If the Eugene City Manager and city planners agree to approve a city development plan submitted by University architecture students, the Whole Foods Development Project downtown could include a new city park and an underground parking garage.
Students working in the School of Architecture and Allied Arts’ urban design studio created three alternative concepts to the multi-story parking garage located next to the new Whole Foods Market building. The students’ concepts propose building a city park above ground next to the Whole Foods Market with an underground parking structure that could accommodate 100 to 250 spaces.
Students also included a proposal to design and construct parkland that would go from the existing park blocks at the Saturday Market on Eighth Avenue and Oak Street and lead across southern Eighth Avenue to the Willamette River on land that is mostly owned by the city.
Architecture professor Mark Gillem said adding parkland is part of the Downtown Development Plan and would contribute positively to the area by increasing property values and improving the quality of life downtown.
“The idea of connecting to the river is nothing new, but what could stand in the way of connecting the much-loved park blocks to the river would be the above-ground parking garage,” Gillem said.
The Eugene City Council voted on Monday to give city staff permission to approve a land swap and draw up an agreement with the developer to build the public parking garage. Gillem said he believed the city had not allowed the necessary public debate to look at different alternatives to the project.
The first concept is to construct the parking lot underneath the park, which would provide 100 parking spaces at an estimated cost of $3.4 million. The second concept would extend the parking lot underneath the entire block and would provide 250 parking spaces at $8 million. The third concept of placing a third-story lot on the Whole Foods would create 150 spaces at $4 million.
The city’s current plan for the above-ground parking structure is estimated to cost $6 million to $8 million, with $4 million in funds potentially coming from the Riverfront Urban Renewal Agency and additional costs being paid with city bonds.
The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts would receive enough room on its new property across from City Hall to build, and Oregonians Credit Union would receive space in the Whole Foods building.
The idea for having a parking structure underneath a city park is modeled on a similar design in Salem, Ore., near the city’s civic center. Gillem said he worked as concept architect and chief manager on a similar project in Berkeley, Calif., where a parking lot was constructed underneath a plaza and renovated buildings.
The park spaces are modeled after park blocks in Portland, Gillem said. The park blocks downtown would have trees, walkways and bike paths, fountains, and would provide an open space downtown.
“Each one would have a slightly different character, based on the building uses around it,” Gillem said.
“The parking structure that is proposed currently by the developers is not in line with the vision of downtown,” senior architectural major Molly Dobbs said. “Our plans have the potential to connect existing park blocks to the river. We do provide the necessary parking underneath the park as well, so you have the best of both worlds.”
Jenny Ulum, spokeswoman for the G Group, which owns the property being developed in the Whole Foods Development Project, the developers expressed a willingness to look at the proposals.
The group of University students that worked on the proposals includes Amanda Petretti, Autumn Modest, Dustann Jones, Ken Avery, Kendra Weiss, Madiha Khan, Molly Dobbs and Sophie Hong.
Gillem and four students involved with the project met with the city council at a public forum on Monday night to explain the proposals further. Gillem said they also met with Mayor Kitty Piercy, but had been unsuccessful in contacting Whole Foods.
Gillem said the students next hope to meet with the developers and city planners to discuss the project and work out the strengths and weaknesses of the proposals.
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