City of North Bend release - NORTH BEND, Ore. — The City of North Bend has been awarded a $100,000 grant from Business Oregon’s Housing Infrastructure Support Fund to move pre-development work forward on the planned transformation of the former Coos County Courthouse Annex into much-needed workforce housing. The award, formally approved Dec. 10 under the project title “North Bend Housing Pre-Design Engineering & Infrastructure Financing Strategies,” will pay for engineering, environmental and historic-preservation work needed to prepare the blighted downtown property for eventual demolition and redevelopment. City Administrator David A. Milliron said the grant marks a major step toward realizing the shared vision of the North Bend City Council and the North Bend Urban Renewal Agency to convert the long-vacant annex into new homes for local workers and families. “This funding fills a critical gap between vision and construction,” Milliron said. “It allows us to complete the upfront engineering, environmental review and State Historic Preservation Office and Brownfield requirements so the annex site can be safely cleared and made ready for high-quality workforce housing in the heart of downtown.” According to the award summary from Business Oregon, the city will use the grant to hire a licensed engineer to perform pre-design work at the site and to bring on consulting support to develop regional infrastructure financing strategies and other technical assistance. That work will help the city refine the layout of future buildings and utilities, evaluate seismic and environmental conditions, plan necessary street and utility upgrades, and assemble a financing package that can braid state, federal and local funds. The annex project is envisioned as a multi-story, mixed-income development with dozens of new apartments aimed at teachers, health-care workers, first responders and other critical members of the local workforce. Milliron said the state grant will complement previously secured federal funding and position the project to compete for additional housing and infrastructure dollars in coming years. “North Bend has been aggressive about pursuing every available tool to tackle our housing shortage,” he said. “By investing in this pre-design and planning work now, we make the annex site ‘shovel-ready’ and much more competitive for construction funding.” Business Oregon’s award letter notes that the project must follow state procurement rules and that a financing contract, outlining all terms and conditions, will be executed before expenses are eligible for reimbursement. Milliron expressed gratitude to the city’s state and federal partners for their ongoing support of housing efforts on the South Coast. “We are deeply thankful to Sen. Dick Anderson, Rep. Boomer Wright, U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, and Congresswoman Val Hoyle for championing investments in housing in and around North Bend,” he said. “Their advocacy has helped unlock dollars like this grant and other critical funding that will ultimately put roofs over people’s heads.” The annex housing project is a centerpiece of North Bend’s broader strategy to revitalize its downtown, replace blighted properties with productive uses and expand the supply of attainable housing. City leaders say adding new homes near jobs, transit and services will support local businesses, stabilize the workforce and strengthen the tax base over time. Next steps include executing the grant contract with Business Oregon, issuing competitive solicitations for engineering and consulting services, and beginning the technical studies and planning work outlined in the application. Once pre-development is complete and additional financing is secured, the city will move into demolition and construction phases. “This is a long, complex project, but every milestone like this brings us closer to seeing families living where an empty building stands today,” Milliron said. “North Bend is committed to turning the annex from a symbol of disinvestment into a model of what small coastal cities can do to address housing needs.”