An Amazon contractor has seemingly begun work on the site where the online retailer wants to place its Eugene distribution center despite a pending appeal of the company’s wetland permit.

Work trucks were visible from Oregon Route 99 on July 24; operators were seen raking and watering the property.

The Oregon Department of State Lands received a complaint of work being performed on the site two days prior, spokesperson Katrina Scotto di Carlo confirmed.

“We’re currently looking into the legal interpretation of the regulations to determine next steps,” she said.

Three Eugene women, including an environmental consultant, in May appealed the permit that would give Amazon permission to pave over wetlands. They argue the state government erred when it tentatively granted approval.

On May 1, the Department of State Lands, which has jurisdiction over wetlands in Oregon, gave Amazon contractor TC Pursuit Services — a subsidiary of Trammell Crow, which began work on the site — a notice that it intended to award a “Removal-Fill Permit” for the site where the warehouse is planned.

That notice was one of the factors the city of Eugene considered when it last month gave Amazon permits to build.

Trammell Crow has declined to comment on the Amazon project, citing a nondisclosure agreement.

Liz Porter, a Eugene resident, environmental consultant and former stormwater regulator, is the lead complainant in the formal appeal of DSL’s decision. She alleged the agency did not properly vet Trammell Crow’s findings, and that Trammell Crow and Amazon didn’t meet their obligations under the permit requirements.

DSL has jurisdiction over “waters of the state,” including rivers, lakes, wetlands and more. To award a permit that allows Amazon to reduce those waters — including paving over the wetland — state officials consider nine factors, including whether there’s a public need for the development, whether the companies considered alternatives to the project, and whether they “provided all practicable mitigation” from construction and development.

State officials determined the project met the “public need” test as part of Eugene’s vision for light-industrial jobs in the Clear Lake area; that Amazon met its obligations to consider alternatives by looking at seven alternate sites and four alternate layouts and determining those options were either impractical or disturbed more wetlands; and that Amazon met its obligation to mitigate by buying wetland credits.

Porter, in her appeal, wrote Amazon fails the “public need” test because the company has not provided a concrete number of jobs it will provide, their pay, or U.S. Postal Service job losses. She also contended that the company hasn’t sufficiently studied the alternate sites and that Amazon hasn’t considered the impact it will have outside the property.

“It’s not in the public interest of the people of Oregon to cut out a third-party contractor from Amazon and make Amazon more profitable so they can run their own fleet,” Porter told the Register-Guard.

Porter described herself as more pro-wetland than “anti-Bezos,” and said she would have similar concerns if another business wanted to put this much pavement on the lot where Amazon plans to locate.

“The whole premise of the law is: Don’t touch what you don’t have to,” she said. “If a client came to me and said, ‘I want to build an 80-acre complex’ and mapped on that land was a huge amount of wetlands, I’d say, ‘You need to seam it together with some other parcels before you start building there or go back to square one and find a new piece of land.’”

Porter speculated that the distribution center‘s estimated average of 2,600 daily trips will have a negative environmental impact on the Willamette River and harm the “public health and safety” of Eugene residents, by clogging the Beltline Highway route to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center in Springfield.

While Porter lodged her formal complaint with the state, she also was frustrated with the city of Eugene for designating the Clear Lake area for industrial development in the first place. In her view, the wetland-heavy area isn’t suited for such development.

In 2017, Eugene expanded its urban growth boundary around the airport by 969 acres. City officials concluded Eugene did not have enough economic opportunity and the solution was to add 11 large industrial parcels. Nine years later, Amazon was the first company to latch onto one of those parcels.

Amazon’s permits, as well as the city’s justification for choosing the area in the first place, have labeled the wetlands around the airport “low quality” because of the lack of wildlife both on the wetlands and in Amazon Creek.

But Porter said the value of a wetland is more than that.

The land where Amazon plans to build plays an important role in catching stormwater from upstream industrial businesses that could otherwise reach the Long Tom River, which does have fish. The wetland mitigation credits Amazon bought don’t change that, she said.

The appeals went to the Oregon Office of Administrative Hearings, which provides judges who hear appeals of administrative decisions made by state agencies. The OAH hosted an “administrative pre-hearing” over the issue on July 20.

Erika Hamilton, the attorney representing the state, argued for a smaller scope, saying many of the issues complainants raised aren’t legal requirements. For example, complainants took issue with DSL not responding to the comments given against the permit in the public comment period and Hamilton said DSL isn’t required to respond to those comments.

