Renderings show the Basalt Commons on the former Griffith Motors site looking east in downtown The Dalles. Columbia Gateway Urban Renewal board member gave a 4-month extension for $1.73 million in

By Tom Peterson

The Dalles, Ore., Aug. 12, 2026 — Developers of the $31 million Basalt Commons project have put together a new financing mechanism that eliminates the need for a $3.08 million Wasco County land purchase and leaseback deal, clearing a major hurdle as the 116-unit downtown development moves toward demolition of the former Griffith Motors building this fall.

The estimated $31 million development would replace the former Griffith Motors building with 116 apartments and approximately 10,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. Earlier plans called for about 108 residential units and 9,350 square feet of commercial space.

It would be the largest single apartment building in The Dalles, almost twice the size of the Commodore II on Court Street, and many business people bullish on The Dalles say it is a turning point in the redevelopment and invigoration of the city’s core.

The Basalt Commons development team is now working through the final loan, permitting and construction documents needed to begin work on the five-story mixed-use project at 523 E. Third St., which would become the largest single apartment building ever constructed in The Dalles.

TD3rd LLC plans to raise the former Griffith Motors building this fall to make room for Basalt Commons.

The financing development was disclosed Tuesday as the Columbia Gateway Urban Renewal Agency Board approved another four months for developer TD3rd LLC to preserve $1.73 million in previously committed Urban Renewal support.

City Economic Development Officer and Urban Renewal Agency Manager Jacob Anderson told board members the previously approved county transaction — designed just four months ago to help close the project's financing gap — is no longer necessary.

“It has come to our attention that the agreement with the county for the county to purchase the property and then lease it back to the developer has ended, and that the county will not be purchasing the property based on the new financing mechanism that the developer has been able to put together,” Anderson said.

In April, Wasco County commissioners unanimously approved the $3.08 million arrangement in April as a way to help make Basalt Commons financially feasible amid high construction costs and interest rates.

Under that agreement, the county would have purchased the former Griffith Motors property and leased it back to the developer for 35 years. The developer would have had the option to repurchase the property during the first five years for $3.18 million.

That public financing piece is now off the table.

The Urban Renewal Agency's existing commitment remains intact, consisting of up to $1 million toward eligible residential system development charges and a separate $730,000 contribution toward eligible project costs. Developer Mary Hanlon is not requesting additional Urban Renewal money.

Financing moves closer to closing

The latest agency staff report said TD3rd's construction financing had received lender approval and was proceeding through the closing process, although final lender due diligence, loan documents, closing and funding remained outstanding when the report was prepared.

TD3rd’s Mary Hanlon, a resident of The Dalles, told the agency in an Aug. 4 letter that the construction loan had been approved and was in the final stages of documentation. She said the project's general contractor was finalizing subcontracts and plans had been submitted for Wasco County structural review.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, Hanlon said demolition could begin as early as mid-September, followed by construction.

The city's Community Development Department completed its review of the supplemental building permit application and marked it ready to issue in March, subject to payment of applicable system development charges. Updated plans and specifications were resubmitted to Wasco County for structural permit review July 30.

The agency staff report projected Wasco County permit issuance and construction-loan closing in September, followed by demolition and the beginning of construction, while cautioning those dates remained projections.

Basalt Commons has been years in the making. Hanlon told Wasco County commissioners in April that she had been working on the project for eight years, citing rising construction costs and interest rates that had doubled over the previous four years as significant hurdles.

Third extension for Urban Renewal support

Tuesday's vote marked the third extension associated with the project's Urban Renewal funding since the agency entered into its original agreements with TD3rd in August 2023.

Agency approves four more months

The extension passed with one dissenting vote from Columbia Gateway Urban Renewal Agency Board member Walter Denstedt.

Board members Bets Stelzer, Scott Hege, Dan Richardson, Jill Amery, Marcus Swift and Timothy McGlothlin voted in favor.

Board members discussed whether to grant a longer extension before settling on four months.

Marcus Swift moved to authorize the agency manager to execute amendments extending both the Incentive Program Grant Agreement and Development Funding Agreement by four months.

Richardson said the agency had supported the project throughout its development and should not create another obstacle as it approaches construction.

“I think we should get out of the way and support this,” he said. “It's the same project that we've supported. We're at the finish line. Let's not trip ourselves.”

Richardson also argued that adding 116 residents downtown could have an economic impact well beyond the housing itself.

“If we want a downtown that's not a strip mall like every, you know, most every other town in much of the United States, if we want a place that feels like a place, it's got to have some prosperity…,” Richardson said. “The single best thing you can do for that is probably put people downtown.”

