A 272-unit, 1,002-bed student housing development is coming to property near the University of Oregon in Eugene.

Landmark Properties, headquartered in Athens, Georgia, partnered with CrossHarbor Capital Partners of Boston to acquire the 2.62-acre parcel that formerly held a PeaceHealth hospital. The firms are developing The Mark Eugene at 1290 Alder St., where ground will be broken later this month.

The project team includes ESG Architecture & Design of Minneapolis, civil engineer KPFF, VSM² Structural Engineers of Houston, Humphreys & Partners Landscape Architecture of Dallas, and mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineer Emanuelson-Podas of Edina, Minnesota. The general contractor is Landmark Construction — the construction arm of Landmark Properties.

The Mark Eugene will have nine studios, 15 one-bedroom units, 22 two-bedroom units, 29 two-bedroom/double occupancy units, 24 three-bedroom units, 119 four-bedroom units and 54 five-bedroom units.

The development will feature a contemporary urban aesthetic characterized by a strong mix of contrasting materials, Jason Doornbos, Landmark Properties’ chief development officer, stated in an email. Exterior materials will include a variety of brick, cementitious siding and wood composite siding.

The exterior is designed so that the facade’s length is broken up, ESG Architecture & Design Vice President David Stahl said. There will be a purposeful rhythm to avoid a patchwork-like look from changes of materials or colors, he added. Plans call for stacks of balconies with framed elements of a wood look and a nice stone base.

“Unlike a lot of other student-oriented projects, we do have a lot of balconies and articulation on the outside to give a little bit more texture and depth to the façade,” he said.

The building’s front door will essentially look out to the UO campus, Stahl said. One of the former hospital’s multilevel parking garages on the south side of 13th Avenue will be retained. The street is also one of the major bikeways that serve the campus.

Outdoor amenities will include a resort-style pool and spa with cabanas, a clubhouse, outdoor grilling equipment, a fire pit and seating areas, a dog park and multiple landscaped courtyards. Interior amenities will include a fitness center, a sports simulator, a wellness suite with a sauna and cold plunge, a study lounge with a café, a gaming lounge and bike storage.

The building will also have 5,785 square feet of ground-floor retail space within the parking garage at 13th and Hilyard Street.

“The idea is we want to encourage mingling and getting to know your neighbors,” Stahl said of the amenities. “The idea is ‘come on down where the activity is.’ When you’ve had enough activity, you can go back to your unit that is nice, peaceful and quiet.”

This project represents the first phase of two that are expected to ultimately deliver a total of 2,275 beds to the Eugene market. The second phase is planned for the land north of The Mark Eugene, Stahl said. A conceptual design completed by ESG calls for a greenway between the two buildings acting as a “pedestrian spine” connecting Alder Street and Hilyard Street, he added. Also, all streetscapes will have active facades.

Landmark Properties plans to reassess the second phase in two years, Stahl said.

Completion of the first phase is expected before the start of UO’s 2028-2029 school year.

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Since Sam Bond’s Garage in Eugene closed in late 2025, its windows have been covered with butcher paper and the community gathering spot has sat empty. Whiteaker neighborhood residents sorely felt the loss of the bar, which was a beloved live music venue for 30 years.

It was the kind of place where everyone was welcome, as long as they paid the cover and were nice to Buddy the Cat.

Behind the butcher paper, new owners Grace Schubert and Ian Hill are deep into a renovation. The mention of a remodel might raise some folks’ blood pressure, but Schubert and Hill say assuredly that they’re not turning Eugene’s darling dive into a new student housing complex.

They want to maintain the energy of the community’s favorite bar and ensure that it can remain a staple for generations to come.

Schubert and Hill want to keep the overall vibe of Sam Bond’s Garage the same, but they are engaged in upgrades. There will be a new kitchen setup and menu inspired by their family in Kentucky. Think bourbon, bluegrass music and barbecue.

The couple also is changing the physical space. They have reinsulated the walls to make sure the old building is free of pests. Now they’re refinishing the concrete floors. Next, they plan to build out the stage and lay new concrete in front of it.

Schubert and Hill are keeping the raised wood build-out at the front of the bar and adding to that vibe with new tables and a live-edge wood bar built out of the tree that was struck by lightning at the Lane County Fairgrounds. They’re even toying around with the idea of installing a fireplace.

