Condon Baseball field housing project inches toward completion

The old Condon Baseball field housing development saw a burst of activity in July – as foundations for two more developments were poured and a duplex completed framing and roofing work. A sidewalk was also finished on Jefferson Street.

The old baseball field was gifted to the City of Condon from the Condon School District in 2021. The city sold the property, six lots in total, to developer Amy Coy, who built one house and sold the other five lots.

The city required developers to construct stick-built homes and no manufactured homes were allowed at the development.

The Pioneer Community Development Corporation (PCDC) acquired two lots under the name Condon Ballfield, LLC. One lot is under construction-a duplex that will provide housing for Frontier 911 staff. The lot is on the Southeast corner of the subdivision, and workers recently completed roofing and framing at the property. The second lot owned by PCDC is at the northwest corner of the development and has not yet taken shape.

However, two other developments are underway, and workers poured a large amount of concrete this week in preparation. The two lots will be fourplex apartment units that will be constructed this year. David Campbell of Oregon City owns the lots.

Owners were given three years by the Condon City Council to complete construction on the properties. However, due to the pandemic and challenges in supply chain those deadlines were extended.

The development is a significant one for Condon. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) built several homes in the 1970s, but large scale development of that sort has not happened since.

The Condon City Council has taken a proactive stance, as has Pioneer CDC, to provide more housing for residents. Both the city and Pioneer CDC reluctantly entered the real estate market but did so as no developers were investing on construction in Condon.

In addition to the old Baseball Field, the City of Condon also took ownership of the old Condon Grade School. The city then gave the property to Environmental Sentry Corp, the nonprofit subsidiary of the Port of Arlington. The nonprofit applied for and received a $1 million grant for asbestos abatement and the removal of other hazardous materials.

It is possible that a housing project could emerge in the old Condon Grade School, should a developer show interest. It is also possible that the building is demolished and sold to a developer for additional housing lots, or potentially for recreation uses.