Public investment weighed against # of housing units

Anderson characterized the $1.73 million Urban Renewal commitment as relatively small when measured against the project's 116 housing units and approximately $31 million overall cost.

Under the incentive agreement, the agency can pay eligible residential system development charges up to $10,000 per dwelling actually constructed, with a maximum commitment of $1 million. The separate development funding agreement provides $730,000 for eligible project costs.

“You won't find anything cheaper than what we are putting in for Miss Hanlon for 116 units,” Anderson said of public investment into local housing projects.

Anderson said keeping the project-specific development contribution below $750,000 was intentional because exceeding that amount would trigger Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries prevailing-wage requirements, significantly increasing construction costs.

Urban Renewal Agency Board Chair Dan Richardson said the Basalt Commons was providing a bigger bang for the public buck, noting a recent Urban Renewal proposal involving renovation of a second floor for three residential units, where the agency invested $200,000 - about $66,666 per unit.

“This is one more example of sort of the lies, the lies in statistics,” Richardson said. “It's a big number if you look at it in terms of raw dollars,” he said of the urban renewal investment of $1.73 million into Basalt Commons, “but it's a small number if you look at it in terms of percentage” of the overall project.

In the Basalt Commons project the cost to urban renewal is about $15,000 per apartment.

‘When the units are full’

Board member Scott Hege said Basalt Commons is one part of a broader effort to address housing needs in The Dalles, noting goals of building 30,000 units of housing in Oregon a year have fallen short.

Basalt Commons apartments are not intended to be subsidized or specifically targeted toward low-income residents, he said, noting other subsidized and lower-income housing projects are also under construction in the community.

Chenowith Loop Affordable Housing project is slated to start construction in weeks to come, bringing 76-units on the market at the site of the former Westgate Market on Chenowith Loop Road at completion

The former Westgate Market, long shuttered, is the site of a new 76-unit affordable housing project that could be under construction in coming months.

“We're getting both sides of that, and I think we should be very proud of that,” Hege said, referring to both private and public housing projects.

He is looking forward to the Basalt Commons groundbreaking, but the more important milestone will be seeing the building completed and occupied.

“I think it is still a stretch for them to have that many units coming online in this community,” Hege said. “And I'm going to be as happy when we break ground as I will be when the units are full and the project is successful. That's what I'm looking forward to.”

Board member Bets Stelzer thanked Hanlon for continuing to pursue the development through its lengthy financing and approval process.

“I can't even imagine persisting as long as Mary has,” Stelzer said. “I thank you for not giving up on us.”

Stelzer also noted that Hanlon lives in the community and is investing locally.

Call for more housing

The project comes amid a housing shortage that has persisted for years in The Dalles and was exacerbated by steep increases in home prices and rents during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some estimates put the shortage at roughly 500 housing units, while affordable housing remains particularly difficult to secure. Even residents who qualify for housing assistance can face long waits for vouchers and difficulty finding available rentals where they can use them.

The depth of the regional demand was illustrated during an April 27 City Council discussion, when Councilor Dan Richardson questioned the scale of the local housing need. Karen Long, executive director of the Mid-Columbia Housing Authority, pointed to nearby Hood River, where she said the 130-unit Mariposa Village affordable housing development received roughly 450 applications shortly after opening its waitlist. Demand for housing assistance was similarly intense, Long said, with about 150 people applying for just 39 available housing vouchers.

A bellwether for downtown

The scale of Basalt Commons has made the project closely watched in downtown The Dalles.

Anderson said business owners regularly ask him about its progress and described the project as a potential bellwether for additional downtown investment.

“I'm walking around downtown and I'm talking to business owners, a lot of them are asking, ‘Where's Mary's project? What's going on?’” Anderson said. “I think there's a lot of people that are looking at this as a bellwether, and if this moves forward, they're going to be willing to invest in downtown because they know that it's investible when you're having the investment of that size and that kind of change.”

The project's scale and public assistance have also generated scrutiny. During Wasco County's April consideration of its proposed $3.08 million investment, residents and downtown business owners raised concerns about parking, the amount of public participation in a private development and whether construction costs and outside financing were sufficiently certain.

Supporters have argued the 116 apartments would address a long-standing housing shortage while bringing more residents and economic activity into the downtown core.

The four-month extension keeps the Urban Renewal Agency's $1.73 million commitment available while Hanlon's development team completes the financing, permits and other requirements necessary to begin construction.

Approval of the amendments does not itself release the Urban Renewal money. TD3rd must satisfy the conditions contained in both agreements before the agency makes payments or deposits funds.

Basalt Commons on cusp of financing 116-unit apartment, retail building in downtown; Urban Renewal extends $1.73 M support