A Vancouver-based real estate developer has proposed a 37-lot single-family housing development just south of Northeast 88th Street in Northeast Hazel Dell.
County planning documents show Provision Group proposed the Hidden Pine Compact Subdivision on a 3.57-acre site west of Northeast St. Johns Road, north of Northeast 78th Street and east of Northeast Highway 99. Lots would range from 2,800 square feet to 4,600 square feet.
While Hidden Pine would add to the county’s housing stock, building has dropped overall.
In the past 12 months, Clark County approved about 900 lots for development in unincorporated areas. That’s a decline from three years ago when construction was booming. About 1,500 lots were approved during the same period in 2021.
The Clark County Council opened about 2,100 acres to new residential development in the Interstate 5-Northeast 179th Street area in 2019. A county spokeswoman said this likely influenced the number of lots approved for development in the following months.
But higher interest rates and inflation have squeezed developers ever since, hindering the homebuilding industry.
“It is a very challenging environment to get new development projects underwritten and approved,” Phil Wuest, president and chief development officer at Vancouver developer Ginn Group, told the Columbian in November 2023.
Alaina Robertson, Portland division president of Arizona-based Taylor Morrison construction company, said last month interest rates are still having an impact on the industry, especially residential projects.
The state projects Clark County needs to build 100,000 more homes, apartments or other dwellings in the next 20 years to meet demand.
The county council approved a Housing Options Study and Action Plan earlier this year, which allowed development on smaller lots than previously allowed to help boost the area’s affordable housing supply.
