Affordable housing units planned for Hermiston

By on Wednesday, September 27th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

HERMISTON – Affordable housing is being planned for the area south of Loma Vista Elementary School. The land is owned by the Hermiston School District and is being developed by Hacienda Community Development Corporation of Portland.

Assistant City Manager Mark Morgan said officials from Hacienda shared their plans with the Hermiston City Council earlier this week. Phase 1 of the project will see 56 affordable housing units being built on what amounts to about half of the land set aside for housing. Morgan added that it’s fulfilling that several years ago, the city realized the potential for the land in the area.

“This is all up in the northwest quadrant of the city which, seven or eight years ago, we were talking about adding a new water main and add a new water tower in that area so it would string utilities past quite a number of properties,” Morgan said. “That property is pretty much plug and play, ready to go. All of the streets, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, water, sewer, and everything are now there.”

Morgan said Hacienda CDC depends on support from the city as it seeks grants to pay for products like this.

“They have to apply through the state for funding, so they were mainly coming to the city to give an update and seek the city’s support for the project because that helps them in their pursuit of funding,” he said.

Rendering via the city of Hermiston