Because Sam Bond’s Garage is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, there are limitations to what Schubert and Hill can do to the building. The ceiling must be left uncovered, and the hoist that was used to move engines around the building must remain. Fortunately, all guidelines jive with the couple’s plans for the refurbishment.

“You can feel the building; it feels happier now,” Hill said. “We’re happy to keep the bones, but bring new life into the space.”

Hill and Schubert knew they wanted to work with the building’s bones to create a community space that will be sustainable for generations to come. They took ownership at the end of December 2025 and began working on the space in January.

But owning a bar is different than seeing it when the lights are out. The couple hoped the bar would be open by now, but the historic building needed a lot of work.

“It’s a 100-plus-year-old building, and it needed some love poured into it,” Schubert said. “And when you start with renovations, you think better to do it all now than to have to come back later.”

Schubert and Hill plan to continue a lot of what the community came to love at Sam Bond’s Garage: artist showcases, live music, and weeknight events.

“The neighborhood has been so welcoming, and people are excited to see what we’re going to do,” Hill said. “And there’s some nervousness that we don’t screw it up, and keep it core to the greatness that it’s been. We’re excited about living up to those expectations.”

An official opening date is still up in the air. Hill regrets putting up “Reopening this Summer” on the board outside. The aim is for September, but it’s a moving target.

Schubert and Hill moved to Eugene from Kentucky to attend the University of Oregon in 1997. After their truck overheated on the way to a Phish concert in California, Hill started researching what he could do differently to fuel it and stumbled onto the idea of biodiesel.

The couple started a business, SeQuential BioFuels, with a few of their friends. Their first station was where Ninkasi Brewing’s headquarters currently stands. The property used to be a parking lot for an oil company’s trucks.

SeQuential started as a small group of people who stopped in for Saturday morning fueling in Whiteaker and then built customer base large enough that they opened their own fueling station near Interstate 5.

Hill and Schubert sold the business in 2025 after 20 years.

“That was kind of painful, because (the store) was part of the community, so once we transitioned out of that, we were looking for somewhere else to put our dollars,” Hill said.

Sam Bond’s Garage was one of the first places Hill and Schubert remember visiting in Eugene. They have fond memories of watching friends perform on stage and seeing up-and-coming bands. Such memories, combined with the good energy of the neighborhood, solidified Schubert and Hill’s decision to take over the bar.

“We know this is such a part of this neighborhood, and of Eugene, and everyone was so sad to see it go,” Schubert said. “It would have been such a loss for the community if it had entirely gone away.”

Hill and Schubert have two sons, one 19 and one 22, and want to provide something for them separate from screens.

“I think many of us feel more and more this urge to reconnect as humans, and be done with the old screen time,” Hill said. “Sam Bond’s was on the market for a while, and we have a connection to it, and coming to see music here, so we decided to do it.”

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in The Register-Guard and then was distributed on the USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.

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By Alan Torres
Eugene Register-Guard / USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Eugene City Council has advanced a measure that would require people selling homes in Eugene to disclose the home’s Home Energy Score to prospective buyers.

City staff, recommending councilors pursue the requirement, said in surveying Eugene residents, people wanted more guidance on how to improve their home’s energy efficiency and passing the requirement would do that.

“It would expand access to information about energy usage, energy improvements and available incentives,” said Danielle Klinkebiel, Eugene climate policy analyst.

A Home Energy Score is a standardized measurement of a home’s energy efficiency. A Home Energy Score report includes a home’s estimated energy costs, recommended improvements, and available rebates. Klinkebiel said this assessment costs $150 to $250 and examines the home’s insulation, air sealing, heating, cooling, windows, doors and water heating.

Under the proposal, people selling homes in Eugene would be required to include a Home Energy Score and Report in the real estate listing and home showing. Eugene would be the fifth Oregon city to adopt such a requirement.

City staff said they had researched Home Energy Score requirements in other cities, and found implementing them didn’t have an impact on housing supply. But staff recommended the city create a program to train energy assessors to ensure there are enough of them to meet the demand generated by the requirement.

Councilors unanimously voted to advance the proposal to a public hearing. Because of City Council’s upcoming summer recess, the earliest this could occur would be Sept. 21.

Councilors expressed a range of enthusiasm and skepticism of the proposal.

Supportive councilors said the requirement would provide more information to home buyers and help people make the homes in Eugene more energy efficient.

Critical councilors said it would likely be redundant with expected federal regulation and worried about the home inspections being inaccurate and sellers passing along the cost of the inspection to buyers.

