BEND, OR -- For the first time, Bend Area Habitat for Humanity will build a townhouse in northeast Bend. Robin Cooper-Engle says the switch to multi-family housing is directly related to the cost of land inside the city. "Because of the families we’re serving – they’re lower income – if we’re buying land at top dollar, it doesn’t make it affordable for us to then build on it and sell it to a family, if it’s a single family lot. When we were looking at land and how quickly prices were going up, last year, we decided we needed make a change. We started looking at land that allowed us to build townhomes or duplexes."
She expect the nonprofit will continue to build traditional homes in Redmond, La Pine and other areas with lower land prices. But, she tells KBND News, "We will not be doing single-family homes, in the near future, anyway. So, this is our plan for the next few years. Now, if things change, like they do, in Bend then maybe there’s an opportunity. But, there’s not a lot of land left, even if it’s a single-family home, that would be right for what we build."