A new housing project is underway on the east side of the University of Oregon campus. Starting this summer, UO will build a seven-story, 870-bed residence hall that has not yet been given a name. It will primarily house first-year and transfer students.
The building will be located south of East 17th Avenue between Columbia Street and Villard Street, and will cost an estimated $160 million dollars to build. Fortis Construction is the contractor of the project, according to UO spokesperson Eric Howald.
The building is part of the first phase of an extensive redesign project of the east campus. The plan aims to increase student housing, as laid out in the 2025 UO Next Generation Housing Development Plan.
The adjacent proposed building, planned for phase two, will consist of a six-story, 670-bed residence hall catered towards older undergraduate students and will cost $117 million dollars to build.
Michael Griffel, the UO associate vice president for student services and enrollment management, said the housing waitlist is “an enabler and a push for the project,” at the March 17 Board of Trustees meeting.
According to Griffel’s presentation at the Board the Trustees meeting, 1,169 students requested university housing in fall of 2024, but were unable to receive student housing.
According to the development plan, getting students off the waitlist and into UO housing would “improve student grades, student retention, on-time graduation rates and reduce time to graduation.”
For the past several decades, UO has owned buildings in the Fairmount neighborhood, where the development plan is set to take place. Apart from owning the land, UO possesses 10 units in the area, nine of which are currently leased out to students and community members.
According to Howald, in May 2024, residents of those nine units received a letter notifying them that their leases would be set to expire at the end of June 2025.
Some impacted neighborhood residents from the project raised concerns and questions about the need for further development, including Austin Wilson, a UO alumnus and housing community assistant renting from the university. Wilson lives directly next to the phase one site.
“I think it is kinda shitty for the people who live down there. It’s like, do we really need more undergrad housing?” Wilson said.
Wilson, who has a partner at UO and two kids, said he is concerned about traffic flow and the potential for heightened nightlife with two kids and a partner at UO.
“I’m not 100% against the idea, but it is already becoming an overcrowding issue. It’s like butts in seats compared to quality education,” Wilson said.
Griffel thinks the university is “sizing appropriately.”
“It’s good that we’re building things that are in demand and creating programs and interests in helping students to be successful and are continually trying to both forecast and meet that demand,” Griffel said.
Matt Morrell, a doctoral student at UO living in one of the houses slated for demolition, said he doesn’t recall receiving a letter from the university about his lease being terminated, but was notified via call.
Morrell also said he doesn’t mind moving because he knew UO has plans to develop the area.
“The move part for me was not a huge problem, but I think it was foreseeable that this is valuable land and I’m honestly surprised the university waited this long to take advantage of it,” Morrell said.
Partners Gabriel Royce and Cameron Leggett also live in a home that is set to be demolished, but have different opinions about UO’s development plans.
Ruyz said Leggett went to lengths to find affordable housing as a UO student.
“My girlfriend is the one that actually got this place. She’s been trying to get it for three years because all other housing just couldn’t work with her. Before I was dating her, she almost ended up homeless multiple times because she just couldn’t afford any other student housing,” Ruyz said.
Ruyz also said they have received no communication from the university about their lease agreement.
“We’ve found out (about UO’s plans) through word of mouth from contracts and inspectors,” Ruyz said. “We’re like, ‘So what’s going on? Is it true that … they’re tearing it (the house) down.”
Jeff Philpot, co-chair for the local Fairmount Neighborhood Association, encouraged members to attend UO open houses about the developments and hosted a UO presentation on the plans at a recent community meeting.
Philpot said historical preservation should be “respected,” but acknowledged change is a natural development of any neighborhood.
“For transformation, it’s evolution, of course it is, and I don’t think anyone expects the streetcar to be reinstated and every craftsman house to be preserved like it’s Disneyland or something (…) we’re a viable working and living neighborhood,” Philpot said.
Philpot also said the Fairmount neighborhood relies on the university for sports entertainment and the amenities it offers.
“They’ve grown up around each other for 130 years or whatever,” Philpot said.
One concern repeated by nearly every resident the Daily Emerald interviewed was traffic flow and congestion.
“We still want to maintain the character of our neighborhood (because) this is a quaint, cute little corner neighborhood, and so we want to make sure that that’s maintained and that there’s not a lot of big truck travel going through here,” John Barofsky, the restaurant’s co-owner, said.
Olsen said commercial traffic would increase by one to three semi-trucks on Agate Street and East 19th Avenue, and impacts from student’s personal vehicles would be minimal.
“As far as truck traffic, the intent is to continue to minimize any impacts to the surrounding neighborhood from either service and deliveries or personal vehicle traffic,” Olsen said.
The expected project completion date for phase one is fall 2027. Phase two construction is projected to end in fall 2028.
Correction: A previous version of this article erroneously stated that the new building would be located south of East 19th Avenue. The article has been updated to reflect the correct location, which is south of East 17th Avenue.
