QuickTake:

Eugene officials are working on the project, with an eye toward increasing affordable housing. City leaders agreed to move forward with a land trade to help a developer with a housing project.

Eugene city officials approved plans for land transactions with a developer that could aid the creation of affordable housing in the city’s Downtown Riverfront area.

In a work session Wednesday, Feb. 11, the Eugene City Council unanimously agreed to direct city staff to sell a city-owned 2,100-square-foot parcel to developer Atkins Dame. 

The parcel is located between the parking lot at City Hall and Fifth Avenue, next to the Coburg Road overpass. The parcel would make it easier for the developer to use its neighboring land to pursue an affordable housing project with an estimated 24 to 28 units, city officials said.

The work comes as the city and developers look for ways to continue work on the Downtown Riverfront redevelopment project. The city has a broader strategy to have housing, retail stores and restaurants in the area. City officials said the work to get more housing in the Downtown Riverfront area is a long journey, but worthwhile. 

“This is a great example of holding to a vision and staying the course with redevelopment,” Eugene Mayor Kaarin Knudson said. “It does take years, but I’m very excited to see the possibility of the new affordable housing parcel and that partnership and the integration of all of these different housing opportunities.”

The purchase price for the parcel will be about $31 a square foot, but the exact square footage and final sales price still need to be determined.

As part of the agreement, the developer will sell a separate parcel to the city’s urban renewal agency. 

In a separate but related vote, the council — acting in its capacity as the Eugene Urban Renewal Agency — unanimously agreed to move forward with plans to acquire a 3,634-square foot parcel from Atkins Dame that is immediately south of Eugene City Hall along Fifth Avenue.

The agency plans to purchase that property for about $31 a square foot. The parcel still needs to be surveyed for the exact square footage and final cost.

Over the long term, the property could transfer to the city’s ownership, allowing the municipality to manage the transitional space between parking at City Hall and the new Downtown Riverfront Park.

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Ben Botkin covers politics and policy in Lane County. He has worked as a journalist since 2003, most recently at the Oregon Capital Chronicle, where he covered justice, health and human services and documented regional efforts to combat fentanyl addiction. Botkin has worked in statehouses in Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma and, of course, Oregon. When he's not working, you'll find him road tripping across the West, hiking or surfing along the Oregon Coast.