Woodlands to add affordable housing

The developer SWD, BUILD and Sisters Habitat for Humanity are collaborating on six future cottage homes in Sisters Woodlands, via a subdivision and cottage development extension on former Lot 175, becoming Lots 175-180.

Photo by Bill Bartlett

Sisters Woodlands is partnering with community groups to add some affordable units in development.

SWD, BUILD and Sisters Habitat have been working together for the last two years culminating in the current construction of four cottages for Habitat. SWD has provided Sisters Habitat with significantly discounted lots, as well as constructed foundations, utilities, and complete building shells at a further discount and turned those over to Habitat to complete the interiors.

This has all been done in service of working together to overcome the financial constraints from Sisters Habitat's ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) funding grant as well as Habitat's internal constraints on resources and additional funding. According to Kevin Eckert of SWD, BUILD, this model isn't sustainable for any of the involved groups, as this has resulted in fundamental challenges to continuing to be able to help Habitat deliver additional homes at Sisters Woodlands.

Sisters Woodlands, located at the far west side of the Sisters' downtown area along Highway 20 is a mixed use 250-plus residential community created from a 35-acre parcel of land previously belonging to the U.S. Forest Service. It includes various residential units in the form of cottages, townhomes, and condos/apartments in a Mountain Modern style.

The master plan envisions retail and professional operations.

The applicant, Eckert, is asking for modification of the original Sisters Woodlands Master Plan & Cottage Development Subdivision to modify the preliminary plat for several cottage lots to accommodate 20-ft long driveways to be used for off-street parking.

Additionally, lot 175 is proposed to be subdivided into six new cottage lots to be developed into affordable homes for Sisters Habitat for Humanity and includes a new open space area and a parking lot with nine parking spaces. The proposed subdivision of Lot 175 will utilize the affordable housing density bonus that allows for reduced lot sizes - ranging from approximately 1,450 to 1,510 square feet.

On August 30, the Application was deemed complete, and a public hearing is scheduled for September 19.

Habitat Executive Director, Peter Hoover, tells The Nugget that the six homes would probably be ready for occupancy in early to mid 2026. Habitat is anticipating a funding grant, and the work will be done under the hybrid construction method employed by Habitat the last 18 or so months.

"The hybrid model uses traditional labor for the shell - infrastructure, walls, floors and roof - and the remainder of the work is completed by Habitat volunteers, the customary model most people are familiar with," Hoover said.

"It's not a shortage of volunteers," Hoover explained. "When we were building one to one-and-a-half homes a year, our volunteers could do the entire home. Now, with 10 to 12 homes a year, it is much more efficient to use the hybrid model."

The Nugget asked Hoover if, like some other volunteer reliant organizations in Sisters, they were seeing a shortage of volunteers as they aged out.

"No, but we are trying to reach more people including younger potential volunteers through social media," he said.

Such efforts, by default, cast a wider geographic net.

The median age in Sisters is 49.4. In Bend it's 39.5 and in Redmond it's 36.4, both significantly younger than Sisters. In Oregon, it's 39.9, much younger by far. The largest age group in Sisters is 70-74 (18 percent) and citizens 65 and over amount to 40 percent of the population.