The Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation is looking for a developer to work on its Oakmont property in Cashiers and bring more workforce housing to the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau.
The Oakmont property is an 8.07-acre site located between the Slab Town plaza and the Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce.
The Foundation wants to work with a developer who views the site as an opportunity for a mixed-use and mixed-tenure project with an emphasis on workforce housing.
Over the past year, the HCHF has worked with a consultant funded by a Dogwood Health Trust grant to develop a concept for the parcel bordered by Hwy. 107 North and U.S. 64 West.
“The Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation’s vision for the Oakmont property is to be a transformative, community-focused project that will build on the strengths, unique attributes, and opportunities of the development and the Cashiers crossroads area,” a statement in the HCHF’s announcement said.
Request for qualifications
The Foundation released a Request for Qualifications on Sept. 21 and is seeking qualifications until Nov. 10. Within the request, the HCHF has asked that potential developers “understand the Plateau communities generally and the community of Cashiers specifically” as it pertains to the town’s workforce housing needs.
The 31-page document, which can be found on the Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation’s website, highlandscashiershealthfoundation.org, outlines the intent for the future of the Oakmont property.
Robin Tindall, CEO and executive director of the Highlands Cashiers Health Foundation, declined to comment further on the future development.
“HCHF intends for the development to advance several of HCHF’s goals, including the provision of ample workforce housing and the enhancement of wellness and community support through appropriate commercial spaces,” a statement within the request said. “It believes these goals will both strengthen the surrounding community and allow a selected partner to create an innovative development while achieving desirable financial returns. HCHF intends also to advance these goals through a mixed-use development strategy.”
The highest quality responders to the Foundation’s request for qualifications will be asked in for an interview, and one or more firms will be chosen to provide a detailed development proposal. From there, HCHF will be expected to choose a potential partner to enter into an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement to develop the site if there is an appropriate development strategy received.
Workforce housing can be challenging to find in Cashiers, and the Health Foundation said the Cashiers community is in a period of growth and change. Work on The Kessler Collection’s Cashiers East Village project continues behind the Laurel Terrace plaza, and Daniel Communities recently announced the development of a subdivision next to Cashiers Lake containing up to 61 houses.
Meanwhile, the Cashiers Marketplace mixed-use development proposal off Hwy. 107 South has yet to go in front of the Cashiers Planning Council for review.
“The community’s workforce has been largely priced out of the area in recent years,” the request said. “HCHF envisions a new community on the Oakmont property, which extends the promise of suitable housing within the community to those seeking both rental and ownership opportunities.”
The current sewer capacity of the Oakmont property is 8,760 gallons, or 120 gallons per every thousand sq. ft.
Within the request are goals for the potential developer to follow, including building the site for “missing middle” workforce housing and considering a mix of owner-occupied and rental housing to the extent economically feasible.
The residential density target is to be a minimum of 100 housing units, and a minimum commercial target was established at 7,500 sq. ft.
Other goals include avoiding retail uses/types that directly compete with the existing vendors of Cashiers, providing housing for multiple age groups and living scenarios with a mix of unit sizes and bedroom configurations, and targeting users who will be part of the Cashiers community long term by avoiding short-term rentals.
A list of specific design elements is also laid out in the request ranging from no clear-cutting, to building sidewalks, to creating a vehicular connection between Hwy. 107 and U.S. 64.
Vision Cashiers’ housing survey
A year ago, Vision Cashiers engaged Atlanta-based real estate and economic development consulting firm KB Advisory Group to conduct an area-wide workforce housing needs assessment following the visit of the Urban Land Institute panel in Spring 2022.
In January, KB Advisory Group presented that needs analysis to Vision Cashiers, which included interviews from dozens of stakeholders in certain segments of the community and an online survey that received more than 425 individual responses.
“With a growing tourism-based economy, renowned golf clubs, and future growth expected, the increasing inability of the Cashiers’ workforce to find and maintain housing nearby poses a risk to workers, employers, and the local economy,” the consulting firm concluded in their analysis.
The analysis also found the Cashiers area has limited transportation options that are largely restricted to driving, with minimal public transit options due to the terrain of the area.
“The terrain of the area hinders improved road network connectivity, which to date has ensured that Cashiers’ remains rather isolated in regard to day-to-day conveniences, community resources, and employment concentrated within proximity to the Cashiers crossroads,” a statement in the analysis said.
KB Advisory Group also determined that those employed in Cashiers face obstacles in living within proximity to employment because of high housing costs.
Through its online survey targeted at residents and employees in the Cashiers area, KB Advisory netted 437 responses. Of those, 30 percent worked in the Cashiers area.
KB Advisory Group said the average monthly rent is $1,417, and the cost of living in Cashiers is twice as expensive than the rest of the nation. Cashiers has more than 1,500 employees, according to the firm, and six out of 10 workers live more than 10 miles away.
Nearly half of those who answered the survey said housing is too expensive, while 18 percent said Cashiers lacks the type of housing they want.
The survey also asked, “If one of these factors changed, would you consider moving to Cashiers?” About three out of four responses to that question said yes.
The Cashiers area has added fewer than 30 new, for-sale homes on average per year, according to the advisory group’s data. Changing work environments, increased migration trends and low supply at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 accelerated home prices in Cashiers.
The median household income of Cashiers is $60,214, and 72 percent of working households cannot afford to rent a home. Meanwhile, nine out of 10 individuals could not afford to own a home.
“Based on economic and demographic data analysis to determine housing affordability metrics and housing preference input collected through the Vision Cashiers Housing Survey, there is currently a need to house nearly 400 Cashiers workers within proximity to their employment,” the needs analysis said. “Depending on unit mix, this could equate to between 189 and 394 units.”