New developer takes over portion of Dahlgren project, will break ground in June

Developer, New Home Co. has taken over a long-planned 80-unit housing community in North Bend

By Conor Wilson • May 24, 2023 1:59 pm

A California-based developer has taken over a housing project in North Bend, with plans to break ground next month.

Developer New Home Co. (NHC) announced in a statement earlier this month that it will break ground on a community of 80 stacked-housing flats near the intersection of North Bend Way and 436th Avenue.

Those units have been in North Bend’s development discussions for at least the last six years. They are part of a larger multi-family housing project planned for the former Dahlgren Property, previously called the mule pasture.

“These are the same units under a new developer,” Bre Keveren, a spokesperson for the City of North Bend, wrote in an email. The project’s original developer, Cedar River Developers, submitted a building application for the Dahlgren Property as far back as 2017, according to prior Valley Record reporting.

The application aimed to build 212 housing units, including 80 apartments and 132 townhomes. But the project has faced delays. Cedar River sold a majority of the property for $31 million last year.

A five acre portion was retained by a company associated with Cedar River. NHC purchased that five-acre plot for $8 million last month, according to King County Property Records.

They will take over the construction of the 80 apartment units as originally planned. The remaining 132 townhomes will continue being built by Tri Pointe Homes, another developer, said Keveren, the city spokesperson.

“[NHC] is purchasing the stacked flats product. Tri Pointe will continue to build out the townhome product,” she said. “All with the same units as previously approved.”

NHC recently expanded their reach to the Northwest. The North Bend community – called Rivercrest – will be its first project in Washington. Rivercrest will feature 80 units split evenly between eight buildings.

Units will range from 648 to 1,137 square feet with up to three bedrooms, two bathrooms, eight single-car garages and a driveway. An explicit price has not been given, but units are anticipated to be “below the comparable market,” according to an NHC statement.

Rivercrest, which is expected to break ground in June, is one of several housing projects NHC hopes to build on the Eastside over the next 18 months. That will come after they close additional land deals, they said.

“We’re going to move fast, starting with the construction at Rivercrest,” Brandon Scheibner, president of NHC’s Washington Division, said in a statement.

Rivercrest homes are scheduled to be occupied by early 2024.

Read more by Snoqualmie Valley Record here.