A new construction project is underway on East Broadway. Lane County’s housing agency, Homes for Good, is developing a 57-unit apartment complex called Bridges on Broadway for people experiencing chronic homelessness. 

Chronic homelessness is defined as “an unaccompanied homeless individual with a disabling condition” who has been homeless for more than one year, according to the Community Supported Shelters’ website. 

The Bridges on Broadway project will replace the Red Lion Hotel, which was purchased by Lane County using funds from Project Turnkey in 2021. The Red Lion Hotel was initially used as temporary housing to those displaced by wildfires. Today, one of Project Turnkey’s main initiatives is to purchase and convert “underused or vacant” properties into shelters for homeless individuals in Oregon. 

“At the beginning of August, we held an event — a groundbreaking. We were breaking walls and doing demolition with partners to celebrate and mark the beginning of official construction,” Ela Kubok, deputy director of Homes for Good, said. 

Red Lion was initially used as temporary housing for those affected by the Holiday Farms Fire of 2020. Shortly thereafter, it transitioned to temporary housing for residents who lost their housing during COVID-19. 

Preparations for BOB began in April after funds from the state and the city of Eugene were approved in 2023. 

According to Laura Hammond, Housing Tools Analyst for the City of Eugene, the city council approved and provided Homes for Good in 2023 with an estimated $618,000 to help complete the project. Of that, $383,434 comes from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which gets its funds from a construction excise tax. 

Construction excise tax funds are collected from building permits for new construction in the city. That money is then deposited into a trust fund to help fund affordable housing projects in Eugene, such as BOB.

In addition to money coming from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, the city provided HFG a city fee assistance and a systems development charge exemption. Both of these funds help pay for building permits and other fees that help with construction developments. 

There are currently six other developments underway in Eugene, including Ollie Court, an affordable housing community that will include an Early Learning Center to help with those in need of childcare. 

The project is adjacent to an American Campus Community apartment building, the 515 on East Broadway. 

Madison Moore, a UO sophomore who lives at the 515, said she “thinks it’s a great idea since the homeless population in Eugene is quite large,” but “more needs to be done to help people.” 

“I think it’s fine living next to it. We all see homeless people and they are pushing carts. It’s really hard for them to get by,” Neerad Bondhi, a junior computer sciences major at UO who also lives at the 515, said. “I think it would be better for everybody to have a place to live and help get them back on their feet.” 

General Manager Ben Musselwhite at the neighboring Pizza Hut spoke on how the Red Lion Hotel was before construction began.

“I am much happier with how they are doing it now than how they did it before,” Musselwhite said. “Before there was a lot of drug use, a lot of drug paraphernalia, people doing sketchy stuff.” 

Musselwhite said theft was an issue in the area as well.

BOB’s completion is expected for the summer of 2025. In order to qualify to live at BOB, applicants have to be experiencing chronic homelessness and meet coordinated entry requirements.