City on move with projects on north side
It’s hard not to notice the high level of construction and other related activity that’s been occurring on the north side of Cave Junction.
For months, residents have been hearing about different development proposals for the Redwood Hwy. corridor. But now, those plans are quickly becoming a reality, and represent a sort of crossroads as the city grows its way towards the future.
The Oregon Dept. of Transportation (ODOT) currently is working on expanding the highway between River Street and Laurel Road to add a middle turn lane. And developments are popping up all around that project site. Indications are that millions of dollars are being invested in Cave Junction.
California-based developer Larry Osborn is among those betting on the city of Cave Junction’s pending prosperity. His plans entail three separate subdivisions, all of which wrap around Illinois Valley Golf Course.
The Southridge Master Planned Development (MPD) will feature two golf holes, which Osborn said will be “ready to play” next spring, and 58 “premium” residential lots.
“The views off the lots are absolutely incredible,” Osborn said.
The golf holes, one par four and another par three, are being designed, and a cart path is set and paved with gravel.
Osborn said that the golf course is an “effective way to take care of open space,” and will add to the project’s overall appeal.
“It’s a very blue-collar course,” he said. “Everybody will be able to play this. It’s reasonable to assume that the people who will buy homes here will play golf. They’ll have a venue that they’ll be happy to play.”
Several of the Southridge homes will be on what Osborn calls “daylight basement” lots. The houses will be at street level, with the bottom story sitting lower.
Also dovetailing the golf course are Osborn’s Rivergate and Stoneridge developments. City Recorder Jim Polk said the city has yet to see plans for those developments, as most of the land is not in the city’s jurisdiction.
Osborn expects the lots to reach the market in the fall, and said that the community will benefit from the infusion of new residents.
“A neighborhood with good citizens who want to live in the community will be a valuable resource for the city,” he said.
The brand-new Siskiyou Community Health Clinic also has become a sort of magnet for related development. Cottage Park Drive, located directly behind the clinic, will feature 11 lots of employment and light-industrial related buildings.
Two Cottage Park Drive structures are already being built, Polk said.
Across from the clinic, The Laurel Pines development, featuring 77 residential units and five commercial plots, is being built by Grants Pass-based attorney Dan Hughes. The work is being done as a partnership between Hughes’ I.V. Development and John Chmelir’s Willow Development.
The Laurel Pines subdivision will include 77 residential and five commercial lots, Polk said.
The success of these developments remains to be seen, and public opinion is mixed on how they will affect the quality of life for current Cave Junction residents.
But Jim Frick, a real estate broker with Century 21 Harris & Taylor working with Osborn, praised Osborn’s efforts to invest in the area.
“He’s the only developer to come to Cave Junction with a large-scale, big picture comprehensive plan who’s willing to risk millions of dollars to improve the existing community,” Frick said. “I’ve never seen anyone else try to do that.”