Other Oregon cities requiring the disclosure are Portland, Milwaukie, Hillsboro and Bend.

Celeste Schmorde, president of Eugene Realtors, shared mixed thoughts on the requirement.

Schmorde said earlier in the process the Realtors had weighed in with concerns that the energy score may not accurately reflect the value or livability of older homes, and questioned the theory the requirement would encourage homeowners to make energy improvements.

But Schmorde also said the organization supports “transparency around a home’s expected utility costs and operating expenses,” and that at this point Eugene Realtors has switched from debating the policy to “helping buyers, sellers, and real estate professionals understand any new requirements so they can navigate them successfully.”

Meredith Tufts, coalition coordinator for Fossil Free Eugene, celebrated the vote. She called the proposed requirement “a common sense measure that will help to ensure prospective home buyers have the knowledge they need to make informed purchases.”

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By Hannarose McGuinness
Eugene Register-Guard

A project to turn the former Lane Community College building on Willamette Street into a mixed-use affordable housing project got a big infusion of funding from Eugene’s Urban Renewal Agency Board.

The Eugene City Council approved an additional $8.66 million in funding during a council work session on June 22.

The development includes construction of a six-story, mixed-use, mixed-income building near the downtown Lane Transit District bus station. The building would have 133 apartments, with 68 of those units affordable to households earning up to 80 percent of the Area Median Income, or about $55,000 in annual income for a single person. The other 65 units would be market rate with no income limits.

The building also would include ground-floor commercial space, a public gallery and mural, and help activate a downtown block that has been empty for more than a decade.

The project at 1059 Willamette St. has been stalled due to a funding gap the additional dollars are intended to close. According to a news release, the City and Downtown Urban Renewal District will invest $10.5 million in the project to cover early costs such as permits and system fees and to offset construction costs affected by rising prices and high interest rates.

The City also has supported the project by selling the land to developers for $1 and granting a 10-year property tax exemption through the City’s Multi-Unit Property Tax Exemption, or MUPTE, program.

At the June 22 work session, Mayor Kaarin Knudson said city officials have long wanted to see more city-center workforce housing that is dense, transit-oriented and developed in partnership with local teams to meet the community’s goals. She said, ”It is incredibly exciting to see this project moving forward as an example.”

Funding comes from tax-increment financing, a method of freezing property tax rates in specific areas in order to reinvest additional revenues into improvement projects in that district.

The total project is expected to cost about $38.7 million.

The city is partnering with developers deChase Miksis and Edlen & Company for this project.

Within the next three months, the city must transfer the property to developers. Construction is expected to begin soon after the transfer is finalized.

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By Alan Torres
Eugene Register-Guard / Register-Guard

The city of Eugene has issued permits for the planned Amazon distribution center on Highway 99.

According to city of Eugene permit data, the city issued permits June 18, authorizing construction, after Amazon’s contractors paid the $1.2 million in outstanding fees.

The project is an Amazon shipping and storage hub on a former grass seed farm at the corner of Highway 99 and Awbrey Lane in Eugene, just north of the Blachly-Lane Electric Co-Op building. There will be one large building for the warehouse and two parking lots: one for employees and one for delivery vans.

The permits greenlight Amazon’s plan to build the warehouse, parking lot, private roadway and loading dock.

It’s not obvious based on public documents when construction will start or how long it will last.

According to the city permit database, an inspection is scheduled for June 13, 2027. According to one of many documents obtained by the Register-Guard, Amazon’s developer, Trammel Crow, has a permit to close a lane on Highway 99 to construct the entrance to the site. That permit will expire Feb. 1, 2027.

Alisa Carroll, from Amazon’s policy communications and economic impact division, told Bethel neighborhood leader Lin Woodrich over email the 317,640-square-foot warehouse near the airport would enable same-day and next-day delivery for Amazon customers in “Eugene and the surrounding Lane County region,” create “several hundred jobs” paying an average hourly base wage of $23 per hour plus benefits.

The grass field on the corner of Highway 99 and Awbrey Lane is the site of seasonal wetlands, but regulators deemed them low quality and determined stormwater runoff would not harm Amazon Creek where it drains.

The Amazon development is the first of several the city wants to attract for the industrial-zoned area near Eugene’s airport.

