The Bend City Council considered two site proposals at the Wednesday night Council meeting, selecting a site on the southeastern border of town named the Caldera Ranch site for future inclusion into the City’s Urban Growth Boundary (UGB). This is the first step in bringing land into the UGB for future affordable and market rate housing under Senate Bill 1537.
The Council voted 4-2 to select the Caldera Ranch Site based on a variety of factors, including transportation infrastructure, water and sewer service and proposed amounts of affordable housing.
Adjacent to Knott Road, the Caldera Ranch Site is 91.4 acres and plans for 716 housing units. The site will also be home to a future, small commercial development on Knott Road and a centralized, four-and-a-half-acre neighborhood park. Of the 716 units proposed, roughly 254 would be affordable housing either available for rent or to buy.
“Bend, and all of Oregon, are still in a housing crisis, too many people cannot afford housing in Bend, and we need to build more homes to meet the needs of our current and future residents,” said Mayor Melanie Kebler. “Thankfully the Legislature and Governor worked together to provide cities like ours an opportunity with Senate Bill 1537, and our decision tonight is the first step in a process that will result in more affordable housing hitting the ground sooner in Bend.”
In 2024, the state legislature passed a bill, known as Senate Bill 1537, that provides qualifying local governments a one-time option to add up to 100 acres of net residential land to their urban growth boundary. Using this bill, cities can go through a streamlined Urban Growth Boundary expansion process to build affordable and market-rate housing.
Any land added to the City through this process requires a minimum of 30% of housing units to be affordable. Affordable in this context is based on a household of four making 80% of the area median income (AMI), approximately $83,750 annually, if they are renting or 130% of the AMI, approximately $136,110 annually, if they are buying a home.
The Caldera Ranch Site goes beyond the minimum requirements, providing 35.5% of its units as Affordable under the bill. The plan includes 254 deed-restricted affordable homes, including 192 units at 80% area median income, as well as 38 units aimed at lower-income residents making 30% of the area median income. Fourteen townhomes and 10 detached housing units are planned to be sold to households making 130% of the area median income.
Before the site can be developed, the applicant will need to apply for a UGB Amendment and Comprehensive Plan Text and Map Amendment within one year of site selection. They will then need to apply for a Master Plan and Annexation. These processes will include future opportunities for public comment. Construction of the first homes could start as soon as the summer of 2027, with a proposed ten-year build out from that time.
More information on the bill requirements and general background can be found on the City’s website.
