Here is a Beautiful Home located at 344 East 15th Street, it has been quoted as "The Best House on the Market". This home is in a Great Neighborhood, excellently located within walking distance of both the Alliance Middle and High Schools. It is also within a couple of blocks of the Alliance Public Library, Baseball Fields, Central Park, Laing Park, Knight Museum, and the Swimming Pool.

344 East 15 Street - Alliance, NE 69301

One of a Kind, Spacious 4 Bedroom, 2 Bath, Quad-Level Home with Vaulted Ceilings and a Unique Floor-Plan. This Gem of a Home offers everything; it has an Awesome In-ground Swimming Pool surrounded by Beautifully Stamped Concrete, Spectacular Landscaping and a Privacy Fence. And for the Golf Enthusiast, it even has an indoor putting green in the basement with enough room for a golf net.

If you are interested in this property you can send an email to terry@gobirdie.com, or you can call (308) 762-5825.

Master Bedroom on Upper Level	Master Bedroom on Upper Level	Master Bedroom on Upper Level
Bathroom Upper Level	Middle Bedroom on Upper Level	Middle Bedroom on Upper Level
Northwest Bedroom on Upper Level	Northwest Bedroom on Upper Level	Front of House which faces South to SW
Family Room - Lower Level	Family Room - Lower Level	Family Room - Lower Level
Bedroom/Office on Lower Level	Bedroom/Office on Lower Level	Large Bathroom/Laundry Room - Lower Level
Hillcrest Country Club on Door to Basement	Golf Room/Putting Green in Basement	Golf Room/Putting Green in Basement
In-ground Swimming Pool and Landscaping	Pool surrounded by Stamped Concrete	Stamped Concrete Patio - Backside of Garage
Storage Shed with Lawn and Retaining Wall	Swimming Pool & Steps	18' X 36' Swimming Pool - 4' to 8' Depth

For more information -
Send an e-mail to: terry@gobirdie.com,
or call (308) 762-5825.

ALLIANCE — A housing shortage in Alliance has city and economic development leaders scrambling for solutions, and while realtors are busy, they're reaping the benefits of the tight market.

The BNSF Railway Co. last month announced that it would hire 300 new workers in Alliance within the next year. That hiring process has already started, and as of this week, there are only about 60 homes on the market, many of them in a lower price range that might not appeal to incoming families.

“If we get 300 people here, we’re in trouble,” said Marcia Vogel of Heartland Real Estate and Appraisal. “There's no way we can take care of them all.” Realtors have been busy lately, Vogel said, noting that homes that are cleaned up and require little work are selling like hotcakes. One home was put on the market Monday night and sold Thursday morning. “If they're ready to go, they're gone,” Vogel said.

The Alliance City Council conducted a special meeting last week to address the housing shortage in town, directing City Manager Pamela Caskie to keep doing research on how to best handle the situation. Caskie already had been meeting with bankers, realtors and potential developers to come up with solutions that will keep new railroad workers from moving to other Panhandle towns. One suggestion is that the housing market needs a kick-start with some new construction. Vogel said from her conversations with railroad personnel, that idea is dead on. “We've got to do something,” she said. Until then, however, Vogel said the shortage will result in one positive thing for realtors. “This will take care of some of the houses that have been on the market for a while,” she said. “Buyers are going to go, ‘This is what there is and we have to take it.’” In addition to the new railroad workers, the city also is expecting an influx of new students for the WNCC Powerline School.

By RACHEL GONZALEZ
Alliance Times-Herald City Editor

ALLIANCE - City Manager Pam Caskie, her staff and the City Council are taking proactive steps to alleviate the housing shortage in Alliance because of the influx of new residents that are just now beginning to trickle in.

Two months ago the city received a "heads up" from Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway's Heather Callanan, who is a human resource manager for the Powder River Division, that there could be 350 new positions opening in the Alliance yards and trainman based in Alliance.

One month ago Caskie and the council held a special council meeting, open to the public, to discuss housing and other issues facing the city with the changes that are foreseen.

The council gave Caskie an informal go-ahead to speak with banks, realtors, and search for developers who would want to enter an agreement with the city in the possible development of homes, built a few at a time.

Then as now, Caskie said recently, there is a need for a variety of housing options. There are seniors looking for a smaller, easier to care for home, while growing families are searching for that step up. A single person or a couple may want a starter home. Many are wanting to transition between types of homes.

She has been speaking with a couple of developers about the Lakefield Addition, and two different ones about Homestead Addition. The plans are further ahead in the Lakefield, mostly because the infrastructure of lights, water, sewers, and other city services are already in place and are being used all around the scattered vacant city-owned lots. In Homestead the lots are more concentrated in larger groupings with many of the services established but left unused in the very immediate area for almost 30 years. The streets are mostly there and it would not take much to inspect the services and be ready to build in a few months.

Housing in Alliance seems to be running about $125 per square foot to build and Caskie said they would like to see it around $95 per square foot for the cost. There is a contractor who is very interested in working with the city and developers on these projects, she noted.

The plan is to build just a few houses at once, get those sold and on the tax rolls, then build a few more as needed or anticipated.

For more information, please see the Times-Herald print edition.