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By Alan Torres
Eugene Register-Guard / Register-Guard

Costco wants to expand both its parking and its gas station pumps at its Eugene store, and has two ideas for how it could do so, both of which involve tearing down the closed Office Depot across the street.

In a dated May 21, first reported by Eugene Weekly, Costco representative LUA Consulting told the city Costco wants to demolish the former Office Depot, restripe the surrounding area to create additional parking and expand the existing gas station.

Under this plan, Costco would create 202 parking spaces for Costco employees on the north side of Chad Drive. Costco also would plant trees, and the new parking area would have 13 percent tree canopy.

Costco would simultaneously add four new gas pumps to the existing gas station, replacing 14 parking spaces. Each pump includes two nozzles, so this proposal would bring the number of nozzles from 24 to 36.

In the second plan, dated June 16, Costco would demolish both the Office Depot and its existing gas station. Costco would expand parking where the current gas station is, and build a new gas station and additional parking on the Office Depot lot.

The new gas station would be built to serve 40 vehicles at a time.

Customers would access the new gas station through proposed entrances off Chad Drive and Coburg Road. The Coburg Road entrance would cut through the parking lot currently shared by Winco, Taco Bell and Video Only, with Costco restriping the parking lot to outline the new car route. This plan also would add square footage to the existing Costco building.

According to documents obtained by the Register-Guard through a public records request, Costco and City of Eugene staff were scheduled to meet to discuss the project June 17.

In the application requesting that meeting, LUA, Costco’s consultant, said it does not believe the development will increase peak-hour traffic in the area, but notes that at least the first plan would increase pedestrian traffic and asks the city if upgrades to the pedestrian crossing on Chad Drive will be needed for the project.

Costco purchased the Office Depot building across Chad Drive in 2009. The office supply store closed in May.

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The city of Eugene has banned natural gas infrastructure in new low-rise residential construction.

A special meeting was held Monday to decide if the issue should be sent to citizens for a vote. The council discussed whether to put the issue on the May 16 ballot, but that motion did not pass. A motion was then made to move forward with the proposed ordinance, which was approved by the council.

The city council held public hearings in November and December 2022 on the proposal to prohibit fossil fuel infrastructure in new low-rise residential buildings. Those include single-family dwellings, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, cottage clusters, multifamily buildings, and any other residential structures three stories or shorter. However, a mixed-occupancy building featuring commercial use is not included.

According to the ordinance, the city will deny an application for a permit or suspend an issued permit that does not comply with the mandate. The ordinance will apply to building permit applications submitted on or after June 30.

As for the Portland-metro area, Multnomah County in 2021 passed a resolution that prohibits the use of fossil fuels in new and remodeled county buildings. The city of Milwaukie this past December passed one resolution to electrify city-owned buildings and another to electrify new buildings.

Last year, Portland City Council approved the Climate Emergency Workplan, which outlines 43 priority actions the city must take in the next three years to meet 2030 and 2050 carbon emission reduction goals. With these priority actions, the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability is not currently pursuing legislation to ban natural-gas hookups in new construction, Public Information Manager Magan Reed stated in an email. The bureau’s near-term capacity is focused on decarbonizing existing buildings.

“We recognize that the list of actions any organization could take to meet carbon emission reduction goals is nearly unending, but the capacity to address every single aspect of climate action at one time simply doesn’t exist,” Reed stated. “With extensive community engagement and scientific research, the 43 priorities listed in the Climate Emergency Workplan is where the vast majority of resources and efforts will be focused at least for the next three years. As we look to the next iteration of a formal Climate Action Plan for the city, continued community feedback will be essential in the decision-making process.”

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The University of Oregon is looking for a firm to head an expansion-renovation of its University Health, Counseling and Testing Center.

The $17 million project will include the renovation of 12,000 square feet and the addition of 20,000 square feet, according to a request for proposals issued earlier this month.

The current building is located in the middle of the university’s Eugene campus and offers students comprehensive health care, including primary care, pharmacy, laboratory, dental, x-ray and sports medicine.

There is currently a “tremendous” need to expand the facility due to growth of the student body along with deferred maintenance and facility problems, according to the RFP. The building was built in 1965 and was last expanded in 2007.

Construction is scheduled to begin next June, with fall 2019 the target for occupancy.

The university intends to contract with the winning bidder initially for only preconstruction services, with provisions for later adding the construction phase to the scope of work.

