The Bend, Ore., City Council has given preliminary approval to adding 500 houses.

The Bend City Council took the first step in annexing more than 150 acres on the city’s northern edge Wednesday, which will eventually give way to a major housing and commercial development.

The annexed area is called the North Triangle. Within it will be a major development with more than 500 housing units by Pahlisch Homes, called Caraway, which will be bordered by Cooley Road to the south, U.S. Highway 97 to the east and U.S. Highway 20 to the west. Pahlisch could begin subdividing the land before the end of the year.

Councilors called it a positive addition to the community. 

The land will essentially be a new neighborhood, and Mayor Melanie Kebler said it’ll be a good one thanks to the strong mix of affordable and market rate housing and nearby commercial space. 

The  plan is designed so that affordable apartments will be built first. 

“We just need what we can get as soon as possible,” Kebler said 

The area is surrounded by in-progress road construction. New roundabouts on Highway 20 are to the west, and a complete reroute of a section of Highway 97 is to the east. 

Because of the high number of housing units in addition to a park and a school being added to the new neighborhood, Councilor Ariel Méndez voiced concern for the ability of future residents to feel safe when traveling in that area.

“I feel like in new neighborhoods like this, we need to be making sure we pay just as much attention to the safety of these residents as we are to the vehicular traffic,” he said. “And I don’t think we’re there yet.” 

The approval won’t be final until Council formalizes the ordinance with a second reading at a later meeting.