John Day looks to add 100 homes to city

Published 4:00 pm Wednesday, August 10, 2022

JOHN DAY — Three new housing developments are underway in John Day that could add 100 new homes to the local housing supply over the next few years.

The city’s urban renewal agency is providing funding to jumpstart the projects as part of an effort to rebuild declining population, shore up the local tax base and address the city’s housing shortage.

Constructing Oregon’s first 3D-printed home also is a part of the plans for the three developments, known as The Ridge, Ironwood Estates and Holmstrom Heights.

John Day City Manager Corum Ketchum said the housing developments are part of a strategy to reverse the city’s population loss of the past few decades.

“If we’d have kept up with the .5% growth we had in the ‘90s, our population would be at 2,200 or 2,300 people right now,” he said.

John Day established an urban renewal agency and created an urban renewal plan in June 2018. The agency overseeing urban renewal took out a loan of more than $1.8 million from Business Oregon to assist in the development of residential lots at the developments. The loan’s interest rate is 2.41% over a 20-year term.

The plan is to pay off the loan over time using tax increment financing, Ketchum said. Tax increment financing captures any increase in assessed property value within an urban renewal district, with the additional revenues being directed toward the district’s stated purpose — in this case, residential development.

Ironwood Estates

Ironwood Estates, along Valley View Drive on the north side of John Day, is the largest of the three developments. It will add 73 new homes to the city once completed.

Ironwood is part of a subdivision that was conceived 30 years ago, according to developer Russ Young.

“There was already a template and proved concept of the subdivision up there,” he said.

The development is in its second phase, with Phase 1 having provided sewer service, water and power to the property. The second phase includes the expansion of streets and utilities for the development of approximately 15.2 acres into 17 single-family residential lots.

Phase 2 of construction also includes 1,750 linear feet of new pavement through the addition of two new cul-de-sacs and all the associated utilities for development. Fiber optic internet cable also will be extended to existing lots in the development and will be added to new lots via a grant from Business Oregon, the state’s economic development agency.

The estimated cost of this project is just more than $940,000. The URA will provide up to $750,000 in cash and in-kind support — primarily in the form of building materials — for the project. The balance of the cost will be funded by the developer.

Young said work on the project is on hold while he awaits a revised plat and signed agreement from the city.

“We’re close,” Young said, adding that once the work begins, it should all be completed within three or four months.

“It’ll go fast because it’s already a part of an existing subdivision,” he said. “We just don’t have a finished plat because we’re doing some redesigning of sewer and water.”

Later phases of Ironwood Estates, Young added, will come in bigger chunks.

“The next phase is when you start to get into the 30 or 40 lot configurations,” he said.

The Ridge and Holmstrom Heights

The Ridge is above The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in John Day, just south of Highway 26 on the east end of town. It is the second-largest of the three developments and will add 23 new dwelling units to the city once completed.

Approximately 23 acres comprising 12 multi- and single-family residential lots will be developed during the first phase of development.

Lot No. 1 of the development will be used for Oregon’s first 3D-printed concrete housing. The 3D-printed dwelling is expected to be completed this summer. It is unknown how many 3D-printed housing units will ultimately wind up in the development.

The project is expected to be completed by Oct. 31. The estimated cost of development is $1.4 million. The URA will provide up to $750,000 in cash and in-kind support, and the balance of the cost will be contributed by the developer, Mahogany Ridge Properties.

Mahogany Ridge also plans to build the homes on the developed lots.

Approximately 60% of the phase one lots are going to be multifamily units.

The last and smallest of the three housing developments is Holmstrom Heights at the east end of Charolais Heights on the north side of John Day. Holmstrom Heights will add four new homes to the city.