Trying to add a payment method? You can do this on the 
QuickTake:
Eugene’s Urban Renewal Agency voted to name Eugene-based Paradigm Properties as its preferred developer for a project expected to include at least 80 residences and, on the ground floor, a promenade of storefronts. The lot was once envisioned as the site of a new Eugene City Hall.
A lot at the southwest corner of Seventh Avenue and Oak Street is once again at the center of Eugene’s efforts to reimagine downtown.
The city is moving forward on plans for a mixed-use, high-density housing project on what is known as “the north butterfly lot,” a 0.67-acre site next to the Lane County Farmers Market Pavilion.
The city hopes the project will bring more residents downtown and help knit together the Market District, Park Blocks and the emerging Riverfront neighborhood.
Eugene’s Urban Renewal Agency, a public entity governed by the City Council and mayor, unanimously voted Wednesday, Oct. 15, to name Paradigm Properties as its preferred developer.
Paradigm is the Eugene-based firm behind projects like The Patterson and The Midtown. It will enter into a short-term agreement with the city, which includes a $50,000 allowance of urban renewal funds for predevelopment costs, to design a detailed plan and gather public input by early 2026. The city plans to execute the development agreement in late 2026.
“This is not just another redevelopment site within our city,” Mayor Kaarin Knudson said Wednesday. “It may be the most visible and the most important redevelopment site within our city. It is a destination. It is a place. It’s the center of a neighborhood.”
Rising from a failed City Hall plan
The butterfly name comes from the shape of a two-tiered parking structure that once occupied the lot. The city bought the property from Lane County in 2019, planning to build a new City Hall there.
The southern portion of the butterfly lot was redeveloped in 2021 as the Farmers Market Pavilion and Plaza. The northern portion remained as a surface parking lot.
The City Hall plan collapsed as design concepts and eye-popping budget estimates piled up and were abandoned.
In 2023, the city instead bought the former Eugene Water & Electric Board headquarters on the Willamette River for about $12 million to become City Hall, freeing the north butterfly lot for redevelopment.
In June 2023, city councilors amended the Downtown Urban Renewal Plan to make housing creation a top priority, authorizing the city’s Urban Renewal Agency to buy and redevelop properties like the butterfly lot.
The agency formally acquired the lot in April 2025 and issued a request for qualifications in May to identify firms interested in leading the development. Four firms submitted proposals: Paradigm, Obie Companies, Gorman & Company and PPP-UHD.
A 10-member committee of downtown stakeholders, city staff and Ward 1 Councilor Eliza Kashinsky met three times to review the proposals and named Paradigm its preferred developer.
On Wednesday, the council also named Obie Companies and Gorman & Company qualified, back-up teams.
What will the project look like?
The butterfly lot is currently a “shovel-ready” gravel lot.
The city’s vision for the project includes an “active- and pedestrian-oriented edge” abutting the Farmers Market Pavilion and 80 or more units of housing ranging in size, bedroom count and type, along with a reduced reliance on fossil fuels, according to its request for qualifications.
Downtown Manager Eric Brown said the site’s zoning allows for a building up to 150 feet high, though the city is expecting a five- to seven-story development.
Paradigm estimated an eight- to 10-story building in its proposal, with 90 to 120 residences, Development Programs Manager Amanda D’Souza added. The firm estimated the cost at $30 million, though its president described the figure as a “placeholder” and said the project could still be feasible with 30-50% more funding, at most $45 million.
Paradigm’s preliminary plan for a ground-floor retail space includes a public promenade with storefronts on the south side and smaller shops, galleries or offices on the north side.
Though councilors largely supported choosing Paradigm as the preferred developer, councilors Lyndsie Leech and Jennifer Yeh voiced a desire for a creative final design.
“I’m expecting this to be something special,” Yeh said. “Not like the most special thing of all time, but there needs to be something in here that’s different from any other apartment complex, if this is the direction we’re going in.”
Leech added: “I would like to just impress upon that desire for the uniqueness and character that really is important in a landmark like this in our core.”
The Urban Renewal Agency will work with Paradigm to consider the use of tools like the Accelerated Multi Unit Property Tax Exemption, a 10-year abatement of property taxes associated with new housing; downtown fee assistance, which uses Urban Renewal funds to pay for new downtown housing development fees; reduced land costs; and the downtown loan program.
Have something to say?
Send us a Letter to the Editor. Read our guidelines for Letters to the Editor here.
