Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Coast river business journal. (Astoria, OR) 2006-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 2022)
COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL BUSINESS NEWS JANUARy 2022 • 9 Continued from Page 8 They hope to fill the units with employees of Seaside Lodging and local businesses, as well as remote work- ers employed in cities like Portland and Seattle who have been moving to the coast since the pandemic started. Khan said they are seeking to reduce construction costs and find a balance between generating revenue and making rent affordable. “In terms of apartments, we need to solve the prob- lem, and this is a huge problem,” Khan said. “We are working on it because there is another piece there, the business. It’s not a charity. So we gotta figure out how to compromise the cost.” The River Run apartments are projected to cost $9.4 million to build, according to a Khan Properties presentation. Khan and Keck said the city has been supportive of the new developments. Keck said there have not been any significant challenges to development. “It creates a little bit more of a well-rounded commu- nity, like a little bit past the hospitality standpoint, more place for people to move to live as well. So, in my opin- ion, that’s the main goal,” Keck said. “And of course lov- ing the product because we have a lot of pride in what we build.” Limited areas for housing PHOTOS BY LYDIA ELY/THE ASTORIAN ABOVE: A lot on S. Holladay Drive in Seaside is one of the sites set for new housing. BELOW: Seaside is constrained on all sides by the ocean, rivers and a hillside creating limited areas to add housing. With limited buildable land, City Councilor Steve Wright said that new developments in Seaside are one factor of several needed to address housing issues. Wright is the head of Seaside’s recently formed hous- ing task force. Geographically, the city is constrained on all sides by the ocean, two rivers and a hillside. “Until we expand the urban growth boundary, we can’t really do much. That is a topic that’s going to come back again,” Wright said. He said that he considers Seaside to be on the fore- front of short-term rental requirements. The city has an enforcement officer who seeks out unlicensed renters. The task force has four members, but Wright hopes to expand it. “We’re just going to try to look at everything. This task force is not going to have any simple solutions,” Wright said. “We’ve probably already done everything that we can do that’s simple, and there’s probably not anything (that) is going to happen quickly.” Wright hopes to study and collaborate with other cit- ies facing similar problems, including Warrenton, Gear- hart and beyond the county in Hood River and Madras. Clatsop County Commissioner Lianne Thompson, who works with Wright on housing issues, said she hopes the housing solutions will balance community, environmental and economic needs. “Seaside’s a prime example,” Thompson said. “I hope that, going into the future, Clatsop County will be more engaged in collaborative policy setting, implement- ing with cities and the county, because it’s a team effort.” She hopes that housing solutions will be thoughtful, and keep the working class in mind. “Well, no matter what we’re doing, we need housing. It has to be thoughtfully done, or what you do is just pro- vide more wealth creation opportunities for a different class of people,” she said.
