New study details Othello housing challenges

OTHELLO — The city of Othello doesn’t have enough housing to meet the demand, according to a study commissioned by city officials.

The study is part of the city’s “housing action plan,” designed to find ways city officials can improve housing availability.

“The housing action plan is an advisory document to the city council,” Othello Mayor Shawn Logan said. “We knew we had a (housing) shortage,” Logan said.

People who move to Othello because they have a job can’t find housing, and have to look elsewhere and commute. Or people who want to move to Othello can’t, because there’s no place to live.

“We recognize that as a problem and want to address it,” Logan said.

The study was done by Seattle-based BERK Consulting and the results detailed some of the housing shortfalls. Because supply is short, buying a house is too expensive for many Othello residents, or potential residents. Rental housing costs are rising as well. What buyers are looking for and what’s available don’t always match, and there’s not enough housing available for families with children. Options also are limited for farmworkers.

The study found about 45% of Othello residents can afford what it called an “average cost home,” which it estimated at about $221,900. The remaining 55% of residents would have to look for less expensive homes, what the study called a “bottom tier home,” with an average value of about $164,300.

About 41% of Othello households consist of one or two people, and about 26% are five or more people. There’s not enough housing for either group, according to the study. About 28% of available housing has one or two bedrooms, and about 16% has four or more bedrooms.

About 15% of Othello households have four residents. Since about 41% of Othello households have four or more people, the number of houses with four or more bedrooms falls well short of demand, the study said.

The most common form of housing in Othello, 56%, has three bedrooms.

Single-family homes make up most of the housing in Othello. They account for about 71% of available housing. About 13% is multi-family housing with five or more units, and about 5% is multi-family with three or four units.

Agriculture is critical to the Adams County economy, and the permanent and seasonal housing supply for agriculture workers doesn’t meet demand. The study estimated the city lacks about 1,260 units it needs for permanent farmworker housing, and accommodations are lacking for about 2,400 seasonal workers.

Rental housing options are limited as well. The study evaluated data for summer 2020, and determined the average rent of a two-bedroom dwelling, house or apartment, was about $1,038. People making 80% or more of the area’s median income -- $47,243 (according to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2019) -- could afford that.

A three-bedroom unit rented for an average of $1,314, which meant that families making the area’s median income couldn’t afford it. That price required an annual income of about $57,500, which is above the median income.

Rental housing is almost full, Logan said. The study showed 99.9% occupancy, and when rental housing comes on the market it goes in a hurry.

“It won’t take a week to rent a house,” he said.

The land within the existing townsite is almost all developed, Logan said, and as a result housing -- and annexation -- will have to expand beyond the current city limits. Logan said the area immediately north of Othello likely will be developed as an industrial area, given its proximity to the town’s existing industrial businesses. South of town there’s more room for housing.

“South has potential for both commercial and residential,” he said.

Land to the east of the existing city limits, between the city and state Route 17, is irrigated farmland, and developing that probably would be more expensive. Land to the west of town isn’t as developed.

“There are some obstacles (to development to the west),” Logan said, but he didn’t elaborate on those.

But city officials are looking at development in that direction as well.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.