The Eugene City Council voted on Monday to direct the Urban Renewal Agency to work with two developers on plans to redevelop the West Broadway neighborhood.
The city received five proposals – four from out of town and one from a Eugene resident – when it issued requests for qualifications from developers to redevelop the stretch of Broadway between Willamette and Charnelton streets. After reviewing all five of the proposals, city staff recommended that the council select Portland-based KWG Development Partners as the developer that the city would work with.
But several councilors were hesitant about selecting one developer for the project. Instead, the council voted 5-4 to allow city staff to work with KWG and with Beam Development, also a Portland-based company, on the project.
City Councilor Alan Zelenka, who represents Ward 3, which encompasses most of the University and surrounding areas, suggested the alternative proposal after his first proposal to work with KWG, Beam and Orem, Utah-based Midtown Development on the project was defeated 5-4.
KWG’s plan calls for developing more than one million square feet of new development consisting of retail, housing, cinema, a grocery store, a hotel and parking. Beam’s proposal suggests a two-phase approach to development, where the first phase would renovate the Washburne and Centre Court buildings and minor construction.
The plans were evaluated by city staff on six criteria, such as the developers’ financial capacity and qualifications to the project’s timeliness and consistency with city goals for downtown.
City staff suggested KWG for the project because of the company’s strengths in housing, retail and complex development and because of their successes with previous projects in Portland and in Tualatin, Ore.
The recommendation to go with KWG was supported by four city councilors. City Councilor Mike Clark said a decision for the project needed to be made because of the possible future increases in construction costs and because he didn’t want the project to drag on.
“I don’t know why we wouldn’t go with the group that has a vision and the resources to back it up,” City Councilor Jennifer Solomon said.
City Councilor Bonny Bettman said the council should evaluate the developers based on their qualifications and abilities to complete a project. She said voting for a company based on their proposal wasn’t fair because the city didn’t ask for proposals and because it was unfair to the community.
“I think we can do this with three extremely qualified developers,” Bettman said. “I’m very reluctant to limit it to one developer at this point because each concept has different strengths and I’d like us to see us move forward and try to capture the strengths of the different concepts.”
Zelenka said he was concerned about picking one developer and said he didn’t think it would affect the timeline for the project.
Councilors said they would like to hear more information from the developers for the project. Denny Braud, a senior development analyst for the Community Development Division, said the city staff will work with the developers to refine the design and the financial details of the project and to bring them to the council at future dates.
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