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Old downtown on track for its modern makeover
The key to Eugene's development is balancing a local business feel with the needs of a growing community
by Mike O'Brien | News Reporter
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"When I moved here in the '70s, it was the most vital downtown of a city its size in the United States," said Hunt, who owns New Odyssey Juice & Java, a juice bar and coffee shop on the corner of Willamette Street and East 10th Avenue.
As the popularity of shopping centers grew, stores like J.C. Penney and Kaufman's relocated to the Valley River Center. Once a bustling shopping district with a large pedestrian mall that was closed off to vehicular traffic, downtown Eugene was left somewhat abandoned.
"They left a hole in the center of downtown," said City of Eugene Senior Development Analyst Denny Braud. "Over time, it just kind of eroded. The economy of that area just diminished."
Streets eventually reopened, the last of which was West Broadway from Willamette to Charnelton Streets, two blocks with low lease rates and many vacancies.
Talk of redeveloping downtown began roughly a year and a half ago, when Opus Northwest planned a $165 million retail, entertainment, housing and office project in the space. Unable to acquire most of the property, however, the Portland developer's vision fizzled.
Something worth noting, said Mike Hibbard a professor at the University's School of Planning, Public Policy and Management, is that Eugene's population was roughly one-seventh of its current size when downtown was initially developed.
Last fall, the city was able to negotiate the rights to purchase 12 parcels of property. Four developers submitted applications to be reviewed by the city's Redevelopment Advisory Committee, an advisory group to city planners. Eventually, two were chosen: KWG Development and Beam Development.
"They have different approaches and different areas of expertise, so that's why we selected both of them," Braud said.
While Beam is known for historic rehabilitation, KWG specializes in comprehensive redevelopment.
Dubbed "The West End," KWG's initial proposition was an elaborate project that included 400 housing units geared toward a range of income levels, office and retail space, a multi-screen movie theater, a grocery store, nightclubs and restaurants. The developer also toyed with the idea of converting the vacant Centre Court building into a hotel.
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