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After playing major roles in developing Portland’s South Waterfront District and Pearl District, Williams & Dame Development is in position to develop a key riverfront parcel in Eugene.

The Portland firm has entered into exclusive negotiations with the city of Eugene to develop a 16-acre property along the Willamette River. The parcel has served for decades as the operations center for Eugene Water and Electric Board, but the utility moved to sell the property and consolidate operations at another facility in west Eugene.

Eugene officials consider the property the city’s only shot at creating a riverfront district that extends from downtown.

“There‘s a tremendous opportunity there,” said Denny Braud, executive director of Eugene’s Planning and Development Department. “This is really the only place downtown that touches the river.”

Williams & Dame has closely tracked the property for years. In 2014, the University of Oregon Foundation was selected as master developer for the property, ahead of Williams & Dame and Trammell Crow Co.

“They were all viable candidates for the project,” Braud said.

The UO Foundation eventually backed out.

“They ended up deciding that it wasn’t the perfect project for them,” Braud said. “It was probably a little risky. They hadn’t done this type of development before.”

Braud reached out again to Williams & Dame and Trammell Crow, and it was Williams & Dame that kept coming back.

“Williams & Dame has a very specific and proven skill set working in public-private partnerships,” said John Mangan, a spokesman for the company. “Those are difficult, complex projects involving a host of issues, and it’s something Williams & Dame excels at.”

Earlier this year, Eugene’s urban renewal agency purchased the property from EWEB for $5.75 million. The purchase was meant to provide a clear path to resell the property to a developer, Braud said. At one point, the urban renewal agency was acting as EWEB’s agent to sell the property, but the arrangement proved cumbersome.

“That triangular relationship gets a little bit complicated,” Braud said.

Williams & Dame can now negotiate directly with the urban renewal agency on a disposition and sale agreement.

A combination of urban renewal funds, possible tax exemptions for housing and a purchase price adjustment could be used to make the project worthwhile for Williams & Dame, Braud said.

“All of those things are tools we could use to help make that project happen,” he said. “If we need to adjust the purchase price to make that happen, we’ve done it in the past. We’ve also sold property at market value.”

EWEB retains ownership of a steam plant and substation next to the developable property. Approximately 3 acres along the river is set aside for a future public park.

A master plan for the property was adopted by EWEB commissioners in 2010 and the Eugene City Council in 2013. That document calls for a mixed-use approach with office, residential and commercial space. The plan envisions 250 to 400 residential units, plazas, boardwalks and open space. Building heights could range up to 120 feet, or lower depending on different density scenarios.

The master plan remains a “guiding force” for Williams & Dame, Mangan said.

Development is expected to occur in phases. City officials hope to make some progress on the site by 2021, when Eugene will host the outdoor track and field world championships.

“One of our goals by 2021 is that we have at least some redevelopment of that site under way, including completion of the park on the river and some development coming out of the ground,” Braud said.

The site is complicated by Union Pacific railroad tracks and the six-lane Ferry Street Bridge Viaduct – one of Eugene’s most heavily trafficked arterial roads. Eugene’s Millrace, an artificially constructed channel, has its outfall on the property. Planners have debated whether to “daylight” the Millrace, or bring it to the surface.

Eugene used an environmental grant to study the site. More than 120 holes were drilled to look for contamination.

“We have not discovered to this point any major problems that should be of great concern,” Braud said.

Currently, Williams & Dame is constructing 9North, a Pearl District office building. Last year, the firm finished Hyatt House, a hotel in downtown Portland.

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A Springfield shopping center sold recently for $1.45 million.

Q Plaza, a 22,000-square-foot retail center located at the junction of Pioneer Parkway and Q Street, was purchased by a Eugene investor, according to a news release from CBRE.

The shopping center holds a mix of medical, fitness and office tenants and is located across Pioneer Parkway from Safeway-anchored Pioneer Plaza. Other retailers in the area include Fred Meyer, Walgreens, Bank of America and Fresenius Medical Clinic.

Q Plaza was 73 percent leased at the time of sale. The buyer plans to renovate the plaza and hang onto it as a long-term investment.

CBRE’s Alex Martinac represented seller Hudson Advisors, a division of Dallas-based private equity firm Lone Star Funds, in the transaction.

This is the third shopping center in the Springfield submarket to sell in the past year. New York-based Rouse Properties recently purchased the Gateway Mall, and Cincinnati-based Phillips Edison & Co. bought Pioneer Plaza.

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