More than 260 acres of empty land near southeast Bend, the Stevens Road Tract, is on its way to becoming housing after the City Council gave preliminary approval Wednesday to bring it inside the city’s urban growth boundary.

Wednesday’s decision has been years in the making. Ultimately, it will add thousands of housing units to Bend and include affordable housing.

Around 147 acres of the Stevens Road Tract east of 27th Street will be dedicated to housing, which will add up to roughly 2,500 units of housing to the city. Around 700 of those units will be dedicated to affordable housing, according to Damian Syrnyk, a senior planner with the city. Some housing units will be designated specifically for educators, which will be a first in the state.

Commercial space, employment and a park will also be included, but the primary focus of current plans for the tract is a diverse housing mix, Syrnyk said.

The tract is currently owned by the Oregon Department of State Lands, which acquired it from the Bureau of Land Management in the ’90s along with the neighboring Stevens Ranch property. Together, the two pieces total 640 acres. Department of State Land sales benefit the state’s Common School Fund.

The City Council’s preliminary

approval Wednesday can be attributed to House Bill 3318, which was passed in 2021. The Oregon Legislature

specifically called out the Stevens Road Tract and created an expedited process for the city to absorb the tract into Bend’s UGB.

House District 54 Rep. Jason Kropf, D-Bend, was a chief sponsor of the bill. He saw the tract as a wholly unique opportunity to maximize public land. Not only will it address part of the affordability and housing crisis, he said, but it’s also an opportunity to develop a complete neighborhood where people can live, visit a park and buy a coffee.

“It, I believe, will be a significant step forward,” he said.

The tract is expected to eventually go through a similar process as its neighbor, the Stevens Ranch property, which was purchased from the Department of State Lands in 2020 by a major Bend landowner and former California politician Gary Miller.

That process will require an official approval from City Council and state agencies, including the State Land Board, before the state can sell the land. Then, the buyer will need to receive approval for a major master plan and create infrastructure before major development can occur.

A 1.5 million-gallon water tank will be necessary to serve water to the area, per Avion Water Company’s estimates, Syrnyk said.

“This is something where a buyer looking at this is going to have to factor in infrastructure costs,” he said.

A community open house on Oct. 19 will focus on future plans for the Stevens Road Tract. It will be held at Caldera High School, 60925 SE 15th St., from 5-7 p.m., and interested community members can ask questions of city staff members and learn how to stay involved.