Major South Hillsboro development gets underway

The biggest piece of the largest planned housing development in Oregon’s history has officially launched in Hillsboro.

Builders last month opened a welcome center and several model homes at Reed’s Crossing. Homes for sale are expected to follow soon.

Reed’s Crossing is expected to include roughly half of the planned 8,000 homes in South Hillsboro, a 1,400-acre tract of land south of Tualatin Valley Highway at Cornelius Pass Road that mostly opened for development in 2010.

When fully built over about 15 years, the 4,000 homes at Reed’s Crossing will include about 1,500 apartments or condos and 2,500 single-family houses or townhouses. It also will eventually include a 37-acre commercial town center with shops, offices and restaurants.

Also open now is the development’s centerpiece, a 23-acre greenway park that links up to a planned regional trail following the path of Bonneville Power Administration transmission lines.

“People wanted open space and trails more than recreation centers,” said David Brentlinger of San Diego-based developer Newland Real Estate Group. “We wanted to create something people will really enjoy.”

The developer planted 200,000 wetland plants in the greenway, which will provide stormwater management for the rest of the development. It also includes science and math-focused educational elements and an amphitheater space that could be used by an elementary school planned nearby.

Hillsboro city officials said they expect growth in the area to accelerate with the opening of Reed’s Crossing.

“By bringing in housing, you start to have that community really realized,” said Dan Dias, community development director for the city. “You add to that the desirability the amenities bring, and that will support the broader development.

Two other development sites within South Hillsboro are already well underway.

The Rosedale Parks development, which hosted the 2018 NW Natural Street of Dreams, has about 70 homes under construction and about 20 completed, according to city records.

Another, Butternut Creek, has 60 under construction and 11 completed.

South Hillsboro has been on the planning books for more than two decades. It was expected to break ground several years ago, but significant infrastructure costs delayed construction. Each home will come with tens of thousands of dollars of fees to cover the costs of roads and utilities.

The area sits not far from Intel’s Ronler Acres campus, a major employment center, and fairly close to Nike’s Washington County headquarters.

The development could add 20,000 residents in already fast-growing Hillsboro, enough to push the city past Gresham to become Oregon’s fourth-largest city.

-- Elliot Njus

enjus@oregonian.com; 503-294-5034; @enjus

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