Porter argued for a broader scope even beyond the issues raised in the current complaints. She said those complaints are incomplete because DSL has not provided her with a complete administrative record of its decision. She filed a public records request for that information in May, but DSL told her it would cost $2,335.

“The whole process was scattered and covert and didn’t give the opportunity of the public to know really what was going on,” Porter told the judge. “The way that the application went through was so piecemeal and scattered that we weren’t able to really get an idea, in an all-encompassing way, of what exactly is going on, where it’s going, and how it’s going to affect long term, this community.”

Hamilton said DSL originally treated Porter’s request as a public records request, but because of the appeal it’s now treating it as a discovery request and will provide Porter with the documents.

Administrative Law Judge Kate Triana said she would present both sides with a draft “issue list” to be discussed at the next pre-hearing on Aug. 7.

During the pre-hearing Hamilton also clarified that because appeals were filed within 15 days of the May 1 notice, DSL has not yet issued a permit. She and the Trammell Crow representative seemed to disagree whether the company currently has permission to remove the wetlands on the property.

“There isn’t a final agency action,” Hamilton said. “DSL intends to proceed to a hearing and hear all the evidence. … And following the development of the administrative record, the agency will make a permitting decision.”

“We do have a proposed order that says the permit application is approved,” said Stoel Rives attorney Reilley Keating, who is representing Trammell Crow. “That has not been challenged by TC Pursuit Services, the applicant itself. And so, there is a permit.”

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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Amazon‘s massive PDX9 distribution center in Troutdale has sold to a San Diego-based real estate investment firm for $113.5 million.

At 857,379 square feet, the distribution center is one of the largest buildings in the Portland metro area to ever change hands, according to CBRE. It represented the seller, Clarion Partners, a major investor based in New York City.

The buyer was CIRE Equity. The California firm owns several other Oregon properties, including 829,087 square feet at 224 Logistics Park in Milwaukie, and others in Hillsboro and Eugene.

The property “is one of the most significant industrial transactions in Oregon this year — if not the largest,” CBRE’s Brett Hartzell, who along with Chris Reeves represented Clarion Partners, stated in a news release. “With few comparable assets in the region, its scale, strategic location and modern design set it apart. The long-term lease at favorable rates further enhances its value, making this a truly exceptional investment opportunity in the Portland market.”

The sale equates to $132.38 per square foot. The property, developed by Trammell Crow Co. and built by Sierra Construction Co., is part of the Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park. Amazon’s neighbors at the former brownfield development include FedEx, C&S Wholesale Grocers, Bonneville Power Administration and NextEra Energy Resources.

“We’re certainly looking forward to working with them,” Port of Portland Development Manager Chris Damgen said of the new ownership.

The industrial park still has three undeveloped lots.

CIRE Equity did not respond to a message seeking comment. The firm operates the CIRE Real Estate Income Trust. CBRE’s news release stated that the acquisition “reflects CIRE’s ongoing commitment to strategic growth and its ability to capitalize on opportunities that deliver long-term value for investors by combining income generation with capital appreciation.”

The building is on a 73.7-acre lot and features 41-foot clear heights, ample parking and electrical resources.

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At Mercato Grove, visitors will find a mix of suburban swankiness, contemporary Portland brands and a construction type that is more common in Sun Belt metropolises.

The Lake Oswego mixed-use community is now open at 4055 Mercantile Drive. It includes 206 apartments and almost 50,000 square feet of retail space.

For developer Trammell Crow, Mercato Grove comes as interest has grown in suburban living amid social turmoil in urban Portland.

In many ways, Mercato Grove brings Portland to Lake Oswego: The restaurant group ChefStable has invested heavily in Mercato Grove with five restaurants: St. Jack, Tasty, Oven & Shaker, Grassa and Lardo. Complementing the ChefStable offerings are Fills Donuts, Ovation Coffee and Clean Juice.

The retail is anchored by a CVS pharmacy and Orangetheory Fitness.

The buildings, designed by SERA Architects, balance Lake Oswego’s approved architectural styles.

“Everyone wants to live in a boutique environment,” said Damin Tarlow, senior vice president for Trammell Crow’s Portland office. “No one wants to live in a big building, so how do we break these up?”

Trammell Crow launched the project as part of its High Street Residential brand. Mercato Grove is a joint venture with CenterCal Properties, the property owner.

The property formerly held a series of small Providence medical buildings. CenterCal brought the properties under contract, and linked up with Trammell Crow – the developer had previously worked with the real estate firm on Cascade Station.

