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County Executive Josh Showman outlines plan to redevelop county land for 'next generation housing'
Summary
County Executive Josh Showman said Washington County is planning to redevelop land near Highway 33 and Indiana Avenue in Westbend for "next generation" small houses. He cited infrastructure-driven lot costs of roughly $70,000 (about $75,000 including other early expenses) that make sub-$300,000 homes difficult and said designs to remove the public agency center are underway.
County Executive Josh Showman said Washington County is preparing to redevelop county-owned land south of Highway 33 and east of Indiana Avenue in Westbend to build what he called "next generation housing," a program of smaller homes on small lots intended to improve affordability for new buyers.
Showman said the county has produced a conceptual rendering showing about 75 to 100 small homes on the site, but warned that site preparation and infrastructure drive up upfront costs. "When you look at that map ... you're going to see roads, trees, curbs and gutter, all of the infrastructure that's necessary to get land like this prepared for the small houses on the small lots," he said.
Showman gave a per-lot infrastructure estimate: "the average cost just for each lot ... is about $70,000 per lot," he said, later summing the early outlays as roughly $75,000 once additional early expenses are included. He emphasized that figure does not include basements, impact fees, permits or house construction, and said those items push the total cost well above commonly stated affordability targets.
Responding to expectations that homes could sell for $200,000 to $250,000, Showman said those price points "are a little bit silly" in this context and said the county's practical goal is to get homes "as close to or right below 300,000 as we possibly can." He framed the cost problem as broader than the county, saying high building expenses are driven by rules and requirements that affect many communities.
Showman said county government is pursuing the project in coordination with municipal, state and federal partners. "Right now, as we speak, we're putting designs together to take down our public agency center, build something new, put as much of this property back on the tax roll as possible," he said, adding that county staff meet monthly with Westbend's mayor, the city administrator and planner to address hurdles such as permitting and impact fees.
Showman said the county will continue working on designs and partnerships and reiterated the difficulty of meeting aggressive affordability targets while promising sustained effort. He closed the update by inviting viewers to tune in to the next Washco Weekly.
