Kelly Kenoyer
For the first time in decades, Sweet Home is getting a new apartment complex.
The four-building complex will be located at the intersection of Mountain View and Long streets, right behind 7-Eleven.
The 48 new housing units will be a boon for Sweet Home’s hot housing market, according to Community and Economic Development Director Blair Larsen.
“We’re excited. I think it will be a game-changer for the community,” he said. “It will really provide for a desperate need.”
Sweet Home hasn’t had a new large apartment complex in nearly 50 years, he said. “As a brand-new apartment complex, it’s going to significantly improve the quality of our rental housing.”
Eric Lund, who owns the property, previously developed Lakepoint Estates in Foster. He broke ground on the property at 2500 Long on Thursday, Sept. 17.
“We’ll have quartz countertops, units will have AC, and I think we’re going with stainless steel appliances,” along with in-unit laundry, he said.
The property will have a parking lot that lets out onto Long, and the back buildings will be right behind 7-Eleven and the old Skyline Inn property, which recently sold. Larsen said he hopes the new complex will raise the values of the commercial properties on Main, as they’ll have 48 units of customers right there.
Larsen said the city is also putting developers and owners in contact with each other, in the hopes of developing connectivity between areas of the city, such as pedestrian walkways or bikeways.
“Each of our bottom lines is better when we cooperate with each other and work together,” he said.
Baldwin General Contracting is working on construction, and Supt. Larry Ward said the complex should be completed in 12 months.
“We’re self-performing on a lot of this project. We have our own crews, and I’ll be supervising them on-site,” he said.
Neighbors around the property have been pleased to see new construction on the lot, Lund said.
“It’s been vacant for 35 years. And I mean, there’s just been a lot of foot traffic through here and, quite honestly, people just kind of throwing trash,” he said. That’s why neighbors are “ready for it to be something nice in the area.”
Ward said the neighbors have been engaged with the construction company. One asked to have the logs from felled trees, which Ward gladly provided. “He chops the wood to give to the elderly,” he said of the neighbor.
During the groundbreaking, two young boys in a neighboring house excitedly gestured for a truck leaving the construction site to honk. When the driver did, the boys jumped with glee.
Lund grew up in Lebanon, but now lives at his new development in Foster. He said he’s excited work on developing his new town.
“I appreciate this town a lot. That’s one of the reasons I want to see more growth here. It deserves it. It’s a beautiful little town. Not many places are right on two lakes.”
The complex will have a total of eight 3-bedroom apartments, 16 one-bedrooms, and 24 two-bedrooms.
“You have a gamut of possibilities for whoever is going to be renting,” Ward said.
The complex will be run by Diversified Property Management Company in Albany, and rental rates are not yet set.
Larsen said the complex will help with the tight rental market in Sweet Home.
The city doesn’t have much data on the housing market, Larsen said, but anecdotally, “I’ve heard a lot about how hard it is to find a rental,” he said, adding that the new rentals will provide options for those trying to leave their existing housing, or trying to move to the city.
“An additional 48 units, that’s huge,” Larsen said. “For the rental market in Sweet Home, that will have a really big impact in terms of alleviating the stress our market is under.”