CC Minutes - 09/18/02 JEO - Laserfiche WebLink

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noted a possible third reading by the Lane County Board of Commissioners is scheduled for December 4. Yeiter explained there were several letters received subsequent to the work sessions. He stated there is a packet with a letter from Gordon Wylie, who owns property along Garden Way, a letter from Terry White who has commercially designated property in the area and a letter from Louise Wade, who is a Cubby Lane resident. He added there is a staff memorandum answering questions that came up during a work session. He also received a letter from Satre Associates. He noted he received a letter from Ward Beck, from Duncan & Brown, Phil Crillo, Miller Nash and a master plan that was prepared by Simpson Housing. Brandon Morqan, 1226 16th Avenue, Seattle, WA, Development Manager for Simpson Housing. He represented Simpson Housing who is the owner of the largest parcel that is part of the nodal plan. He said in Eugene they are the owners of the Chase Village Apartment complex. He said there are 536 apartments plus 20 acres of vacant land. He added the vacant land is the largest part of the node. He recalled they bought the property in 1997. He stated they realized the highest and best use of the vacant property was to develop a neighborhood retail center, something they thought would add value to the neighborhood. He said they had been cooperating with the city on the nodal plan. He said that Simpson Housing was committed to seeing the nodal plan through to fruition to make sure the city, neighborhood and future developers of the property will be proud of what is achieved. Rick Duncan, Duncan & Brown, 1260 Charnelton, reported that under the current proposed plan, there could be as much as 200,000 square feet of commercial space built. He noted this plan was three times the size of Oasis Plaza and Edgewood Shopping Center. He received information on second floor space from the Oakway Shopping Center. He was told that the leases are 40 to 50% less than what they get for main floor space. He noted there are substantial problems with vacancies on the second floor. Don Rakhle, 3131 San Pablo, Berkeley, stated he had been working with Simpson Housing for the past two years. He noted the two-story issue is a critical one. He said as it stands now, this is a large project and the square footage is pushing what is available in the market and what the neighborhood wants to see. He stated if the square footage is kept to put into two stories, they lose the continuous street frontage. He added to go to a second story would drive down the quality of the architecture and attract less desirable tenants in the buildings. He thinks the solution is to have a tall fa~;ade in order to feel like it is a critical mass. He noted another issue was the orientation of the building entries. He said the goal is to have the most active pedestrian oriented continuous retail area possible. He said to Page 3 - Joint BCC/City of Eugene Public Hearing; 7:00 p.m., September 18, 2002 WD bc/m/02124/T