The apartments under construction on East First Avenue in Albany looked like this on May 6, 2024.
With all the agitation about housing growth in Albany, a three-story apartment house being built at 650 First Ave. S.E. got my attention last week.
A bike ride took me past the place on May 6. I had written about the project before, just about a year ago, when a site plan for this location was under review by the city’s planning division.
The owner and builder is Sly Toran, a drywall contractor in Gervais. He got a building permit for 650 East First on the last day of January this year. The structure has gone up quickly since then.
The building will have six apartments of 963 square feet each, according to the building permit. Each unit will have two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
There are no garages, but the site plan called for 15 off-street parking spaces plus a rack with room for six bicycles.
The city permit valued the structure at about $866,000. Including systems development charges and other fees, the permit cost the builder $59,143.
Why did I think the project is noteworthy? For several reasons:
It increases housing opportunities near downtown.
It makes use of a long-vacant lot in a mixed-use zone where apartments are allowed. It destroys no farmland.
It requires no new streets or utilities, connecting to existing water and sewer lines.
Situated between two well used thoroughfares, these six apartments will not increase traffic congestion in any noticeable way.
And no trees had to be cut down before construction began.
That’s the kind of modest housing growth in a small town like Albany that it is nice to see. (hh)
I agree, Hasso. Thank you for the picture and the story.
If possible, please let us know what will be the estimated monthly rent for an apartment in this building. Thank you.
That was my question too. We need affordable housing options.
Looking at rates of current apartments in the area, with how large they are and the amenities Hasso mentioned I would expect around $1600/month, and wouldn’t be surprised by it being a hundred or so more.
Great location Downtown as well – glad to see the property utilized in a good way!
If you do the math, these 6 apartments are cheaper than the $174,000 being spent per unit on Waverly in whatever they call that mess.
Mr. Hering, it is good to hear about a very positive build as you say. Albany has a wealth of positive growth opportunities that are available like this. No one lost their home, business or suffered any other losses to create the opportunity to make more homes. Success does not have to have losers to make it more valuable and the rewards greater. This is proof it can be done. It is a complete success when everyone can be happy that what you have done is part of the solution and not part of the problem.
For all the positive attributes listed; makes me conclude the $59K building fee are exorbitant. Really–that is a lot of money–how can that be justified.
It is remarkable how much the people of Albany intently focus on the construction of apartment buildings. Does this “concern” arise from sheer boredom or deep-seated fear that apartment dwellers are akin to the Walking Dead, inevitably consuming the landed gentry.
Is anybody, such as yourself, who owns a home landed gentry or do you just like English books?
So Mr Hartman, do you not live in a single family home in an area south of Walmart which is devoid of apartments? Easy to be skeptical of others if you do not have the crowding pressure that others experience.
It is remarkable how much the people of Albany intently focus on the construction of apartment buildings. Does this “concern” arise from sheer boredom or deep-seated fear that apartment dwellers are akin to the Walking Dead, inevitably consuming the landed gentry.
Is there a particular reason why you are being insulting and condescending? How does such asinine behavior contribute to a healthy discussion?
Albany may be the county seat, have an almost 60k population and the largest town in Linn County, but note I said town as opposed to city…that is because we are still rural. You have only to drive a short distance and it’s all farmland. And therein lies one of the issues…the destruction of farmland. It might surprise you to know that food isn’t grown/raised in the grocery store…it’s grown/raised on farms.
Then there is the fact that apartments are being touted as the cure to the housing crisis because you can build up…put three families in the same space as one, but is it? When you consider that the birth rate is less than half of what it was just 50 years ago why do we need more housing? And why, when we supposedly have a housing ‘shortage’, do we have so many vacate home…approximately 10% according to the national average and half of those are rental properties? Is there really a housing shortage or is there a shortage of affordable housing? Because we keep building apartments, but the rents aren’t going down.
PS – Zombies aren’t real.
Yes, Tom, of course $59K is a lot of money. But what causes you to conclude that the fees are exorbitant?
Hasso, could you ask the city for a short explanation of how they come up with their figures for this sort of thing? I presume math is involved.
Thank you.
You can look up the building permit online. It spells out all the components that add up to the total.
Because $58,000 divided by $50 per City plan review hour; is 1160 review hours.
That exceeds half a year for one staff person to review and approve the plan. Of course it is exorbitant. I recall the city formed a cmte to reduce permit costs–must have missed this one..
The permit fee total includes systems development charges for streets, water, sewer and parks, along with various state fees. Plan review fees are a small part.
Makes one wonder what they do with the “street” money?
Hasso, you’re running a fools errand. Most of your regular commenters will simply not accept any positive news about our community, perpetually finding ways to inject their vinegar into even the smallest of successes.
Hasso, thank you for the positive noteworthy housing article and including the reasons for why.
I wholeheartedly agree and hope to see common sense decisions/similar new housing in the many long-vacant lots within the city where mixed-zone apartments are allowed and would be easily supported by existing infrastructure.