LA GRANDE â The construction of Timber Ridge Apartments, a proposed $23.7 million, 104-unit housing complex for low-income residents, might begin in less than three months.
Construction will likely start in early July after finalizing all the financing for the development, said Dan Steffey of Community Development Partners, the Portland firm developing the project, which the Northeast Oregon Housing Authority likely will own. The La Grande apartment complex, to be built on East Q Avenue between 26th and 27th streets, will take between 12 and 18 months to complete.
The apartments will help address a housing shortage in La Grande, Steffey said.
âThere has been a lot of excitement about it,â he said. âWe have received a very positive response.â
LA GRANDE â The Eastern Oregon University Head Start program is getting the opportunity to expand its La Grande presence.
The Portland firm Community Development Partners is heading up the work to develop Timber Ridge Apartments, a lower-income housing project, on 4.79 acres on East Q Avenue between 26th and 27th streets. Community Development Partners has offered EOU Head Start a classroom in its community center at no cost.
Robert Kleng, director of EOU Head Start, said he would not dream of passing on the offer.
âIt blew my socks off,â Kleng said.
He said an Early Head Start program will be operated at Timber Ridge Apartments, if operational funding is obtained, when the housing project is completed in about two years. Kleng said there is an excellent chance EOU Head Start will receive the state or federal grants it needs because a structure will be in place for the program. Kleng also said he is optimistic because Gov. Kate Brownâs proposed 2021-23 state b
LA GRANDE â The city council of La Grande held its annual work retreat, which this year took the form of two nights of hours-long video conferences, to discuss priorities for the coming year.
The first was a session Monday night, Jan. 25, of the council in its role as the Urban Renewal Agency on economic development that also touched on COVID-19 relief. During the second meeting Tuesday evening, the council set the cityâs goals and priorities for the future.
The council made no decisions during the retreat, but La Grande Mayor Steve Clements said the meetings were key in setting the councilâs course for the rest of 2021, and councilors made their positions clear on issues from pandemic response and wildfire preparedness to downtown development.
LA GRANDE â Upcoming changes to the city of La Grandeâs land use regulations are set to strip the city of its ability to differentiate between single-family housing and duplexes, causing some to worry about a potential shortage of parking.
âWe have to allow duplexes in all of our residential zones where we also allow single-family,â La Grande Community Development Director Mike Boquist said. âThen the standards that you apply to those have to also be the same, so you canât apply a greater standard to a duplex than what you would apply to single-family. So, that kind of translates to parking.â