“We decided to do it together,” Tarlow said.

Deacon Construction was brought on as general contractor. The Portland-based firm helped create a wrapped parking structure, with buildings surrounding central parking. This construction type is sometimes called a “Texas donut” because it’s more common in cities with ample space, Tarlow said.

Portland’s small blocks make a wrapped parking approach difficult within the city, although a proposal from Mill Creek Residential Trust for Goose Hollow (design review is ongoing) would have a wrapped parking structure.

Deacon brought in from its Sacramento office a project superintendent, Johnny Seuferling, who had experience building a wrapped parking structure.

Befitting its suburban location, Mercato Grove has 550 parking spaces, including 211 for retail use.

The residences comprise more than 60 unit types, said Eric Henry, project executive at Deacon. The apartments come in configurations from studios to three-bedroom units of up to 2,200 square feet. The average unit size is 972 square feet.

“We really took a single-family approach,” Tarlow said. “We wanted it to read as a single-family home.”

Leasing of the apartments began in April. They’re approximately 50 percent leased, Tarlow said.

Mercato Grove’s interior design is by CID Design Group of Naples, Florida. Interior elements seek to balance individual and group living. There’s a shared kitchen with large appliances such as a juice maker and a bread maker that residents may not have in their own units. A kids’ maker space comes equipped with chalk, toys and hiding spaces.

Mercato Grove has no commercial office space, but that doesn’t mean the project team has forgotten about the workplace. Residents have access to three conference centers with large TV monitors, shared tables and break-out rooms.

“This is our interpretation of how people work these days,” Tarlow said.

He hopes the amenities will prove appealing among office workers who expect to enjoy increased flexibility to work from home once the pandemic subsides.

“Some of this looks like it was designed for the post-pandemic world, which it was not because it was designed two to three years ago,” he said.

The project was completed after 25 months of construction. Some of the exterior panels were prefabricated, which sped construction.

“Without that prefab, it would have been really hard to stay on schedule,” said Chip Laizure, vice president of Deacon Construction.

The project was delayed by numerous obstacles, including wildfire smoke in September 2020 that paused construction for four days, a February ice storm that crippled the region and a flooded wetland in September 2019 that interfered with foundation work.

Deacon also dealt with labor shortages related to the pandemic, including 22 positive COVID-19 tests during construction.

Now that Mercato Grove is done, visitors may notice a duck theme throughout the premises. There are live ducks in a pool, duck murals, a duck phone, even a duck statue. The idea came from the marketing team and quickly snowballed.

“I lost control of the duck situation,” Tarlow said.

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The Trammell Crow Company is seeking to expand the capacity of the Subaru parts distribution warehouse in Gresham by more than 42 percent.

According to an Oregon Department of Environmental Quality land use compatibility statement submitted May 31 to the Gresham Urban Design and Planning Department, the firm is looking to add approximately 253,290 square feet of space to the warehouse in the Gresham Vista Business Park off of Northeast 242nd Drive.

Documentation submitted to the city states the new construction would be on the west (rear) side of the existing warehouse building, which is roughly 600,000 square feet. The existing parking lot would be reconfigured and expanded to accommodate the additional space and provide sufficient parking spaces required by city code.

Trammell Crow principal Steve Sieber declined to comment on project plans.

The submission of a land use compatibility statement is one of the first steps required of an applicant when it holds an existing DEQ permit and wishes to modify or renew that permission by seeking new construction or an expansion. In this case, the applicants wish to modify an existing “water quality NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) stormwater general permit” to accommodate the distribution center expansion.

The planned expansion is the second of two construction phases originally approved by the city in 2015 as part of a single development on the 39.07-acre site. The first phase was a joint project developed by Trammell Crow and Clarion Partners. It was designed by Mildren Design Group and built by general contractor Perlo Construction. The facility opened in October 2016.

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Amazon, one of the nation’s largest companies, is increasingly making its presence felt in the Portland area with a major industrial footprint and intriguing moves in the office and retail markets.

The company has firmly planted its flag in Oregon’s largest city, and Portland is among the hopeful applicants to host Amazon’s massive second headquarters.

What was once merely a book-selling website located in Seattle is now increasingly a physical force in local economies throughout the nation. And in Portland, Amazon’s dizzying pace of development has sent shockwaves through the industrial market, where it’s far outpacing any other client.

The company is surrounding the Portland-metro area with massive distribution facilities. Consider:

Amazon last year opened a 303,000-square-foot sortation center at Hillsboro’s Majestic Brookwood Business Park.

