PORTLAND – The University will continue planning the sale of the Westmoreland Apartments and report to the State Board of Higher Education at a future meeting about the progress made on the efforts to mitigate the effects selling the property could have on the 592 people who live there.

Though no formal vote was taken Friday morning when the University asked the board for permission to sell, board members voiced their approval to proceed on the condition that University officials continue their efforts to help the potentially displaced tenants keep the board informed.

The board must formally approve the final sale of the property.

University President Dave Frohnmayer presented the University’s proposal to sell the property, citing the need to improve the residence halls and the need to be able to buy property closer to the University as the “once a century ” opportunities arise.

He cited the UO  Foundation’s purchase the vacant Romania car lot east of the University-owned Williams’ Bakery site on Franklin Boulevard  as an example. Had it not been for the foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to fundraising for the University, the property may have been sold to another buyer because the University did not have sufficient funds for the purchase and would have to go put forth extensive efforts to secure bonds.

“We cannot afford to be that un-nimble in this kind of market,” Frohnmayer said.

Frohnmayer said the University will be helping Westmoreland tenants financially in their search for different housing, though he emphasized that such a  search may not be necessary if the buyer of the property is interested in continuing to operate the units. He said the foundation will contribute financially if necessary.

Frohnmayer said after the meeting that several potential buyers have come forward in the past few days. He would not say who, but he did confirm that one was a non-profit organization interested in low-income housing.

About 20  University students attended the meeting to demonstrate their opposition to the possible sale. Board meetings typically allow for public comment at the end of each meeting, but this meeting’s comment period was moved up to allow students to speak after Frohnmayer proposed the idea to sell.

Julian Catchen, president of the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation, said 150  of the University’s 1,350  GTFs live at Westmoreland and that a community with as much ethnic and cultural diversity as Westmoreland residents share does not exist anywhere else in Eugene.

He criticized the University for n

ot involving students until after the decision to try to sell the property had been made.

“The University has been rushing this issue from the beginning, and the beginning was two weeks ago,” Catchen said.

He expressed concern that no one from the University has said what exactly the sale money will purchase, saying he fears it will be used “for something completely unrelated to housing,” such as property for the basketball arena the University hopes to build.

The negative effects the closing of Westmoreland will have on the people who live there is not worth any future property purchase, he said.

“A basketball stadium is not worth this. The Joe Romania car lot is not worth this,” Catchen said.

Frohnmayer told the board the sale has nothing to do with the arena, which, if built, will be paid for with private donations to the athletics department.

One student berated the University for botching the number of international students who hold leases at Westmoreland when officials first announced their hopes to sell the property.

“Is it lies or are they really just as ignorant as they appear?” he said.

An Oct. 20  news release said 25  international students hold leases at Westmoreland. The University has since concluded that the number is actually 87.

University Housing supplied the original number. University Vice President for Finance and Administration Frances Dyke  and Interim Vice President for Student Affairs and Director of University Housing Mike Eyster  realized the number was probably wrong after tenants challenged it during a meeting Oct. 26 . The Office of Iinstitutional Research checked every leaseholders’ official record to come up with the new number.

When making the proposal, Frohnmayer urged board members not to agree to the students’ and state lawmakers who were asking them to postpone approving the University moving ahead with their plans to sell.

“With all due respect, I urge you not to heed that command,” Frohnmayer said.

He said the University is working hard to address the concerns students have about the possible sale and needs as much time as possible to do so. Also, showing reluctance in approving the sale “would delay marketplace interest,” Frohnmayer said.

Board members questioned the University’s efforts to help students find other housing as inexpensive as Westmoreland, but no one objected to the University’s desire to sell the west Eugene property in order to buy property adjacent to the campus.

“This is an entirely rational and reasonable proposal,” board member Howard Sohn  said.

Residence Hall Association President Todd Mann said after the meeting that though the meeting’s outcome definitely wasn’t ideal, it was encouraging to hear board members show skepticism to the overall proposal.

“If we grab a hold of that I think there is potential to make the case for Westmoreland,” Mann said.

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