388 acres seven miles southeast of downtown Salem, where the creek, the oak savanna and the valley floor meet. Zoning is approved. The plan is open.
Nestled along Mill Creek just southeast of downtown Salem rises the district of Herren Crossing — a community-oriented social hub that humbly defies the norms of suburbia.
It takes its cues from urban social hubs, from thriving suburban main streets, and from the retreats into nature that people drive across Oregon for. Experiencing Herren Crossing is meant to be more than living somewhere. Pathways connect homes to public space. Places to play and places to linger turn up where you didn't expect them. Local culture has somewhere to happen, seven days a week.
From families to young professionals and couples, they share a gravitational pull toward unique experiences and the chance to make the mundane more exciting. They prioritize memories, and they seek out places that make it easier to collect them — regularly, close to home, without planning a trip around it.
The programming splits three ways, and the whole plan is arranged so you can move between them on foot.
Reference imagery from the Herren Crossing design strategy, October 2023 — illustrative of character and programming, not of the site as built.
Before a single line went on a plan, the site told us where it wanted to be built on — and where it didn't. Mill Creek's floodway and floodplain run the length of the property. The oak grove stays. The high ground holds the views.
Same land, same creek, three different bets on density, open space and what the middle of the district becomes. Switch between them.
These are concept studies prepared in October 2023, before the zone change was approved. They show how the ground can be organized and what it will carry — they are not the entitled plan. Acreage totals below reconcile to the full site; the 2023 study area differs from the surveyed 388.5 acres by a few percent, and rights of way are not itemized separately.
Concept 1 spreads out. It carries the most single-family ground of the three, puts the school on the east side of the creek, and keeps the commercial core compact around the village node.
| Buildable parcels | 241.4 |
| Park & open space | 136.7 |
| School site | 15.2 |
| Total plan area | 393.3 |
| Parcel | Use | Acres | Homes per acre | Homes (low) | Homes (high) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Residential | 22.3 | 8–10 | 178 | 223 |
| B | Multifamily | 12.0 | 18–20 | 216 | 240 |
| C | Mixed use | 4.9 | 50–75 | 50 | 75 |
| D | Mixed use | 8.6 | 50–75 | 50 | 75 |
| E | Mixed use | 8.6 | 50–75 | 50 | 75 |
| F | Mixed use | 11.9 | 50–75 | 50 | 75 |
| G | Residential | 18.3 | 6–8 | 110 | 146 |
| H | Residential | 42.7 | 4–6 | 171 | 256 |
| I | Residential | 8.2 | 3–5 | 25 | 41 |
| J | Residential | 14.0 | 3–5 | 42 | 70 |
| K | Residential | 16.1 | 3–5 | 48 | 81 |
| L | Residential | 73.8 | 6–8 | 443 | 590 |
| Total | 241.4 | 5.9–8.1 | 1,433 | 1,948 | |
Concept 2 builds on the smallest footprint and gives the difference back: a 42.5-acre sports park south of the creek, plus 129 acres of park and open space. The mixed-use core steps up to 60–80 homes per acre.
| Buildable parcels | 180.3 |
| Park & open space | 129.0 |
| Sports park | 42.5 |
| School site | 11.8 |
| Total plan area | 363.6 |
| Parcel | Use | Acres | Homes per acre | Homes (low) | Homes (high) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Multifamily | 10.8 | 18–20 | 194 | 216 |
| B | Multifamily | 11.5 | 18–20 | 207 | 230 |
| C | Residential | 9.6 | 8–10 | 77 | 96 |
| D | Mixed use | 8.4 | 60–80 | 60 | 80 |
| E | Mixed use | 8.0 | 60–80 | 60 | 80 |
| F | Mixed use | 10.1 | 60–80 | 60 | 80 |
| G | Mixed use | 10.0 | 60–80 | 60 | 80 |
| H | Residential | 19.9 | 8–10 | 159 | 199 |
| I | Residential | 42.1 | 6–8 | 253 | 337 |
| J | Residential | 8.2 | 3–5 | 25 | 41 |
| K | Residential | 15.3 | 3–5 | 46 | 77 |
| L | Residential | 26.4 | 6–8 | 158 | 211 |
| Total | 180.3 | 7.5–9.6 | 1,359 | 1,727 | |
Concept 3 is the urban option. Two multifamily parcels flank the village, mixed use runs at 75–100 homes per acre, and the plan delivers the most housing of the three while still holding nearly 140 acres of open space.
| Buildable parcels | 244.0 |
| Park & open space | 139.8 |
| School site | 14.5 |
| Total plan area | 398.3 |
| Parcel | Use | Acres | Homes per acre | Homes (low) | Homes (high) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Residential | 7.1 | 8–10 | 57 | 71 |
| B | Multifamily | 13.0 | 20–24 | 260 | 312 |
| C | Multifamily | 13.8 | 20–24 | 276 | 331 |
| D | Mixed use | 5.3 | 75–100 | 75 | 100 |
| E | Mixed use | 9.2 | 75–100 | 75 | 100 |
| F | Mixed use | 9.0 | 75–100 | 75 | 100 |
| G | Mixed use | 14.1 | 75–100 | 75 | 100 |
| H | Residential | 16.2 | 8–10 | 130 | 162 |
| I | Residential | 42.4 | 6–8 | 254 | 339 |
| J | Residential | 15.8 | 4–6 | 63 | 95 |
| K | Residential | 15.8 | 3–5 | 47 | 79 |
| L | Residential | 16.9 | 3–5 | 51 | 85 |
| M | Residential | 65.4 | 3–5 | 196 | 327 |
| Total | 244.0 | 6.7–9.0 | 1,634 | 2,201 | |
Concept 1 is the lowest-density option and the most single-family land. Concept 2 pulls the built footprint in tight — 180 acres of buildable parcels instead of 241 — and spends the difference on a 42.5-acre sports park with the largest open-space share of the three. Concept 3 pushes the mixed-use core to 75–100 homes per acre and produces the most housing overall, up to 2,201 homes.
Every concept preserves the creek corridor as continuous open space, holds the oak grove, keeps a school site, and organizes the district around three named places — the Village at the western entry, the Creek down the middle, and the Grove to the north.
The zone change is approved and final, and the whole 388.5 acres sits inside Salem city limits — one jurisdiction, no annexation. Water rights are confirmed appurtenant to the property. Power, sewer and road capacity all have identified paths. What the site needs now is the right master developer and the right builders.
The pieces the district is being shaped around, in conversation with the city, the university and the neighbors:
Herren Crossing is owned and being assembled by Clutch Industries, a Willamette Valley developer working here for more than 25 years. Brokers, builders, master developers and civic partners are all welcome to reach out directly.