Coos Bay may see construction of a 50- to 80-unit apartment complex if a marketing analysis proves the area needs it.

Guardian Management LLC, a Portland-based real estate management and investment firm, is planning the Park Plaza development for a 10-acre wooded site, located near the corner of LaClair and Thomas streets.

The analysis also will determine what size the apartments should be, what to charge for rent and whether it will be deemed affordable housing. The current design is for separate dwellings interspersed throughout the acreage.

“We think there’s a good demand for workforce housing — people employed gainfully in the area that haven’t found a good place to rent,” said Ross Cornelius, Guardian’s development manager.

The property is owned by the Jensen Family Trust and Guardian Management is leasing it with the option to buy.

Cornelius said the project could end up as affordable housing, which would involve rent restrictions that allow only lower-income households.

“We haven’t honed it down to rental prices yet,” Cornelius said. “That’s where the marketing analysis will help us.”

Cornelius anticipates the project will cost in the multi-millions.

“We’re getting entitlements in place for land subdivision and layout,” he said. “We’re looking to put the financing together now.”

Cornelius said Guardian’s development team has been eyeing the area for some time.

“It seems like there’s an opportunity for new, quality rental housing in the area,” Cornelius said.

Jose Rivera, with Adelante, a nonprofit community development corporation that’s working with Guardian on the project, said the development would feature one-, two- and three-bedroom units.

“It’s going to be a really nice development once we get a true picture of what we can do,” Rivera said.

Rivera became interested in the area a few years ago when he was visiting during a golfing trip, and he brought it to Guardian’s attention.

“I really liked the area,” he said. “When I went into the city, they said people had to commute a long way into Coos Bay. The last apartment complex built there was about 10 years ago.”

He said that once the marketing analysis is complete, developers will begin working with Coos Bay on the number of units that will be constructed.

“If everything goes according to plan, once the market analysis is completed, preliminary design, zoning approvals, final design and project financing is finalized, the time for (construction) completion is 12 to 14 months,” Rivera said.

The company focuses on multifamily properties, but so far has only rehabilitated existing buildings. This will be its first venture into new construction, Ross said.

The apartments would be part of a larger project with Oregon Coast Community Action, a nonprofit that manages a network of programs that feed, house, warm and educate people in the community. Three of the 10 acres are earmarked for Community Action, which wants to build a community campus to include a warehouse to house for food designated for local South Coast Food Share food banks, a Head Start building and a family resource center. The cost for the center hasn’t been determined, but the warehouse and Head Start building would cost about $4.9 million, to be paid for with federal and state grants and donations.

Community Action is working under a lease agreement with Guardian, according to Hallie Winchell, the agency’s development specialist.

Coos Bay Planning Administrator Laura Barron said that, although the Public Works Department has been working with Guardian and Community Action on the community campus development, she hasn’t seen any paperwork on the apartment complex yet.