The fire-ravaged community of Blue River is getting six new homes, to help rebuilding efforts.
Billed as the Blue River Affordable Housing Project, it’ll consist of six three-bedroom, two-bathroom homes. The Rose Street Cottages which will be built of fire-resistant materials.
Brandi Crawford Ferguson is with the McKenzie Community Land Trust (MCLT), which has teamed up with Springfield-based DevNW on the project. She told KLCC that the goal is to help working class residents get re-established three years after the Holiday Farm Fire.
“We lost over 500 homes,” said Ferguson. “Only 30% have been rebuilt in the entire McKenzie Corridor that was impacted. That is not a huge percentage in comparison to the other communities of those Labor Day fires.”
In a release, Emily Reiman, executive director of DevNW, said “Homeownership is key to working class families’ ability to better their financial stability and build generational wealth.”
Lane County has awarded $800,000 to the partnership, on top of over $1 million provided by the Oregon Housing and Community Services LIFT program.
Residents across the McKenzie River Corridor say the permitting process, finding qualified contractors, and affording materials have all factored into challenges with rebuilding. The area remains lucrative for the real estate market, with the MCLT saying a review of Zillow data shows the cost of the typical Blue River home last December has increased roughly 28% over two years.
