CC Minutes - 01/09/06 Work Session

Home Browse Search

investment in retail, market-rate housing, private office development and, until recently, a willing private developer. Mr. Sullivan noted three projects that were in their final planning stages: the Oregon Research Institute (ORI) building, the Whole Foods project, and the Connor and Woolley/Opus proposal. He used an aerial photograph to illustrate the location of the proposed Connor and Woolley/Opus project and said the three projects would go a long way toward completing the build-out of Broadway from west to east as a Great Street. Continuing, Mr. Sullivan stated that 67 percent of the ground floor space along the two blocks of Broadway between Charnelton Street and Willamette Street was vacant and other properties were under-utilized for the street’s potential. He said the building configurations and space sizes were challenging for redevelopment and re-tenanting and would likely require significant demolition. He said the $165 million Connor and Woolley/Opus proposal included 186,000 square feet of retail space, 100,000 square feet of office space, 288 housing units, a 1,600 seat cinema, 743 new parking spaces (455 public) and a hotel. He used a massing plan to illustrate the scale and location of buildings in the proposed development and pointed out that parking was embedded in each of the three new buildings. He said the proposal indicated a total need for 1,854 parking spaces and of that total over 1,100 were currently available in the public parking system; 743 new parking spaces were needed and they would be embedded in the new buildings. He said according to the proposal, 455 of the new spaces would be City-owned and presumably paid for by the City. He listed the outstanding issues: ? public parking – the amount to be provided, cost and financing issues ? potential amendments to the urban renewal plan ? assembly of private property Mr. Sullivan said the recommendation was for staff to continue working with Connor and Woolley/Opus to develop a more detailed proposal related to West Broadway for the council’s consideration. He said the proposal represented positive potential for realizing a fundamental step in the revitalization of downtown. Mayor Piercy called for council questions and comments. Ms. Bettman said she supported downtown housing and saw a role for the City in providing parking but was not certain she could endorse the concept of the proposal because it appeared to include use of eminent domain to consolidate properties, sale of the Atrium Building, national and regional retail stores, public subsidies, and unknown site plan options. She said the $165 million included the City’s investment and questioned at what point a subsidy was considered extraordinary and could not be justified. She noted that other developers and downtown property owners did not have access to the same kind of extraordinary subsidies and incentives that the Connor and Woolley/Opus proposal expected. She said that subsidizing one developer’s commercial and retail created an unlevel playing field and manipulated the free market. She said if the proposed motion included any type of endorsement to move forward with condemning local businesses, she could not support it. Ms. Taylor said she had the same reservations as Ms. Bettman. She asked why the developers did not just ask for a building permit like everyone else. Mr. Sullivan replied that there would be a point at which the developer would need to apply for building permits. He said the development would occur within the downtown urban renewal district and noted that the Downtown Plan encouraged incentives for certain types of development in the downtown core, including retail, mixed-use development, and housing, with parking MINUTES—Eugene City Council January 9, 2006 Page 4 Work Session