Majority of lots at 15th Street and Reed Market Road would be town houses
Pahlisch Homes hopes to start construction this summer on a new subdivision at the busy intersection of 15th Street and Reed Market Road in southeast Bend.
Town houses would take up the majority of 120 lots in Luderman Crossing, according to plans the company filed with the city of Bend. Pahlisch intends to purchase about 16.5 acres on the southwest corner of the intersection.
Most of the property is the former Luderman Ranch. Hayden Homes met with city planners in 2017 to talk about its tentative plan for single-family homes, or a combination of single-family and multifamily buildings, but didn’t move forward.
“Southeast Bend is getting hammered with development, and it’s being very short-sighted because we don’t have the infrastructure to handle it,” said Beth Larsen, a southeast Bend resident who attended a neighborhood meeting with Pahlisch representatives early this year. Larsen also is unhappy because developing the formerly rural property will mean removing trees — more than 200, according to a development summary.
Residents of Luderman Crossing would have to use the Reed Market Road roundabout in order to go any direction except south on 15th Street. There would be access to and from the neighborhood on Reed Market Road west of the roundabout, plans show, but it would allow right turns only.
The new Pahlisch subdivision would extend west to the railroad tracks, which cross Reed Market and cause traffic stoppages on the road.
“Personally, I’m for town houses,” said James Dorofi, chairman of the Old Farm District Neighborhood Association.
Sixty-two of the 120 lots would be for town homes, according to plans filed with the city. Pahlisch has other town house developments in Bend. At McCall Landing, a project begun before the last recession, the company built and sold more than 60 town houses, Chad Bettsworth, director of land development, said in an email.
Dorofi said he’s disappointed that the development doesn’t provide space for businesses within walking distance of the homes.
“Everybody in this area would’ve been absolutely stoked if there was a pizza place, another restaurant or two,” he said.
The city would have allowed a limited commercial component on 2.3 acres at the corner of 15th and Reed Market, but Pahlisch believes residential is the “highest and best use of the property,” Bettsworth said.
Pahlisch plans to create a pocket park at that corner, plans show. The neighborhood also would have a multiuse path on the western boundary near the railroad tracks.
Pahlisch will be the exclusive builder in the subdivision, Bettsworth said. Town houses will be around 1,400 square feet, and single-family homes will range from 1,500 square feet to 2,600 square feet, he said.
By: Kathleen McLaughlin, The Bulletin on April 11, 2019