A pair of developers have come forward with major apartment proposals in Bend that could add nearly 400 rental units to the city’s inventory.

Property management companies need all the property they can get; Bend’s rental vacancy rate has been below 2 percent all year, a critically low supply that’s putting upward pressure on prices.

On Aug. 12, Vancouver, Wash.-based Hoviss Development Group submitted a request for a pre-application meeting with the City of Bend. Pre-application meetings give developers and Community Development Department staff a chance to talk over a proposal before a formal application is submitted.

Hoviss wants to construct four apartment buildings totaling 241 units on a vacant Alstrup Road property, near Reed Market and Brosterhous roads. A blueprint submitted to the city shows plans for a combination of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, as well as a name for the development, Aspen Heights.

Hoviss filed its proposal just five days after Bend resident Craig Studwell submitted a pre-application meeting request for a 144-unit apartment complex called Woodhaven, between Pettigrew Road and Daly Estates Road in southeast Bend. A blueprint filed with the city shows a proposal for 15 apartment buildings on the site, with a combination of one-, two- and three-bedroom units.

It’s unclear if the developers are committed to the projects or merely testing the waters. Neither the Aspen Heights nor the Woodhaven developers responded to requests for comment from The Bulletin this week.

But both are scheduled for Aug. 29 meetings with the city to discuss their plans.

If built, the apartments could at least keep the vacancy rate from dropping any lower, said Kevin Restine, general manager of Plus Property Management and the president of the Central Oregon Rental Owners Association.

“It’s definitely a good sign, good for the rental market and for Bend as a whole,” Restine said of the proposals.

One large apartment project is already underway in northeast Bend. Construction crews started building Sage Springs, a 104-unit apartment complex off of Boyd Acres Road, in April. It’s expected to be finished by the end of February.