10/14/1985 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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profitably unfeasible. Ms. Stewart added that if a paid program were imple- e mented, an investor might be found to purchase the building, but no revenue stream currently existed to support the sale. She said staff had checked with brokers, and the square footage prices were equal to or better than many properties of equivalent value downtown. She added, however, that improve- ments would be required to lease the space and for the building to be used. Ms. Stewart said staff had spoken with the owner of the Downtown Athletic Club, and he had felt the improvements were important to the club for parking and for nearby tenants to complement the club. She also said he had been concerned that the improvements might not be done. Ms. Stewart showed visuals of the suggested improvements and said they had been reviewed by the public space consultant. She said staff had agreed that the cuts to the north and south walls of the garage could be omitted without affecting the function as a retail space and parking structure. She said if the council wanted to reduce the funding further, staff suggested going back to meet with the designers. One suggested improvement was to remove the board across the front so that the storefronts would be visible from the street. Mr. Jungjohann said the cost for that was about $60,000, mainly for lighting the pedestrian way and the storefronts. Other improvements included lighting on the back, a bridge to the Ax Billy Building, an external stairway, removing the planters, and opening part of the e area to diagonal parking. Ms. Ehrman said the bridge would be paid for by developers of the Ax Billy Building. Mr. Jungjohann said the external stair- way had been part of the initial design. Ms. Stewart said improvements to the elevator were designed to give a sense of arrival and departure. She said one problem was that people tended to wander in the building with poor sense of direction. She also said the building had been designed with two elevator shafts, but only one was operational, and improvements would include blocking off the unused shaft. Ms. Stewart said if another elevator were installed, it probably would be put on the outside of the building. She also said the breezeway would not be secured at night. Mr. Jungjohann said the floor texture would be made lighter. Ms. Stewart said the building had an internal circulation system, and she added that designers were encouraging that the building be given a safer feeling in order to attract more use, which was expected with the development of the Athletic Club and the Schafer Building. Ms. Ehrman asked why the parking sign was being taken down, adding that she thought it would be better to publicize the parking function. Ms. Stewart said the designs were preliminary and had been used for the cost estimates, but none of them had been initiated. She also said Mr. Owens was present to talk about the commission's decision on which items to fund. Mr. Hansen said he thought the public rest rooms in the Overpark should be closed. e MINUTES--Eugene City Council Dinner/Work Session October 14, 1985 Page 6