A roundtable on housing, held Thursday in Wenatchee, centered discussion on how the Wenatchee and Chelan Valleys will create the estimated 18,000 new houses needed in Chelan and Douglas counties over the next 20 years.
The Housing Our Valley Summit examined how to increase density, possibly through a concept of 'middle housing' development.
"That's the gap in housing types between single family homes up to multi-plex apartments. Things like duplexes and triplexes and townhomes," said Chelan Community Development Director John Ajax. "And we have a lot of that going on here in our downtown, particularly with the Chelan Valley Housing Trust. They've done an excellent job of re-purposing some lots that had single family homes and turning those into affordable townhomes. Strategies we're going to be looking moving forward at to incentive and encourage that sort of development in our downtown."
Proponents of the 'middle housing' idea believe this approach can make housing more affordable and reduce infrastructure costs.
Chelan Valley Housing Trust says on their website that they are in process of a Planned Development District Application with the City of Chelan for the construction of Chelan River Heights , 9.15 acres surrounded by views of the Butte, Stormy Mountain, and the Chelan River Gorge, located at 38 Anderson Road.
East Wenatchee Community Development Director Curtis Lillquist shared at the summit how East Wenatchee is planning for future growth by working toward more diverse and accessible housing options.
The state has determined that about 45% of the 18,000 new homes must be priced for households earning 80-percent of area median income, which is currently about $64,000.
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