SUmmary of 9/26 meeting about proposed senior housing at Mt Washington & Shevlin Roundabout

About 20 neighbors attended a preliminary meeting with representatives of William Smith Properties and Mountain West, who will develop and operate a market-rate, 55+ apartment complex on land owned by COCC.

Another neighborhood meeting, as required by City policies, will happen this fall. Neighbors within 500 feet of the property and the Summit West and River West neighborhood associations will be notified of that meeting.

This meeting was intended to present very early concepts regarding the plan for the property and to solicit neighbors' concerns.

The plan is for about 110 units, made up of studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments. The exact mix has not been decided on. A single, 4-story building is envisioned, which will be located close to the Mt. Washington side of the property. A long flat wall will be avoided by angling sections of the building to create some visual relief and distance from the sidewalk. Parking will be to the south and east of the building, and is expected to exceed city requirements. The developer is not intending to request any variances, and will be working toward a plan that complies with City code.

Recognizing that there is essentially no street parking near the property, Mountain West said they are committed to providing and managing parking spaces to ensure that the needs of residents are met onsite. As a build-and-hold developer of senior and multifamily apartments, they use onsite managers to actively monitor and control issues like parking.

In a novel arrangement for Bend, the land will continue to be owned by COCC, which will do a long-term lease with the developers. The objective of this and other projects on the college's property near the roundabout is to generate a long-term revenue stream to supplement other funding sources.

The concerns raised by those in attendance included: avoiding spill-over parking on nearby streets; providing safe ingress and egress, especially at peak traffic times; the height and mass of the building, which some felt was out-of-character for the neighborhood; and the number of units and cars that would generate trips at an already busy roundabout. One person also asked that efforts be made to plan a sustainable and energy-efficient building.