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Cheney housing report shows mostly single‑family buildings but multifamily unit growth; consultants found no affordable homes
Summary
A staff presentation of new residential construction from 2005–2025 showed roughly 75% of buildings were single‑family while 75% of units were in multifamily buildings, and staff said their research found no "affordable" homes developed in that period.
City staff presented a 2005–2025 housing-construction report to the Cheney Planning Commission on Feb. 9 that outlined recent housing development patterns and raised concerns about affordability.
Travis Bonwell, the city’s GIS/Permit Technician, summarized the dataset and told commissioners that "roughly 75% of the buildings were single families, yet 75% of the units were multifamily." He also presented research indicating there were "no \"affordable\" homes developed during this time." Chairman Rick Mount asked how the city could encourage developers to build affordable homes; Todd Ableman replied that doing so would require incentives and subsidizing.
Commissioners did not take immediate policy action at the meeting. The presentation highlights a multi‑decade pattern and frames affordability as a policy gap city staff will need to address in future plan work and budget discussions.
