Doors opening: The Currents will provide homeownership for more local workers
STAFF REPORT | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 hour, 26 minutes AGO
The Currents (outlined in blue) completes the Atlas Waterfront, alongside the established neighborhood, the riverfront park, and 4,000 feet of public shoreline on the Spokane River.
Courtesy graphic
Teachers, nurses, firefighters and other workers who keep Coeur d’Alene running will soon have more places to buy a home in the community where they work.
About 104 homes are planned for construction at Atlas Waterfront, on roughly 10 acres within a swath of land once home to the Atlas Sawmill that is being redeveloped. Ignite cda, the city of Coeur d’Alene’s urban renewal agency, is leading this effort.
The neighborhood, named The Currents, is intended for households earning about 80% to 120% of the area median income.
“The Currents is a fitting final chapter in the transformation of the Atlas Waterfront, representing the culmination of years of teamwork, planning and a shared vision for the Atlas mill site,” ignite cda Executive Director Will Osborne said in a press release. “It is a textbook example of how urban renewal can transform underutilized property for the benefit of the community. Completing the Atlas Waterfront development with an innovative public-private project that creates new opportunities for attainable homeownership in Coeur d’Alene is especially exciting and meaningful.”
Potential home buyers could include tradespeople, hotel and restaurant workers and young families who have found buying a home out of reach.
Long-term home affordability is central to the project, and several factors highlight the need for it in Coeur d’Alene. The Currents is designed to fill that housing gap in Coeur d’Alene, where 68% of workers now come in from outside the city’s borders.
The median price of a single-family home in Kootenai County has risen to about $569,000. At the same time, wages have not increased at nearly the same rate, while employers across North Idaho need people to fill jobs that communities depend on.
The Idaho Department of Labor projects an average of 162 openings a year for registered nurses, 49 for elementary school teachers, 17 for firefighters, 136 for carpenters and 213 for restaurant cooks from 2024 to 2034.
Buyers will live in the homes as their full-time, primary residences, not use them as second homes, rental housing or for vacation rentals. The homes at The Currents will not be designated as low-income or Section 8 housing.
Deed restrictions and a shared-equity resale formula will allow owners to keep a share of any increase in the home’s value while limiting the sale price for the next eligible buyer. The terms are designed to keep the homes attainable from one owner to the next.
Who is paying for The Currents?
The Atlas sawmill closed in 2005 after about a century of operation. The city bought the property in 2018 and worked with ignite cda to redevelop the site and preserve about 4,000 feet of waterfront as public parkland.
When Atlas land sales brought in more than projected in 2018, it became an opportunity to use the final phase for attainable homeownership.
The adopted Atlas Urban Renewal Plan allows ignite cda to develop land in the district to address a housing shortage.
Ignite cda will use Atlas District land-sale proceeds and tax-increment financing to prepare the site. Private builders, per the contract with ignite cda, will build and sell the homes at attainable prices.
Will this raise my taxes?
No new taxes or subsidies from neighboring property owners will support the project. The additional property tax revenue generated by new value created through the Atlas Waterfront redevelopment will be reinvested. When the district closes, on or before 2038, the city, county, school district and other taxing districts will receive their regular shares of property tax revenue from that added value.
How will the neighborhood be maintained?
The Currents will be part of the Atlas Waterfront master homeowners association and will also have its own HOA. Homeowners will be responsible for meeting association standards, including rules for exterior maintenance and outdoor storage. Plans call for single-family homes, cottages, twin homes and townhomes around a park, with walking and biking connections.
When is this project expected to begin and when will homes be available?
The site work is well underway, and vertical construction is expected to begin by mid-2027.
Developer proposals were due Oct. 30. Ignite cda expects to announce the selected developer after Nov. 30.
For project information, visit ignitecda.org, email [email protected] or call 208-292-1630.
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Doors opening: The Currents will provide homeownership for more local workers
About 104 homes are planned at the former Atlas sawmill site
Teachers, nurses, firefighters and other workers who keep Coeur d’Alene running will soon have more places to buy a home in the community where they work. About 104 homes are being planned to be built at Atlas Waterfront, on roughly 10 acres that are part of a swath of land that was once home to the Atlas sawmill and is being redeveloped. Ignite CDA, the city of Coeur d’Alene’s urban renewal agency, is leading this effort.