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SquareOne Villages says it hopes to start construction in 2027, after it recently bought the property, in the River Road neighborhood, from Our Redeemer Lutheran Church.
A local nonprofit housing developer plans to build a 44-unit affordable housing co-op on Maxwell Road, the organization said Monday, Aug. 11.
SquareOne Villages acquired Our Redeemer Lutheran Church’s 2.4-acre property at 255 Maxwell Road for $260,000 on July 31, communications manager Amanda Dellinger said. Construction is set to begin in spring 2027, and the organization will open applications for the homes in the summer or fall of 2028.
The co-op will serve households that make between 40% and 80% of the area median income. That’s about $25,680 to $51,360 per year for a single-person household in Lane County.
Of the 44 total units, there will be 12 studios, 16 one-bedrooms, a dozen two-bedrooms and four three-bedrooms, according to site plans. The homes will be attached, with four homes comprising one “pod,” Dellinger said. Each pod will have yard space.
It will be SquareOne Villages’ sixth limited-equity housing co-op in Lane County.
A housing co-op is a legal entity that owns real estate. Residents purchase a membership share in the cooperative, which gives them the right to occupy a dwelling for as long as they want, as long as they follow co-op policies and pay a monthly “carrying charge.” In a limited-equity co-op, the resale price of a resident’s membership share, if they decide to leave the co-op, is capped, in order to keep the housing affordable.
Dellinger said the church — which closed after its last service in February 2025 — offered to sell SquareOne Villages the property at below market price because the nonprofit intends to preserve all of the existing buildings, which comprise more than 16,000 square feet.
Such preserved structures include the former church, named Our Redeemer Hall on site plans, which the nonprofit is still determining how to repurpose, Dellinger said. The organization plans to memorialize the church’s role in the community with a plaque.
Other buildings on the Barton Drive side of the property, Busy Bees Preschool, the daycare’s playground and Annie Mims Community Garden will also be preserved.
Dellinger said the property serves as a “community hub,” providing resources to the neighborhood that SquareOne Villages plans to preserve. It will continue to offer a biweekly food pantry and a free organic produce market from the community garden two Saturdays a month, as was done before the church’s sale.
“We definitely see that as part of the church’s legacy, being that communal space, and I think that’s one of the big reasons why we were able to negotiate such an amazing price,” Dellinger said.
The developer will build more than 25,000 square feet of new residential buildings, according to site plans. Other than housing, new structures include a parking lot, laundry room, bike parking, trash room, low perimeter fencing on Maxwell Road, a patio and new trees.
Dellinger said SquareOne Villages will need to begin — and finish — construction on Rosa Village, a planned development at 2243 Roosevelt Blvd., before breaking ground on the Maxwell site. Construction for that property is set to begin in the fall.
Like other SquareOne Villages co-ops, the project will be funded through state and local sources. In June, Rosa Village received state funding from Oregon Housing and Community Services through the Local Innovation and Fast Track Homeownership Program, or LIFT, and the Oregon Affordable Housing Tax Credit.
Rosa Village’s award came after efforts to change the LIFT program’s rules to include co-ops, Dellinger said. SquareOne Villages will apply for $6,296,000 in LIFT funding for the Maxwell project in March 2026. It also must raise about $500,000 in private community donations. Fundraising is already underway.
