Properties South of Chehalis Being Eyed by Investors

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The Twin Cities housing market could soon be in line for a significant infusion of residences.

Devan Hawes of Sunquest Construction recently submitted documents to the city of Chehalis that include speculative renderings of a 240-unit apartment complex along with retail space and a small RV park on two parcels of land totaling more than 14 acres on Jackson Highway between Sanderson Road and Rush Road about two miles south of Chehalis.

Hawes, the project manager for the 100-plus unit Jackson Villa development just south of Chehalis, stressed that he submitted the plans not as actionable blueprints, but to show potential investors what could be done with the property.

“I’m not going forward with getting those plans approved because they might not suit the buyer,” Hawes said. “I do think it’d be a really good spot for housing. I think we’re short on housing for Lewis County and need more housing in order to attract jobs if companies are going to come to the area.”

Chehalis regained its permitting authority within the city’s Urban Growth Area in May. The previous interlocal agreement with Lewis County expired in early 2016 due to disagreements regarding oversight of the process for setting building and planning regulations on county land the city may later annex.

The land is currently zoned for high-density residential use, but Hawes believes it could easily be switched to a light commercial designation for warehouses or retail use. 



Chehalis Mayor Dennis Dawes believes a development of single-family residences could better serve the needs of larger businesses eyeing the area.

“I know when businesses look for housing, they may not look for apartments as much as they do houses that people can purchase on their own,” Dawes said. “It’s kind of like the chicken and the egg; do you build the houses hoping someone will come, or do you wait for someone to come in and then build?”

Hawes plans to list the parcels for sale within the next few months. He purchased one of the lots for $235,000 in December, 2017 and bought the other in May for $55,000, according to the Lewis County Assessor’s Office.

He says he’s spoken with a couple of outside developers, including one located in Bend, Oregon that he declined to name, but said they’ve done work similar to the Jackson Villa properties that include apartments and townhouses.

“We (Sunquest Construction) are open to selling, but we’d ultimately like to be the builder as well,” Hawes said. “It’d be nice to be able to sell to an investor we’d like to work with and get a chance to build the product from start to finish.”