Outlot two plans taking shape
By Jerry W. Kram
Next year should see a major boost to New Town’s affordable housing stock as the city’s plans to develop Outlot 2 move forward, the council was told at a special meeting on Friday.
Outlot 2 is a 14 acre property located on what is know as Sand Hill. The city has been working for three years to find a developer that would build on the land in exchange for eight units the city would own for city employee housing.
After a number of developers presented plans for homes the city council deemed unaffordable, it decided to use oil impact grant money to install the water, sewer and streets to save that cost to potential developers. It was estimated that would cut the cost of a home on the development by as much as $30,000 a lot. The city awarded the project to Eagle Rock Timber. Rick Gokey, of Eagle Rock Timber, told the council the infrastructure project would be finished in about two weeks. The only thing left to do is putting down asphalt on the streets.
Steve Ike, with Estvold-Ackerman Engineering, presented the council with a draft request for proposals for developers to build homes on Outlot 2. The proposal calls for bids on building 14 duplexes and nine single family homes in the development. The duplexes would have two to four bedrooms and would be priced from $100,000 to $132,000 for a two bedroom and $137,500 to $181,000 for a four bedroom home.
