Coeur d'Alene Atlas District Phase Three to Add 100 Attainable Homes

The nine acres adjacent to Seltice Way that once housed the Atlas Mill are set to become more than 100 cottages, townhomes, twin homes and single-family houses priced between $300,000 and $600,000, a range Coeur d'Alene has struggled to deliver inside city limits as median home values climbed from $199,500 in 2015 to $562,000 today, a 181% increase.

Councilor Kiki Miller called the third phase of the Atlas District redevelopment "one of the most unique and best opportunities the city has to provide attainable housing for local workers," framing a project that urban-renewal agency ignite cda has positioned as a direct answer to an affordability gap pressing employers and younger families out of Kootenai County's core.

Infrastructure work on the parcel is tentatively scheduled to begin in 2026, with site construction expected to wrap by spring 2027 and vertical homebuilding potentially starting that summer. The development sits within ignite cda's 68-acre Atlas District, a redevelopment zone established in 2018 on the former Atlas Mill property. The city purchased much of the eastern portion of that land and transferred it to ignite cda for redevelopment.

Will Osborne, ignite cda's executive director, emphasized that architectural requirements will ensure the starter homes "blend in" with surrounding development, a signal that planners are moving to get ahead of concerns about density and neighborhood character before the project reaches public review.

The push is backed by hard countywide numbers. A housing study cited by ignite cda estimates Kootenai County needs roughly 3,015 new residential units per year between 2020 and 2040 to keep pace with growth. Officials argue that without ownership options at the $300,000-to-$600,000 tier, employers face persistent difficulty filling positions and the community continues to lose young professionals who cannot afford homes near their workplaces.

A homeowners association to support common-space maintenance is under consideration but has not been finalized. HOA structure, fees and governance will likely draw scrutiny as the plan moves through upcoming public-review periods.

Phase three represents one of the few attempts in recent memory to build entry-level ownership housing on city-owned land, using an urban-renewal framework that gives the city and ignite cda direct control over pricing targets and design standards that typical market-rate development does not allow.