MAYOR'S MESSAGE

The City is thrilled to issue a joint Press Release (see following) with Coos County and Compass Communities Englewood LLC regarding the housing development at the Englewood School site. This site and ultimate outcomes are exactly what collaboration looks and feels like: multiple parties coming together with no direct individual benefit, rather benefit for the greater good of the community.

The Englewood School was an asset to the Coos Bay community, serving students and their families for many years, before student populations resulted in realigning school facilities to students served and taking the School out of service, selling it to a private owner. Several years later, the School was destroyed by a fire and following that, was never maintained and became a public dumping ground, degrading both the property and neighborhood.

The first part of this long collaborative journey began by Coos County foreclosing the property for unpaid property taxes, providing for ownership transfer to the County and opening the door for redevelopment. The County began coordination originally with the City of Coos Bay and Oregon Coast Community Action (ORCCA) for a plan to move this property from the poor state it was in, to fully developed, with multifamily subsidized housing and a head start facility. The City of Coos Bay was able to access funds to clean up the site, helping to safeguard the property and reduce environmental impacts, pending development work by ORCCA. When ORCCA went through some organizational shifts, the County and City worked together to find a new development partner in NW Housing Alternatives. For several years, NW Housing Alternatives (NHA) attempted to obtain funding to support a multifamily subsidized housing development but without success. NHA began discussions with the City recently, wanting to get housing built sooner, but struggling to get funding and offering a solution to engage a different developer with a different funding strategy.

This transition brought Compass Communities Englewood into the collaboration. And with that shift, things have moved quickly since their initial introduction in May of 2025. This week, at the Planning Commission meeting, their land use application was approved. Over the last several months, teams from Coos County, City of Coos Bay, and Compass Communities have been working diligently to align efforts to get this project some strong momentum and closer to the finish line, all with the same collaboration focus – each party is willing to give something for the greater good of the Coos Bay community. This kind of collaboration is easy and comfortable for all parties, and results in immediate action, getting us closer to the end goal – housing. We expect to have 30 single-family homes, ownership model, built and inhabited by this time next year.

I am thankful for the strong support and teamwork each organization involved in the Englewood Project has put forth. It is projects like this that showcase what a great community we have and how working together with trusted partners can result in something bigger than we each could complete alone.

-Joe Benetti, Mayor of Coos Bay

News Source : https://www.facebook.com/672903211665184/posts/1175365234752310