Brothers Buy Baker City Building, Plan 14 New Apartments

Two brothers from Idaho, operators of Rainey Design Group, bought the 7,800 square foot building at 2330 Fifth St. in late October and have filed plans to convert the structure into 14 one bedroom one bath rental units. County records show the buyers formed 2330 Baker LLC and paid $225,000 for the property, a building constructed in 1939 that has served as a nunnery and later as a treatment center known as Baker House.

The developers removed insulating foam board left by a previous owner and expected that remediation work to be finished by the end of 2025. Major renovations are scheduled to begin in March or April of 2026, with an estimated project cost of about $1.2 million and a target to have units ready to rent by the end of 2026. The building has a nearly new roof and will be repainted and landscaped as part of the conversion.

Plans call for roughly 500 to 600 square foot apartments, with four units on the first floor and five units on each of the upper floors. Most interior elements, including the main staircase, will be preserved as part of the adaptive reuse. Because the property has no off street parking, the developers applied for and received a city variance to allow on street parking for tenants.

For Baker City residents the project has several implications. Fourteen new rental units represent a measurable increase in downtown housing supply, which could ease pressure on the local rental market depending on demand. Renting at market rates means the units may not serve the lowest income renters, while the $1.2 million in renovation spending will support local contractors, suppliers, and related economic activity during construction. The on street parking allowance addresses a practical constraint but may increase competition for curbside spaces in the neighborhood.

The conversion of a 1939 building into modern rental housing highlights a local trend toward adaptive reuse in small city cores, preserving historic structures while increasing housing density without expanding the urban footprint. Residents can expect visible construction activity beginning in spring 2026 and new rental listings toward the end of that year.