Wednesday, October 21, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
17
New development to break ground this week
By Jim Cornelius
News Editor
A new residential devel-
opment on the old Lundgren
Mill property at the north
end of Pine Street will get
underway with a ribbon-cut-
ting ceremony on Thursday,
October 22, at noon.
The symbolic launch of
the 14-home first phase of the
project has been 10 years in
the making. Developer Peter
Hall purchased the prop-
erty from the Sisters School
District for $3.3 million in
2005. The property was zoned
industrial and Hall planned a
business-park development
there. That’s still in the works
for part of the property, but
changing times and needs
have led to rezoning the prop-
erty to allow for residential
development.
Hall has named the devel-
opment ClearPine, an hom-
age to the product of the
lumber mill that operated on
the property until it closed in
1962.
The mill processed old-
growth timber.
“You got knot-free wood
that’s very useful for all kinds
of finish carpentry,” Hall
noted.
The first phase will consist
of 14 single-family homes,
with prices in the mid-
$300,000 range. Lot sizes are
in the 5,000- to 7,000-square-
foot range. A group of build-
ers will draw for lots privately
after the ribbon-cutting on
Thursday. Lots that are not
designated for builders will
be available to the general
public. Hall expects houses to
be available for purchase in
spring of 2016.
“I think we’ll have a num-
ber of starts over the winter
— weather dependent,” Hall
told The Nugget.
Design standards will be
similar to Bend’s Northwest
Crossing, with many mem-
bers of the ClearPine design
team having worked on that
development.
“I’ve seen the develop-
ment really embraced by the
public,” Hall said.
He hopes to have a simi-
lar reception for ClearPine in
Sisters. He notes that lower
land prices have allowed for
a lower price point.
photo provided
The abandoned mill site gradually decayed.
photo provided
The Lundgren Mill operated into the 1960s. Now it will be the site of a housing development.
There has been consider-
able concern for the creation
of lower-cost housing in
Sisters — homes that families
can afford, which can sup-
port the local economy and
bring children into the Sisters
School District.
While the City of Sisters
will require eight officially
defined “affordable” units
to be built as part of a later
phase of the development,
Hall acknowledges that gen-
eral affordability is in the
eye — and wallet — of the
beholder.
“The community has been
saying ‘Can you build lower-
cost housing,’” Hall said. “It’s
really hard if you want quality
housing… I’m not an afford-
able-housing developer. It’s a
very defined art.”
Hall said that spec build-
ers will be seeking “to build
homes that are not too pricey.”
“We’re creating an upscale
neighborhood at a reasonable
price point,” Hall said.
Future phases include cot-
tage clusters on smaller lots
that will sell in the $250,000
to $300,000 range.
“The cottage isn’t a family
product,” Hall said. “It’s most
likely a retirement product.”
We’re creating an
upscale neighborhood at
a reasonable price point.
— Peter Hall
Townhomes that will be
part of later phases will be
ClearPine’s most affordable
product, Hall said.
There will also be a
ClearPine park in the devel-
opment, which may be turned
over to the City of Sisters as a
public space.
Hall anticipates buildout
of all phases to happen rela-
tively quickly — at the latest
summer of 2019.
“It’s quite possible that
they will be constructed
sooner,” he said.
The new development
isn’t likely to put much inven-
tory into Sisters’ very tight
rental market. While hom-
eowners can certainly rent
their property, Hall envisions
the ClearPine buyer as a resi-
dent or second-home owner.
Patty Cordoni of Cascade
Sotheby’s, the listing agent,
says that the proximity to the
National Forest is indicative
of the kind of homeowner
who is likely to be interested.
She said a ClearPine home
will “appeal to those who
want to go out their front
door and do their recreation…
This is going to appeal to the
people who want to move out
of Bend to Sisters” as well as
to people looking to come to
Sisters from the west side of
the mountains.
For more information con-
tact Cordoni at 541-771-0931.