PENDLETON — The Pendleton City Council approved a land deal for a new, 70-unit affordable housing project on the east side of South Hill, potentially contributing to one of the city’s fundamental needs.

At a Tuesday, Feb. 16, meeting, the council unanimously voted to grant Horizon Project an option to acquire 3.5 acres of city-owned land to build the South Hill Commons.

“We need affordable housing desperately in this town,” Mayor John Turner said. “It’s a lot easier to build market rate housing than affordable housing. “

Horizon CEO Terri Silvis said the apartments will be available to people who make 50% of Pendleton’s median income. At current income levels, Silvis said the rent would range from $576 for a one-bedroom to $784 for a three-bedroom, although the rates will likely change when the development opens.

A nonprofit with offices in Pendleton, Hermiston and Milton-Freewater, Horizon has typically been focused on providing support services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. But Horizon expanded into affordable housing when it established Pioneer Commons, a Milton-Freewater complex that combined a group home with affordable apartment units. South Hill Commons would operate under a similar premise.

Horizon is developing the housing project with Carleton Hart Architecture of Portland on Franklin Grade Road, which is also known as Juvenile Detention Center Road, east of Highway 11. Although the area is sparsely populated, principal architect Brian Carleton told the council that South Hill Commons could lead to more development in the area.

“Our goal is to create a community within a community so that the people who live there have a chance at building a neighborhood,” he said.

According to concept drawings, the complex will include a plaza, playground, community garden and other amenities. Silvis said Horizon is working with Cayuse Technologies, a Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation enterprise, to provide internet connectivity to the development.

Although the city has helped shepherd several new developments in the past few years to help alleviate a tight housing market, most of them have been market-rate projects. The South Hill Commons joins an 80-unit apartment complex near Pendleton Heights in the affordable housing development pipeline.

Turner said affordable housing is sorely needed in Pendleton, especially after last year’s Umatilla River floods destroyed several units at Riverview Mobile Home Estates.

A 2019 housing needs analysis showed that Pendleton needs 870 new housing units over the next 20 years to meet future and pent-up demand. More than half would need to be geared toward residents with low, very low and extremely low incomes.

City Attorney Nancy Kerns said since the property is going to a nonprofit that intends to use it for affordable housing, no money needs to change hands.

Before meeting as the city council, members met as the Pendleton Development Commission to take action on several issues.

The Til Taylor Park renovation project is running over budget, but city staff is hoping to make cuts elsewhere to keep the project from getting too spendy.

The commission approved a $100,999 bid for playground equipment and a $73,855 bid for rubber playground surfacing.

Pendleton Parks and Recreation Director Liam Hughes also shared a spreadsheet that showed the project was $17,814 over its projected budget due to higher-then-expected costs for the playgrounds and hazardous tree removal.

Hughes said parks staff would try to make costs fit into the $575,000 budget by lowering the projected bid for the splash pads and installing the dog park fencing themselves instead of contracting out the work.

The newly renovated Til Taylor Park is expected to open over the summer.

The commission also approved the creation of a new grant program: the rejuvenation grant.

The rejuvenation grant will be offered to entire-building renovation projects at historic commercial buildings, including upper floors, ground floors and exteriors. Charles Denight, the associate director of the commission, said the owners of old city hall and the Oak Hotel have already expressed interest in the grant.

The commission paired the creation of a new grant with a complete revamp of its grant approval process.

All urban renewal grant applications, including façade and fresh start grants, will now need to be approved by a singular grants committee. Successful applicants will have to provide verifiable sources of funding for the project and allow the commission to take out a lien on the property. All projects above $100,000 will have to also submit an analysis of projected costs and revenue once the project is completed.