The northwest corner of Second Avenue and Cleveland Street is no longer a vacant lot.
Cold rain did not exactly make Wednesday a great day for riding bike, but I managed to get out during an afternoon break in the storm.
Looking around on my ride through Albany’s Willamette Neighborhood, one thing I noticed was the speed of construction of a duplex at the northwest corner of Cleveland Street and Second Avenue
I had passed that corner toward the end of October, when the subfloor was still unfinished. On Wednesday I was surprised that the duplex looked just about completed, at least on the outside.
This looks like the kind of duplex that is popping up all over Albany on formerly vacant lots.. It counts as middle housing, which state and local land use policy is trying to encourage in traditional single-family residential neighborhoods.
This kind of infill strikes me as a good way to increase the Oregon housing supply because it makes use of existing streets and utility systems that are already built to accommodate residential uses on the available lots.
In this particular case, adding density via middle housing also is not likely to cause parking difficulties. As you can see, the people eventually living in these two units can park in their garages and on the driveway apron in front.
The city permit tells us that Bontrager Construction of Albany is building this 2,638-square-foot project. The Building Division of the Albany Community Development Department values the construction at about $468,000.
Besides a garage, each of the two units has two bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms.
To me it looks like a useful addition to a nice, quiet neighborhood. Even when it rains. (hh)
The building site at Second and Cleveland looked like this on Oct. 28, 2025.
On Wednesday the new duplex on the corner looked like this.
It makes perfect sense, which is surprising. But the governor overrode what Albany wanted, which was no new multiple occupancy housing in existing neighborhoods and no “mother-in-law” units in backyards. That was a few years back at the end of Sharon Konopa’s Albany mayorial-ship. (Auxiliary housing units in a backyard are called “mother-in-law” units because women tend to outlive men. On average, men do not take as good of care of their health or accept aging as well as women.)
Yes. Infill is a reasonable type of middle housing.
Did you also notice the great job done on the house next to it? As a regular visitor to our neighborhood you have to remember the rotting wreck of a house that used to be there. I have some experience with older houses in the neighborhood, and there is not much that I consider beyond salvage, but I thought that one was one good wind away from falling down. Maybe with more people living there with a stake in the future we will see fewer shopping carts and unwanted traffic under the bridge there. A whole lot of positive things going on in the neighborhood.
Such a great way to increase housing opportunities for young people and families!
Unfortunately it still doesn’t help with affordability. I live in an older two-bedroom, 1 bath duplex; going rate is around $1300-$1400. But it comes with a single car garage and washer/dryer hook-up which bumps it up to $1400-$1700. The one above…extra half-bath and being new will start at $1700, but will probably be closer to $2000.
I make a fairly decent wage an all, but after I pay my expenses for working (fuel, maintenance, clothing, food) plus insurance and 401(k)…that’s 60% of my paycheck.