Astoria City Council to expand urban renewal

Published 1:42 am Thursday, January 29, 2026

‘Significant amendment’ to come

By JAY CORELLA

The Astorian

On Feb. 2, the Astoria City Council will meet to vote amending the boundary of its Astor East Urban Renewal District. The amended boundary will add less than an acre across two lots, but according to city officials, it will make a big difference.

What is being added?

The new boundary would add two development sites, the Darigold site at 385 9th St. and Copeland Commons at the 1160 block of Marine Drive. The sites are currently being examined for a new set of affordable and workforce housing projects which are currently in the early stages of development.

This amendment will allow for the city to directly support these development projects according to Assistant to the City Manager Ryan Quigley.

As reported previously in The Astorian, the Astoria Downtown Historical District Association received a $400,000 Revitalizing Main Street grant from the state of Oregon in 2025 to support Copeland Commons.

“Without adding those two sites we wouldn’t be able to really help with some of the potential needs of those developments,” said Quigley.

This is not the first time the urban renewal area was expanded. The renewal area has been amended 11 times before, adding on almost 10 acres to the area. Some of the projects that were added by amendment included the Astoria Armory and the Liberty Theatre.

What will the sites be used for?

Eventually, the sites within the area will be developed into affordable and workforce housing facilities. The facilities tie into the city’s work plan as well as the state of Oregon’s mandate for more housing.

“We are not oblivious to the fact that affordability and production is something that we need to address in Astoria,” said Astoria City Councilor Elisabeth Adams.

According to Adams, this is not just a citywide issue, the state has faced housing supply challenges for years.

On Jan. 9, Oregon governor Tina Kotek extended the state’s homelessness state of emergency which was originally declared in 2023.

The state of emergency is one of the factors that spurred further housing development in and around the state.

Adams said that the housing projects will be a long-term plan for the city.

“The council is working at a visionary level to not just meet the needs of what we see now, but try to meet the needs that are coming in the future,” said Adams, “In order to continue to keep Astoria, a working class town, we need to be able to offer housing that  meets the needs of our economic development.”