Paul Runge, project director for Cascadia Partners, told the City of Coos Bay joint city council and the Bay Area Hospital board during a work session that consultants continued a feasibility study of a roughly 16–17 acre parcel the hospital has identified as surplus.

The study assessed physical constraints, community feedback and market conditions and tested two development concepts: an “out‑and‑back” access pattern and a “through‑hike” design that would secure a secondary access point and better sewer routing by linking into the adjacent North Bend Medical Center parcel. Runge said consultants and grant partners recommend the through‑hike concept as the stronger long‑term option.

The consultant described steep topography and ravines on the parcel and said those natural features both constrain development and create a potential value proposition if a trail network and natural open spaces are integrated into a neighborhood design. Runge said the site is zoned medical park, which allows residential and mixed use, and noted that mixed use can remove some residential density caps but keeps a three‑story height restriction.

Nicole Cross, land use and transportation planner at the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) and the Transportation Growth Management (TGM) program, said the project is funded in part by a TGM quick‑response grant supported by the Federal Highway Administration, ODOT and state funds. She described TGM’s aims to link land use and transportation to foster walkable, transit‑served neighborhoods and said the program is advisory to local projects.

Runge summarized community engagement: a key‑partners group (including local governments, tribal representatives and hospital staff) and a public survey of about 50 respondents both prioritized a diversity of housing types and affordability. He said roughly half of survey respondents ranked housing as the site’s top priority and that the key partners’ feedback aligned with that conclusion.

The consultants tested financial scenarios. An out‑and‑back concept with a mix of rental and for‑sale units produced negative returns when the team assumed high infrastructure costs tied to the site’s topography; Runge said a sewer lift station could be required for some configurations and that lift stations can be expensive (he cited a nearby development’s lift station cost in the ballpark of $4,000,000). A through‑hike design that uses a road alignment connecting to the neighboring parcel and allows gravity sewer outflow improved feasibility and brought the pro‑forma closer to breakeven.

Runge said adding an affordable‑housing component can be financially neutral or beneficial only when developers can access public infrastructure funding tied to affordable units. He listed potential public funding sources discussed with the team: Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) (he cited roughly $2.5 million caps for water/sewer and $1.5 million for community facilities as typical program limits), ODOT’s infrastructure bank (loans with below‑market or deferred terms that can create roughly $700,000 in value under certain assumptions), a new state moderate‑income revolving loan pool (cited as a roughly $75 million pool) and a pending legislative grant (identified in the meeting as “HB 30 31 a”) that the consultant said, if passed with its current structure, would reserve about 25% of funds for small cities.

The consultant showed an illustrative program that blends about 80–90 townhomes and roughly 70 apartments (approximately 20 units per acre under one illustrative plan), with a central roadway spine, trails linking to existing hospital paths, and preserved ravine/open space. Runge said the site’s financial outcomes are sensitive to modest changes in cost or price assumptions — for example, 5% lower costs and 5% higher sales prices substantially improved project returns — and that the site is more likely to proceed if public infrastructure grants and partnerships are available.

Councilor Troy Cribbits, who the meeting identified as both a city councilor and board chair for Bay Area Hospital, said the hospital previously signaled a willingness to “liquefy” the property if doing so advanced the expansion of housing consistent with community goals. Paul Runge and Gretchen (hospital representative on the call) indicated the hospital is open to selling or partnering but would not necessarily develop the land itself.

Chelsea Schnabel, the city’s community development director, said next steps are for the consultant to finalize the preferred alternative and return later this summer or fall with the report for formal acknowledgment by the council and the hospital board.

Discussion at the work session also noted additional steps for pursuing the concept: meet again with North Bend Medical Center about the adjacent parcel, obtain a broker opinion of value, pursue targeted infrastructure funding, and issue a request for proposals or expressions of interest to solicit developer interest and partnering models.

No formal vote or binding decision was taken at the meeting; the item was presented for discussion and direction to finalize a preferred alternative and return for council and hospital board acknowledgement.