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Baker City council forwards prioritized R3 housing project list for state review
Summary
Council approved a prioritized list of housing projects recommended by the R3 working group to be forwarded to the R3 board; staff said R3's target investment is $20,000 per housing unit and the funding is drawn from a $10 million statewide grant to the R3 consortium.
Baker City — The Baker City Council voted Jan. 14 to forward a prioritized list of housing projects to the R3 (Regional Rural Revitalization) consortium for consideration, marking the council’s first tranche of recommendations aimed at accelerating housing development.
Councilor Joseph presented the R3 working group’s recommendations, saying the list prioritizes shovel-ready projects and a mix of housing types from several developers. The working group recommended, in order, the Higgs project (Baker Street), the Bridal project (Fifteenth Street), the Brennan project (Chestnut Street), AMG Estates (Wall Street) and the Carpenter project (Seymour Street). Council approved the recommendation and directed staff to submit the prioritized list to the R3 board.
City staff described R3’s target investment rate as $20,000 per housing unit; the funds are distributed as forgivable loans to developers as they complete projects. Staff said R3 is distributing money from a $10 million state grant aimed at rural Oregon housing and that the recommended sites largely already have utilities in place.
Councilors and staff noted that some parcels on the R3 inventory are earlier-stage land options rather than active applications; the council’s action is a prioritization to help R3 focus outreach and technical support. City staff confirmed the first four prioritized parcels are vacant lots with utilities available, while the Chestnut Street site includes removal of abandoned manufactured homes before construction.
When voting, councilors indicated support to forward the prioritized list to R3 for board consideration; the motion carried with no recorded opposition.
