At an April 9 meeting of the Eugene City Urban Renewal Agency Board, consisting of all Eugene City Councilors and the Mayor, the board voted unanimously to begin the process of adding an additional apartment complex to the city’s downtown core.
The land in question is known as the North Butterfly lot, and is located adjacent to the Farmers Market Pavillion, at the intersection of East 7th Avenue and Oak Street.
In a presentation to the board by Eugene Economic Development Section Manager Anne Fifield and Downtown Manager Eric Brown, the city officials laid out a two phase plan of identifying how the lot will be utilized.
Phase I involves identifying the best development firm for the project. The Agency will request each firm’s qualifications, experience and track record. The hope is that by soliciting teams before having a site-specific proposal, the city will receive more applicants, helping city officials recommend the best team to the board for approval.
Phase II will involve completing the proposal with specifics such as the number and type of residential units, affordability, green building practices, parking, etc. During this phase the city will solicit input from the community. It is also during this phase that a budget will be drawn up and any proposal deal points will be approved by the board.
After the presentation by Fifield and Brown, councilors asked questions regarding the proposal.
Councilor Jennifer Yeh asked city officials what type of housing the development would offer. “Are we assuming this project is going to be a rent situation or is there a possibility that it could be owner occupied,” Yeh said.
Brown responded that in all likelihood the new development would consist of rental units,
Under current plans, any developer that takes on the project would likely be granted an Accelerated Multi-Unit Property Tax Exemption — or a 10-year property tax exemption for taxable value associated with new construction involving eligible housing developments. During an Accelerated MUPTE, taxes on the land itself are still paid, however the application process is shortened from six months to two months.
Councilor Lyndsie Leech expressed concern that some residents may not understand how the MUPTE operates, and that they view it as the city “giving tax dollars away.”
Leech emphasized her support for the project, saying that, “If we give this assistance, in 10-years, we will be creating millions of dollars in tax revenue for the city.”
Fifield pointed out that according to her teams’ research, there has not been any privately owned market-rate housing constructed in the downtown without some form of public assistance since at least 1956.
Councilor Clark pointed out one of the potential hurdles to the project, that current interest rates are not creating a favorable environment for development firms taking on new loans.
Fifield said that the Downtown Urban Renewal Agency has a construction loan program offering flexible financing to potential firms “that would absolutely be available.” However, the city could only contribute some financing and could not provide loans to cover the entirety of the project.
The council and mayor voted unanimously to move forward with the project.
According to the tentative timeline put forth by city officials, the city will stop accepting submissions by firms in July 2025, will be evaluating submissions in August, and will come back to the board with a recommended team in fall 2025.
