CC Minutes - 04/23/12 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Sue Wolling, Ward 3, supported the proposed housing project. She recommended that the appropriate transportation infrastructure was put into place, and suggested that the applicant look into bicycle sharing and improved bicycle infrastructure. She described the difficulty of bicycle travel down 12` Avenue, which required many stops and advocated for a better bicycle facility on 13` Avenue involving a cycle track. She recommended that the developer be asked to help pay for it. Dave Mandelblatt, Ward 1, chair of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, described the scope of the applicant's outreach to the neighborhood association and neighborhood in general. He referred the council to Attachment H in the packet entitled Statement from Downtown Neighborhood Association and highlighted the developers' willingness to work with the association on the issues identified in the statement. He reported that progress had been made on many the issues. Shawn Hyland, Springfield, supported the Capstone project. He believed it would help make Eugene downtown a destination again. His company was working with the applicant, Capstone Collegiate Communities, and he found that the company knew what it was doing. He anticipated a good project with more parking than necessary. The company had tight deadlines to meet and time was of the essence. He anticipated the project would create many local construction jobs and would support surrounding businesses. He believed the project would also spur the construction of businesses that would serve the students who lived there. Mark Davis, Veneta, supported the MUPTE application. He enjoyed working downtown but believed that the businesses there would benefit from the new customers. Many downtown businesses had closed. The project would help support retail uses downtown. He said his company, CoChops, also anticipated that its access to the students living there could be integrated into the Eugene technology community and would remain after graduation. Milton Oiler, Ward 1, supported the application. He anticipated the project would be a stable asset after the tax exemption ended and would provide both immediate and future tax revenues. He said the site was costly to redevelop and the applicant had a proven track record. The applicant planned to maintain and manage the asset throughout its life. Bill Whalen, Ward 5, supported the proposed development, which he believed would strengthen downtown. The community had long recognized the importance of downtown housing to downtown revitalization. An increase in downtown residents would result in more business for downtown stores. He believed the MUPTE was valuable in encouraging the redevelopment of such sites. He believed the project was consistent with Envision Eugene and asked the council to support it. Hugh Prichard, Ward 3, spoke of his development of Broadway Place, a MUPTE recipient, which had 179 apartments, nine commercial tenants, and paid $160,000 annually in taxes. He said the proposed project was similar but larger. He anticipated the project would produce tax revenue right away and would pay its full share of taxes in ten years. He did not think the project could be constructed with a return of six percent, which would be the case without MUPTE. Mr. Prichard asked the council to approve the application. David Hauser, Ward 5, Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce, supported the MUPTE application as consistent with many City plans, which called for incenting downtown housing. Students had considerable disposal income to spend downtown, which had a positive impact on both downtown and the entire community, The project created a new transportation connection between downtown and UO and was in a place to be supported. He also noted the jobs that would be created as a result of the proposal. MINUTES— Eugene City Council April 23, 2012 Page 8 Regular Meeting