07/11/1977 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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would be brought back before the Council. He said Mr. Carlstrom's . letter to the Council had also addressed this issue. Public hearing was opened. Robert Blizzard, 3135 Van Avenue, was in favor of the tax exemption because it would stimulate the downtown economy. He spoke as president of the Handicapped Commission specifically. He said Craig Tomlinsen had plans to build 12 units on the periphery of the down- town core which would be adaptable to the handicapped. He said when these units were filled, it would stimulate the downtown economy. The Handicapped Commission had received a letter from the Lane County Offices of Vocational Rehabilitation stating it had 30 persons on the waiting list for accessible housing to down- town. The Commission had also received two other letters, one from Sacred Heart Hospital and one from Lane County Directory Services. In addition, the Commission had received a phone call from Lane County Welfare. He said the program might loose money on the short haul, but would make money in the long run. Russ Landress, P. O. Box 329, Scio, said he was considering pur- chase of property bounded by Broadway, Washington, Lawrence, and Ei.ghth Street. He planned to build 125 units on this site to be known as Broadway Center. He said a report by John Blaney Associates stated that at $4.50 to $6.00 per square foot, a land buyer would have to charge rents unobtainable in Eugene to pay e for his costs in building an apartment on that land. He said previous apartments he had built had cost from $1500 to $1650 a unit. Howev~r, he said the Broadway Center unit would cost $3400. He said without the tax abatement program, he would have to charge unobtainable rent to pay for such a project. His offer to purchase the property mentioned was contingent upon approval of the tax abatement program. John Ewing, 1560 Lincoln, faculty member of the U of O's Center for Gerontology. member of the Board of the Northwestern National Benelovent Association, and president of the Christian Church Homes of Oregon, said the National Benelovence Society was the sponsor of a HUD Section 2028 housing project for older adults to be built at the southeast corner of 11th and Olive. He said the project would include 150 units, ten percent to house the handicapped. In accordance with HUD regulations, the Society had procurred a mortgagor of the project, the Christian Church Homes of Oregon. He said the facility would be called Olive Plaza. The proposal was being reviewed by HUD. He said the project construction budget was very tight, and the operating costs and amortization depended on approval of the abatement program. Denial of the program would jeopardize chances for proceeding with the project. He said the site cost more than the originally chosen site, and suggested the Council knew the background of this issue. He said the group wanted to build on the edge of the mall because of the need for low-income e housing for the elderly in this area. Seventy-three persons had 7/11/77--6 '~7