At the western end of Simpson Avenue, near the intersection of Mount Washington Drive, an emerging new housing development is providing hope for working class families that home affordability in Bend is on the horizon.

The uniformly arranged small houses are the latest project by RootedHomes, one of a small cohort of affordable home builders in Bend that are taking advantage of incentives and grants to increase the affordable housing stock in Central Oregon’s largest city.

Future occupants of these affordable homes will be able to do something that has become increasingly rare in Bend — reside sustainably in a city where average salaries for working families are well below living standards.

The number of affordable homes has already jumped in recent years. From 2020 to 2024, 473 units have been built compared to 257 in the previous five years, the city of Bend reports on its Affordable Housing Production Dashboard.

For now, any kind of housing helps. Oregon’s Office of Economic Analysis estimates that Bend will need an additional 8,442 dwelling units for households at various income levels by the end of the decade.

Who qualifies for a home?

The price tag for a two-bedroom unit (1,094 square feet) at the Simpson Avenue development is $240,000 while a three-bedroom home (1,368 square feet) is $280,000 — both are well below the $772,000 current median price of a home in Bend.

To qualify for affordable housing in Bend, applicants must be first-time home buyers. Buyers must also prove that their household income is below 80% of the area medium income, which in Bend for a family of four is $123,500, the city of Bend reports on its housing data hub webpage. At least one year of consistent household income is also required.

This type of housing can only exist with incentives from the city — fortunately for developers in Bend, these have become more accessible in recent years.

Incentives include system development charge exemptions, expedited permitting and three different types of tax incentives — qualified rental housing tax exemption, non-profit property tax exemption and tax increment assistance for housing affordability.

The city also awards around $1.5 million annually in both local and federal funds to spur affordable housing development. And $4 million is now available through the PRO Housing fund, issued by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development.

“Pairing all these together means developers have access to larger amounts of funding, resulting in the development of more affordable units,” said Mellissa Kamanya, Bend’s affordable housing coordinator.

OSU-Cascades workers could benefit

Affordable workforce housing in this particular location could prove especially handy for workers at the nearby Oregon State University-Cascades.

Christine Coffin, a spokesperson for the university, said as for most other employers in Bend, housing affordability has become a factor in recruiting new faculty and staff, and retaining current employees.

Many OSU-Cascades employees have been forced to commute from nearby Central Oregon cities, said Coffin, but the RootedHomes project on Simpson may help keep a few local.

“RootedHomes proximity to campus is likely attractive to many employees, and its affordability model can help lessen their financial burden as they pursue careers, raise families and contribute to the local community,” Coffin said.

More affordable projects coming

The Simpson Ave project is one of many affordable housing units either under construction in Bend or planned to be built in the next few years.

Among them are the 106 total units of townhomes at Thistle & Nest’s Woodhaven Estates in east Bend. Thistle and Nest is also planning 30 single family homes off Murphy Road in Southwest Bend.

A development that could become the largest single-family home project is planned for east Bend — 52 single family houses by Hayden Homes.

Affordable rental properties are also in the works — around 200 of these around Bend are being developed by three different companies. One is the 59-unit College View apartments, on the strip of land east of the RootedHomes project. Another will feature 98 units on Bend’s southern outskirts.

Kamanya, the city’s affordable housing coordinator, says the RootedHomes project on Simpson doesn’t solve Bend’s inflated housing crisis, but is one piece of the puzzle to fixing it.

“Every unit produced helps address the shortage,” said Kamanya. “But the City of Bend needs many more.”