A Salem developer hopes to bring over 100 new single-family homes to Keizer.
Plans submitted to the city of Keizer for a new subdivision, which divides one large property into smaller properties for individual homes, detail 118 lots large enough for detached homes and eight sized for townhomes on roughly 22 acres at 5710 Windsor Island Road N.
Shane Witham, city planning director, said the proposal would be the largest new subdivision in several years due to Keizer’s limited supply of land open for development
He said Keizer’s previous large residential developments were mostly built when sizable property was available between the 1980s and early 2000s, but most land within the city boundaries is now developed.
“In the last many years, we have not had any large tracts of land. We just don’t,” Witham said.
According to the developer’s plans, the acreage is currently occupied by one house, a cell tower, farm fields and farm buildings.
The property is part of two land parcels, totaling over 36 acres. A concurrent land application seeks to adjust the property lines to make a roughly 22-acre property and a 14-acre property.
The land is zoned for agricultural and industrial use. Pacific National Development seeks to build on the 22-acre land and asked the city to adjust its existing land use designations for the property to allow for housing.
The application material shows the area is currently owned by Olson Sisters LLC, Karen S. Glaser Irrevocable Family Protection Trust, the Kerr Living Trust and Ramey Family Trust.
The city will hold a public hearing on the new subdivision and amending its comprehensive plan and zoning at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 8. Witham said the Keizer City Council will ultimately decide the land-use changes after receiving a recommendation from a hearings officer based on his determination and public testimony.
Serge Serdsev, president of Pacific National Development, said the company hopes to build detached homes ranging between 1,600 and 2,200 square feet, priced at roughly $500,000.
The townhomes would be roughly 1,500 square feet and priced in the mid to upper $300,000s.
The developer’s long application outlines how the project would help fill a housing need in Keizer. The application refers to a Housing Needs Analysis adopted by the city council in 2013, and a draft update to it in 2021. They note a gap between the demand for single-family housing development and the amount of land available to build on.
The 2013 report highlighted a need for an additional 268 acres of land for housing by 2033.
Serdsev said Keizer has a demand for new homes, noting the lack of land available to build them over the last two decades. He said the developer determines housing demand through conversations with real estate agents, assessing houses available on the market and construction projects underway or beginning soon.
“There is a housing shortage in general in the state of Oregon, and places like Keizer that have a shortage in land,” Serdsev said, adding that he believes the project will help remedy this issue.
The developer hopes to break ground in 2027.
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