A wave of middle housing projects could dent Keizer’s demand for affordable homeownership. 

Since January 2024, Keizer has added 36 duplexes and only four single-family homes, according to a city report.

Ilya Makarenko, co-owner of Comfort Homes, is among local developers who see opportunity in middle housing, defined as a dwelling unit of two or more connected units.

“We want to bring quality homes to Keizer and not be like cookie-cutter homes. We want to build a new product that is affordable but quality,” he said.

Comfort Homes, a developing company that opened in 1995, is currently building several units on Northeast Oppek Street. The project has four townhomes, two duplexes, and four single-family homes.

Makarenko said that duplexes are typically deeded as a single unit. Townhome deeds are split, however, so buyers can purchase one side.

The townhomes, which hover around 1,600 square feet on each side, will be sold for $440,000. The largest is 2,235 square feet and will be sold for $499,999.

What makes Keizer advantageous for middle housing developers?

“Keizer’s a good area because there’s not that much out there for new construction,” Makarenko said. “Because these houses are more affordable, it opens the door to more buyers.”

He said that the duplexes target first-time home buyers. Likely buyers include locals moving out of apartments and people from larger cities, such as Portland, seeking homeownership in a smaller town.

Bob Shackelford, a real estate agent with HomeSmart, said people seek property at the north end of Keizer because of its proximity to the interstate. That way, they can escape more expensive cities like Hillsboro or Beaverton, but cut down on the commute to Portland-area jobs.

Currently, Shackelford said that Keizer is a buyer’s market. HomeSmart has around 10 Keizer listings – significantly more than years previous. 

But interest rates exceeding 6% discourages people from buying, Shackelford said, even despite a dip in housing cost. 

“We have a lot of listings right now, but we’re not getting anything,” he said. “Everyone right now is waiting for the interest rates to drop.”

He’s also said there’s a rise in middle housing projects. Shackelford said Keizer’s main problem is its lack of bare land.

A city analysis done in 2021 reported that Keizer would need around 25 acres of land to accommodate the city’s growth over 20 years. The document predicted population increase of 5,000 between 2021 and 2041.

Shane Witham, Keizer’s planning director, said middle housing could possibly bypass that land shortage. A 2019 state bill redefined residential zoning, causing the middle housing influx, Witham said.

The bill allowed the construction of duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes in residential neighborhoods. It only recently went into effect, he said. Another law passed in June aims to simplify land-use restrictions to instigate middle housing developments.

“The vast majority of housing permits for the residential single-family zone have been for middle housing projects,” Witham said, speaking of Keizer specifically.

Keizer has other middle housing projects underway, including duplexes on Northeast Bair Road and a subdivision off of Northeast Clear Lake Road.

“I think the hope is that [middle housing] could represent an entry point into the market for first-time home buyers,” Witham said. “It does provide a product that is somewhere in between the detached single-family home and the straight multi-family apartment.”

He predicts the middle housing surge to persist. For developers, he said, it allows them to build less square footage while making more money. For first-time homebuyers, middle housing may represent the only avenue into the market.

The 2021 report wasn’t adopted by city planners. Keizer will work up a new report in the coming years. Witham doesn’t know the exact effects that middle housing will have on Keizer’s acreage shortage.

“With middle housing, you could basically fit more units, so it could reduce the need for more land,” he said.

News tip? Contact reporter Riley Ellis: [email protected]

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