‘Strip the extras. Build housing, not hypotheticals’

Real estate developer Rob Bennett stands on the rooftop of the Downtown Athletic Club and looks down at the gravel lot at 7th Avenue and Oak Street in Eugene. It’s a full city block, entitled and ready for construction, framed by the new Farmers Market Pavilion. It should be alive with storefronts lit, balconies occupied, and people moving between the Pavilion and the Market District.

Instead, it’s empty.

“No one has built a market-rate apartment downtown without public help since the 1950s,” Bennett told a Chamber of Commerce crowd on June 12.

That may sound like civic folklore, but the pattern is real. In the past two years, Eugene permitted just more than 2,000 new homes. Nearly half of them depended on a program called MUPTE, a tax break that helps new apartment projects pencil out. But in the downtown core, only 272 units have actually been built or broken ground – and every single one needed help to happen.

This isn’t just about one parcel. It’s about a broader development pattern that stalls on sites across downtown – entitled land, central location, public vision, no movement. We keep asking why, as if it’s a mystery. But when housing is this scarce and land this central sits idle, the answer is harder to avoid: Vacancy is a choice. Every empty lot is a home not built, a neighbor not welcomed, a city promise left unkept.

MUPTE – Multi-Unit Property Tax Exemption – gives builders a 10-year break from paying property taxes on new apartment buildings, though they still pay taxes on the land. It may sound generous, but it solves a real problem: Without it, the math doesn’t work.

Take Station House, a 124-unit project now rising at 5th Avenue and Pearl Street.

Without support, it likely wouldn’t have happened. The city approved a 10-year MUPTE worth $6.5 million, plus another $3 million in fee waivers – about $10 million in public backing. In return, the developer contributes $962,000 toward affordable housing. The expected return rises just enough – from 4.9% to 6.5% – to get the project off paper and into construction.

That math may seem dry, but it’s the difference between housing and no housing.

In just two years, construction costs have jumped by 14%. Interest rates on loans now start at more than 6%. That makes delays feel fatal. A project might be zoned and permitted, yet stall out because what pencils today might collapse tomorrow.

To help, the city launched Accelerated MUPTE in 2023. It speeds up approval from six months to about 60 days, reducing soft costs like holding fees and consultant hours. Faster approval lowers risk. And lower risk brings investors off the sidelines. Homes follow.
But faster isn’t enough. The public also needs to see how the program is working.

City staff recently built a test version of a public dashboard that tracks how many units get built, what energy standards they meet and whether local contractors were hired. A full version should launch by 2026. This visibility isn’t just a tech upgrade – it’s trust infrastructure. And it delivers on draft policies calling for real-time reporting on housing incentives.

This is where incentives meet impact – on the block, not in theory. The tax break helps get housing built downtown. The dashboard builds public trust.

And MUPTE’s next evolution could – and should – reach the major transit corridors: River Road, Franklin Boulevard, West 11th, 6th and 7th avenues, Coburg Road, South Willamette. These are places where housing, walkability and climate goals already converge. Staff has floated a new corridor incentive – perhaps a broader MUPTE or fee discount – slated for City Council debate in 2027. Incentivizing housing there would turn those policy maps into homes and neighborhoods.

But none of it works without urgency, transparency and a shared sense of purpose. We’ve had the tools for years. What we haven’t had is the will to use them clearly and consistently.

MUPTE is no silver bullet. But paired with speed, accountability and a tight window – say five years – it could unlock more units without new spending. Reward what moves. Strip the extras. Build housing, not hypotheticals.

MUPTE can’t solve everything. It’s not designed for the lowest-income households. For that, the city relies on deeper tools such as federal housing vouchers, local trust funds and long-term affordability subsidies. But MUPTE fills a different gap – helping moderate-income earners such as nurses, teachers and city workers live near where they serve.
It can also help reshape under-used corridors already zoned for housing, especially if paired with similar programs the city is developing now.

And there’s policy backing behind it. The draft Comprehensive Plan calls for “clearing financial roadblocks” for housing affordable to families earning up to 120% of area median income. MUPTE, when used wisely, can help meet that charge.

We’re not arguing over hypotheticals anymore. We’re arguing over whether cities like Eugene can still afford to build the kinds of places people can afford to live in.

As the Council prepares to lock in these reforms through the 2026 Comprehensive Plan, we face a clear choice: Stall in purity politics or sharpen the tools we already have.

So sharpen the blade. Don’t hang it on the wall.

Joshua Purvis is a writer and nonprofit professional in Eugene. He serves on the city’s Multi-Unit Property Tax Exemption Review Panel and the board of the Southeast Neighbors Association.