A new fraternity house for the University of Oregon’s Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter is currently under construction at 967 Patterson St., across from UO’s Barnhart Hall.
The construction project comes after the suspension of UO’s SigEp chapter in 2020 due to alcohol-related violations. The fraternity returned to campus in fall 2023.
The project began last summer and is expected to be completed by fall 2026, according to Project Manager and owner of Kimball Construction Roman Anderson.
“Fraternity buildings are unique for multi-family in that you have things like a commercial kitchen, and you have a whole dining room, you have a lot of shared common spaces, and so it’s almost like you’re building an apartment building that’s next to a rec center,” Anderson said.
Anderson said the fraternity had spoken to several other construction companies before deciding to work with Kimball Construction.
“So last summer, they had talked to a lot of other multi-family developers and our builders in town, and there, the project wasn’t penciling out for them with those other builders. And so one of the areas of Kimball Construction, a little bit unique, is that we use a different type of contract structure that shares risk and reward,” Anderson said.
Anderson also said the project is 12% under budget.
James Smith, a SigEp member who previously served as the chapter’s vice president of recruitment, said the house will include a rooftop patio, a variety of single and double rooms and a large dining room, with a 3D model of it included on the chapter’s Instagram page. Smith said the space is designed to house 40 members.
“We have been looking forward to this ever since we restarted at Oregon three years ago, just really excited to have an actual home base,” Smith said.
Smith said although he is a senior and graduating, he is excited for future members to live in the house.
“I’m excited, even though I am graduating and won’t be able to live in the house and use it to its full potential. I’m really excited for these next group of guys to be able to keep building our values there,” Smith said.
