone Apartments
  • Number of units: 50 
  • Estimated Value: $17.5 million
  • Address: 1873 N.W. Division Place
• Willamette Crossing
  • Number of units: 160 
  • Estimated value: $72.5 million
  • Address: 2416 S.E. 3rd St.
• Third Street Commons
  • Number of units: 47
  • Estimated value: $23 million
  • Address: 1480 S.W. 3rd St.

— Emmy McGill, Columbia River High School

— Appollonia Muñoz, Riverside High School

This story was produced by student reporters as part of the High School Journalism Institute, an annual collaboration among The Oregonian/OregonLive, Oregon State University, and other Oregon media organizations. For more information or to support the program, go to oregonlive.com/hsji.