As we work to address the regional housing crisis, Washington County is collaborating with development partners and service providers to build and open affordable housing across our community. With this mission in mind, Washington County purchased the Elm Street property in October 2023.
The site was identified after our real estate team conducted a lengthy search for available, reasonably priced, and logistically feasible property for future affordable housing development in Forest Grove. This strategy helps us get ahead of the competitive real estate market to procure land for long-term affordable housing goals.
- Where: 1103-1105 Elm St, Forest Grove
- Property Size: 1.9 acres, able to support multi-family housing with 50 new homes
- Long-term Planned Property Use: Affordable Housing
Current Site Use
Now that Washington County has purchased the property, we will work with the Forest Grove Police Department to ensure the site remains vacant until the long-term use is determined and enforce the current Time Place Manner: Public Camping Ordinance that prohibits camping on the property for any amount of time.
If you see any activity on this site, or in case of an emergency please contact our facilities team at
503-846-8715.
There are no current plans to use this site for shelter. While we did explore immediate uses for the site, the current condition of the home would require significant modifications and renovations to be up to code, and staff have determined leaving the property vacant saves financial resources and staff capacity for more critical existing affordable housing and shelter needs.
Community based organizations interested in the future use of the site are welcome to reach out to the Homeless Services team directly at:
[email protected]
Long-term Site Use
Our goal is for the long-term use of the site to offer much needed affordable housing with wrap-around services. This use was determined in part because of the huge need for affordable housing, and particularly affordable housing with wrap-around services, in Forest Grove. Currently, we have affordable housing with wrap-around services operating in Tigard and Aloha, with planned capacity being added to Bethany/Cedar Hills and Tigard, but very few available or planned affordable housing and wrap-around services sites in Western Washington County.
There is a possibility the site could be used for a pod village shelter location, but at this time the site is not needed with locations currently identified in Cornelius, Hillsboro, and Aloha. If this site was needed for a temporary pod village shelter, it would be at least one year out, would operate for no more than two years, and be highly dependent on our construction timeline for the planned long-term use of affordable housing.
Development Approach
Although there is a lot of work to do determine project scope, it is likely the new development would be like the Valfre at Avenida 26. The Valfre is also in Forest Grove and consists of 2 and 3 story wood framed walk-up buildings with surface parking.
The County will work to develop the property through its Housing Authority. We are actively pursuing funding sources, and these sources will help shape programming, design, and site layout. In addition, development staff will consider feedback from community members to understand what is important to them throughout the process. It will likely take several years to secure funding and finalize programming and design, and then construction will take approximately 18 months.
Questions about the current status of the Elm Street Property? Email [email protected].