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Coho Point developer seeks more time amid higher costs and market changes; council discusses 12–18 month extension
Summary
Developer on the Coho Point site described construction‑cost, financing and market headwinds and asked the council on Oct. 7 for additional time to complete due diligence and financing. Staff said the latest contractual extension runs through Jan. 31 and that council will need to consider options if the developer cannot meet milestones.
The Coho Point development team provided an update and sought additional time Oct. 7 after describing multiple market and financing challenges that have emerged since the project's initial 2017 schedule.
Fareed, the project developer, briefed the council on cost escalation, higher interest rates and changing occupancy dynamics that he said made delivering the original mixed‑use plan difficult on current terms. He said design and permit work remain and that current construction pricing and financing conditions have widened a financing gap compared with earlier pro formas.
“We are about 9 months away from getting current — six months of finishing the design…I'm asking for an extension,” Fareed said, adding that he did not want to transfer the project to another developer unless necessary. Fareed told the council he had discussed alternative approaches, including changing the project to a largely affordable housing model, but that redesign would add 12–18 months and would change the program and finish quality.
Staff told the council the latest DDA extension currently runs through Jan. 31, 2026. Councilors asked Fareed to propose a specific deadline for any extension; Fareed suggested 12–18 months would be reasonable to wait for market conditions to shift but acknowledged that timeframe is not a guarantee. Councilors and staff discussed alternative actions the city could pursue if the developer could not meet agreed milestones, including seeking an assignee with deeper capital, moving toward a different housing program, or terminating the agreement per DDA terms.
Clarifying project details discussed by the developer included a previously envisioned 195‑unit scheme with a heavy studio/one‑bedroom mix (Fareed cited roughly 91 studios, ~75 one‑bedrooms, ~30 two‑bedrooms and a few three‑bedrooms in earlier designs). Fareed said converting the scheme to 100 percent affordable housing would change unit sizes and yield and that such a conversion would require new underwriting and entitlement work.
Ending: council members asked staff and the developer to return with more specific schedules and options; no formal council action was taken Oct. 7.
