81-Unit Development Will Help Address Critical Workforce Housing Shortage in Blaine County
KETCHUM, Idaho – The Public Finance Authority (PFA) has issued $21.48 million in revenue bonds to finance a new 81-unit multifamily workforce housing development for Wood River Community Housing Trust, Inc. (“WRCHT”), an Idaho nonprofit corporation. Bond proceeds will be loaned to River Bend Properties ID LLC, an Idaho limited liability company and wholly owned subsidiary of WRCHT that will own and operate the project.
WRCHT was formed specifically to address the lack of housing in the Wood River Valley, with a mission to acquire and develop affordable rental housing for the region’s middle-income workforce. The organization is designated as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3), and this marks WRCHT’s first financing with PFA.
The project will be a three-story, 59,691-square-foot development spread across four buildings on a 2.29-acre site at 12598 State Highway 75 in Ketchum, adjacent to St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center and just minutes from downtown Ketchum and Sun Valley. The 81 units will include nine urban one-bedroom, 33 one-bedroom, 36 two-bedroom, and three three-bedroom apartments, along with 102 surface parking stalls, a leasing office, storage, and amenity space. Bond proceeds will also fund capitalized interest and costs of issuance.
The financing addresses a housing shortage that has become a defining challenge for the Wood River Valley. A recent housing needs assessment found the region will require between 4,700 and 6,400 additional housing units by 2032, and roughly 40% of area workers currently commute into Blaine County from elsewhere due to a lack of available housing close to their jobs. Units at the development will be targeted to households earning between 80% and 140% of area median income, with rents set at approximately 30% of a household’s gross income.
“Communities like the Wood River Valley are the backbone of Idaho’s tourism and health care economy, but they can’t function without a place for their workers to live. This project gives WRCHT the tools to keep local employees housed in the community they serve, and that’s exactly the kind of public benefit PFA was created to support,” said Bill Kacvinsky, PFA Board Chair.