This is a concept drawing of what the area north of Spicer Drive might some day look like from the air.
Does Albany need or want a whole bunch of new buildings including tall apartment houses east of Interstate 5?
On Wednesday, three council members said no. But three others said yes, and they had the mayor on their side.
The result: Albany will annex 11 tax lots totaling about 37 acres between Spicer Drive and the Walmart supercenter. This paves the way for a consortium of developers, lawyers and architects to pursue a construction project they call the “East Albany Town Center.” The group is organized as a limited liability corporation, whose agent is listed a Damon Olsen of North Albany.
The Town Center’s concept calls for more than 900 housing units in various configurations including some seven-story apartment blocks, plus commercial spaces.
Council members Carolyn McLeod, Michael Thomson and Steph Newton opposed the annexation as unnecessary or going against the sentiments about growth expressed in last fall’s community survey. Marilyn Smith, Chris Van Drimmelen and Ramycia McGhee voted for it.
Mayor Alex Johnson II broke the tie and voted “yes.”
For more on the discussion, I refer you to Hans Boyle’s excellent story in the Albany Democrat-Herald.
The push for this annexation was on since the council last year approved a staff request to have the city itself be the applicant, saving the developers the trouble.
The main question is whether Albany needs a lot more housing east of the freeway. That question may arise again if and when individual elements of the “town center” come up for approval of site plan details. (hh)
This is the land proposed for the “East Albany Town Center” as I saw it in May 2023 from this dead end of Timber Street.
Much better there where there’s existing or nearby infrastructure that can support it than in N. Albany where there is not which hasn’t deterred the city or developers.
We don’t need any more apartments. Obama started this, you will own nothing and be happy about it. It just brings in more traffic and basically temporary residents.
Besides the apartments are ugly to look at.
Obama?
Obama’s Housing Development Toolkit.
Barack Obama advocates for increasing housing supply by removing restrictive zoning laws that hinder construction, focusing on dense, multifamily, and affordable housing to combat high costs. His approach encourages building more rental units, accessory dwelling units, and higher-density, transit-oriented development to improve affordability and housing access.
National Archives (.gov)
This looks like a healthy development in an area that needs it. Growth is good, if planned and controlled for the benefit of all parties, including existing neighbors. The idea of a “town center” is also in keeping with the idea of “walkability”. I am now in a city that is 30 miles long from end to end (Scottsdale) and we have several town centers to make that length workable. But they never replace “Old Town” which is the original town center that has unique attractions. Hopefully Albany continues to protect its / our “old town” center and keep it vital
Albany is big enough. No more development! Restore what is already here.
i agree growth in Albany has gotten totally out of control!!
we don’t need more people traffic is already a nightmare!
Translation: Now that I have mine, you should stay away………
We lived on Spicer Drive around the corner from Home Depot from 1995-2017 and at that time up to Three Lakes Road was County not City limits. We had county taxes and not city which was a blessing. I’m wondering if any of this has been addressed about annexing this portion into the City of Albany. Back in 1995 there was a plan in the works to do just that and have a cul-de-sac at the end of Spicer before Three Lakes Rd. I think that changed when they put in the fire station on Three Lakes Road otherwise you wouldn’t be able to access that area with the fire trucks. We were also told at that time that the area that is being developed was wetlands and some of the property owners on that side of Spicer had to get flood insurance. That road already has a substantial amount of traffic and I can’t imagine adding another street that will go into that section. The property owners will most likely have to pay for improvements on their street for sidewalks etc which will cost them a lot of money. It is a very narrow road and not much area for improvements to make it wider. Just a thought. More things to make the traffic heavier than it already is on Hwy 20. They really need to do something with the Grand Prairie area and make it an entrance to the freeway if they are going to add all this extra stuff.
Simple question…with all the people leaving Oregon, where are all these people coming from that supposedly will fill up all these apartments? Would be interesting to see a growth chart.
There is no job market to support more housing. That would just make it transitory housing for people to eventual move down to Eugene or up to Portlandia. This isn’t a build it and they will come scenario. Time for new leadership in the city government. This group has lost touch of what the people want a long time ago.
How about the city focus on a Hwy 20 bypass bridge that goes around downtown rather than through it? And not a Millersburg bridge to dump even more traffic onto Springhill, it’s already a Salem highway.
Ohh, my the sky is falling. Ai is gonna take over all those jobs at ATI and Oregon Freeze Dry as well!
Not going to happen.
And all those schools are closing in Albany!
Wait…which schools?
And no jobs right?
I challenge you to look at indeed today and tell me there are no jobs available. My neighbor’s on the east side all work out of town and every single one of them pays property taxes to Linn County and the City.
Do the mayor and the councilors not read the news? Oregon has the 4th highest unemployment rate of all 50 states. Intel and Nike and other companies have had big lay-offs. A.I. is taking over the jobs. Schools are closing due to lack of students. And, yes, people do drive to Portland to work, if they have a job there.
Albany does not have the money to keep up with the costs of running a city…think roads, police dept., fire dept. Also, Samaritan, our main health care provider in this area, has gone into partnership with a Washington State outfit in order to stay afloat.
As Tony Ro said, “there is no job market to support more housing.”
I meant to type “Tony Yo,” but I typed “Tony Ro.” Sorry
Reality bites Tony… With all the land acquisition required, the bridges you envision will take a generation plus to come to fruition. Nevermind that the Millersburg option option is off-the-table anyway since we get no say in what they do with their property… But, lobby your city councilors…