University of Oregon’s impact on Eugene’s housing market

If Eugene ever hopes to meet its housing production goals, it needs to get denser. 

How? More backyard cottages. More duplexes and townhouses on single-family lots. More apartments near public transit.

Two areas within the city have already done this, adding thousands of new rental units since the end of the Great Recession. But they’ve barely made a dent in Eugene’s housing supply crunch, because almost no one over 25 wants to live there.

The East Broadway/Franklin Boulevard corridor and the west university neighborhood are poster children for the urban planning phenomenon known as “studentification.”

As an area is redeveloped with large student housing projects, many renters are priced out. People such as hospital employees, university workers and graduate students either can’t afford to live in flashy new housing or choose to leave for the peace and quiet of a calmer neighborhood.

Studentification can be a quirk or annoyance for a city with enough housing supply. But as we already know, Lane County faces one of the country’s largest housing affordability crises.

Student-centric redevelopment in these areas may not be the biggest driver of our problems, but two of the city’s densest residential corridors are essentially off-limits to the local workforce, limiting Eugene leaders’ goal of providing workforce housing near downtown and public transit.

Is there any way to reclaim even some of this territory for the local workforce? The nature of real estate investment limits Eugene’s options.

To understand why, look at the example of Landmark Properties.

The Georgia-based real estate firm has more than 100 housing projects in 30 states.

In March 2022, it paid local property owners $10.5 million to buy a 2.3-acre parcel where East Broadway meets Mill Street, across from Whole Foods. It built The Standard at Eugene, which opened in 2024 with 700 beds for UO students.

Landmark Properties followed that up with its $34 million purchase of PeaceHealth’s University District hospital site in June, where work has started on the first phase of a plan for 600 units — nearly 2,300 beds — of student housing.

So a deep-pocketed private developer pays nearly $45 million to buy two highly desirable pieces of Eugene real estate from two different private parties. Would a developer eyeing workforce housing have been able to match Landmark’s offers?

Probably not. 

But as UO grapples with a stagnant student population, each new high-end housing development begs the question: How full are these privately developed student apartments? Are they bringing in enough students to open up housing for workers or young families elsewhere. Or are they just taking away another opportunity for workforce housing?

The city can’t control private property transactions. But it doesn’t have to stand back and forfeit these areas to undergraduate housing, either. Opening lines of communication between city and UO housing officials would be a good start to encourage something that could be called “de-studentification.”

College towns of all sizes offer recent examples.

Colorado State University in 2024 partnered with a private developer and a property owner to open off-campus apartments with discounted rents for university employees.

In New Hampshire, Plymouth State University is in the early stages of a multiyear plan to convert campus spaces into workforce housing. Part of its plan would repurpose a dorm building into 25 to 30 affordable apartments for faculty, staff and other residents.

The UO is dealing with a budget crunch and flat enrollment. For such an effort to succeed here, the city would have to lead any partnership. Eugene’s new city manager — as well as department heads and city councilors — should prioritize that effort. 

We have a suggestion for where to start: Barnhart Hall, the Patterson Street dormitory near East Broadway that UO closed this year due to a decrease in students living on campus. Between campus and downtown, Barnhart occupies precisely the type of location where Eugene should want more people living. But the units would need substantial upgrades adding kitchens among other improvements.

Could the city negotiate an agreement to assist a private developer in renovating and managing the building, with UO retaining ownership?

Could the university set a certain number of units aside for lower-income employees, with the city providing money from its Affordable Housing Trust Fund to help finance the renovations?

Or, if they don’t believe that’s feasible, could they open it up to graduate students — something university officials are considering — or nontraditional students, such as veterans, married undergraduates or students with young children?

As UO builds more housing, could a similar opportunity arise with Riley Hall, the East 11th Avenue dorm it is keeping vacant this year due to budget and enrollment woes?

Thinking further outside the box, could a fraternity or sorority building on Hilyard Street or East 11th Avenue be acquired?

The devil would be in the details with each case. But starting those conversations now could position the city and university to take a big swing on housing solutions in the coming years. Their cooperation could be a model Oregon lawmakers could support with state affordable housing dollars.

Other university towns offer a blueprint for these types of public-private housing partnerships.

The University of California, Berkeley is partnering with an affordable housing nonprofit to build up to 110 affordable housing units on university-owned land, tapping $14.5 million in city funds for the project.

In Columbus, Ohio, Columbus State Community College formed an independent real estate development affiliate to partner with private developers and government agencies to develop the campus area and surrounding neighborhoods. Columbus State Community Partners teamed with a private developer to secure federal low-income housing tax credits for a $51 million, 166-unit affordable housing project near the campus.

The value of Eugene and the UO speaking as one voice to the Oregon Legislature would be massive. Even in the best case, the result of those efforts — several new housing options for local workers — wouldn’t solve our housing crisis.

But establishing the partnership would show that Eugene leaders are committed to the hard work of creating neighborhoods where working people can also live.