The future common room of the new Redmond campus for Shepherd's House sits under construction at 1350 S. Highway 97. The low-barrier shelter will be a first in Redmond and will provide 44 beds and three meals per day for those experiencing homelessness.

Redmond saw no shortage of housing drama in the last year as the city’s population continued to approach 40,000 and the number of long-term residents experiencing homelessness continued to increase.

This increase in homelessness has continued despite a drop in home prices over the last year. According to Beacon Appraisal Group, the median home sale price in Redmond sat at $500,000 in Jan. 2022 but fell to $420,000 by Jan. 2023.

Redmond also saw an increase in the development of new multi-family buildings while the number of single-family home developments decreased, according to city documents.

Redmond saw a 55% decrease in permits for single-family homes between 2021 and 2022 but a 43.6% increase in multi-family units. The total valuation of new multi-family developments jumped from $18.8 million in 2021 to $32.6 million in 2022.

However, there was an decrease in the number of units permitted. The city permitted a total of 630 units in 2021 and 437 units in 2022. However, not all units are built in the same year they are permitted.

According to John Roberts, Redmond deputy city manager, Obsidian Apartments also opened last year and added 180 units to the city’s portfolio. Meanwhile, Canal Commercial near Ridgeview High School will add eight more units.

“We have aggressive targets,” Roberts said. “Our goal is to balance the needed housing with creating complete neighborhoods that are livable.”

Roberts expects to see more infill proposals and anticipates receiving a couple of large annexation requests.

After taking office in January, Redmond’s new city council spent the first few months in a haze that saw numerous housing projects jolt forward in rapid succession.

In March, the council awarded a master developer to the 450-unit Northpoint Vista mixed-income housing project, purchased an 8.35-acre property to turn into workforce housing and channeled nearly $1 million of grant funding to housing projects.

This includes $440,000 to Housing Works, which plans to demolish the 16-unit Spencer Court Apartments and rebuild them into a total of 60 units — adding 44 apartments to the city’s offerings.

Spencer Court is currently reserved as affordable housing for seniors. The new development would open it for all who meet income requirements and made less than $37,800 of income in 2022. Shepherd’s House Ministries also received $450,000 from grant funding to build the city’s first year-round, full-time, low-barrier shelter. Work began in 2022 with the aim of opening the shelter in the fall of 2023.

According to Andrew Hoeksema, Redmond director for Shepherd’s House Ministries, the shelter will offer 44 beds, showers, three free daily meals and case management for those experiencing homelessness.

The shelter will be added to the still short list of offerings in Redmond after Bethlehem Inn opened a nearly 90-person transitional shelter in town in 2022.

Also included in the grant funding was $62,000 to Habitat for Humanity’s Cedar Townhomes project and $28,000 to Mountain View Community Development to look into building a proposed 45-spot recreational vehicle site.

Spots at the RV site would have reduced rates and would share space with the proposed Oasis Village transitionary shelter east of Redmond. Mountain View Community Development, Deschutes County and the city of Redmond are hoping to open the RV site by fall.

This comes as the Department of State Lands intends to remove some 100 people experiencing homelessness from land east of 17th Street and the Redmond Airport will remove around 40 people living on airport property. Mountain View Community Development also made strides to combat homelessness and pushed to open more sites for its Safe Parking Program which allows vetted candidates a place to live out of their vehicles for a limited time.

According to Rick Russell, executive director of Mountain View Community Development, the organization is hoping to bring the total number of sites from 12 to 39 in 2023, allowing another 27 families into the program. The list of upcoming and potential sites includes the Redmond Athletic Center, NeighborImpact, the Deschutes County Fairgrounds and another city-owned property.

According to Russell, the program is expected to hit somewhere between 60 and 80 participants if all of the proposed sites come online. But, he noted that participants must agree to look for more stable housing to join the program and that most stay for an average of four to six months.

Russell said there are likely around 20 people who have moved on from the program into more stable housing since its inception. Having 35 to 40 sites available, he said, doesn’t mean helping just 35 to 40 people. Instead, they can help more than that over the years.

“Every site is a household,” Russell said. “We really do get a mix of individuals and families.”