Last month, Amazon announced it would build a 1 million-square-foot facility on a Port of Portland parcel on North Lombard Street, with Trammell Crow Co. as developer.

In Troutdale, Amazon is building an 855,000-square-foot fulfillment center, also with Trammell Crow.

And in Salem, Capstone Partners is the developer of a 1 million-square-foot facility where Amazon will distribute large items such as gardening tools and pet food.

Individually, these large projects are a boon to the developers, contractors and subcontractors who all benefit from the retailer’s local growth spurt. Collectively, they indicate Amazon will be a major force in Oregon’s 21st-century economy, employing thousands of workers, spurring development and changing how consumers shop.

Amazon’s wave of industrial development is coming amid a constrained supply of industrial land. Much of the Portland area’s industrial land is spoken for, and Oregon’s urban growth boundaries make expansion difficult.

In comes Amazon with more than 3 million square feet of industrial development in the past two years.

“Amazon clearly is a major player in the market and is affecting the supply side,” Specht Development CEO Greg Specht said.

Amazon’s logistical strategy is designed to get packages to customers in hours, rather than days, said Tom Forte, a senior research analyst for D.A. Davidson. Amazon is gradually adding to its Prime Now service across the country.

Forte noted that Prime Now is available in New York City, where’s he’s based, but not at Stanford, where he’s currently working. Forte predicted Prime Now will spread first to major metropolitan areas, and then nearby suburbs.

“They’ll add that capability over time,” he said.

Amazon offers Prime Now in Portland, with two-hour delivery of Amazon products, groceries and local restaurant takeout. The new fulfillment centers will help Amazon promptly deliver a range of products, Forte said.

Amazon’s fulfillment centers are an important part of its Prime service, spokeswoman Ashley Robinson stated in an email message.

“There are a lot of contributing factors that go into our thought process on where to place a new fulfillment center,” she stated. “Most importantly, we want to make sure a fulfillment center is placed as close to the customer as possible to ensure we can offer a great Prime service and fast shipping speeds to customers. We also look at the workforce and we’ve found great talent in abundance in both the Salem and Portland communities.”

In some ways, Amazon is mimicking and furthering the logistics of Walmart Inc., which was known to build warehouses and retail stores in clusters.

Amazon’s strategy in recent years has been to “build first, buy second,” Forte said. In Portland, the company has done both.

Amazon bought into Portland with Elemental Technologies. Now AWS Elemental, the company was acquired by Amazon and tucked into its profitable Web Services division. Elemental has its office in the former Oregonian building at 1320 S.W. Broadway.

Amazon is rumored to be seeking additional office space in Portland. Some brokers have suggested Broadway Tower, a building now under construction that will offer 175,000 square feet of office space, would be a natural fit. The office space is represented by Kidder Mathews.

The office space at Broadway Tower is approximately 50 percent leased, said Kevin Joshi, senior vice president at Kidder Mathews. He could not disclose the tenants, he said.

Joshi said he expects the office space to be more than 90 percent occupied when Broadway Tower opens in October 2018.

Amazon is well-known for its use of nondisclosure agreements for local firms it works with, and several of its local business partners did not respond to requests for comment.

Amazon has also dipped its toe into brick-and-mortar retail sales, with the Portland-metro area again in the forefront. Amazon in 2016 chose Washington Square in Tigard for the third location of its brick-and-mortar bookstore.

Amazon recently opened a delivery center in south downtown to speed shipping to Prime customers.

Amazon also expanded its presence in Portland with its acquisition of Whole Foods. The grocery chain has eight Portland-area locations, and another in Vancouver, Washington. Amazon announced in June it would acquire Whole Foods for approximately $13.7 billion and integrate the grocer into Amazon Prime.

Portland was one of 238 cities to submit a proposal for Amazon’s second corporate headquarters by the Oct. 19 deadline. Greater Portland Inc. is leading the effort to woo Amazon. The centerpiece of Portland’s pitch is the soon-to-be-vacant U.S. Postal Service property.

Yet Amazon’s needs may exceed the space available in Portland. Amazon says it wants a second headquarters equal to its base in Seattle, where the retailer has an astonishing 8.1 million square feet, spread across 33 buildings.

In total, the Portland-metro area has only 27.2 million square feet of Class A office space, with a 9.1 percent vacancy rate, according to a Jones Lang LaSalle report.

Robinson declined to comment on the HQ2 process beyond Amazon’s issued materials.

Portland’s Broadway Corridor master plan, a guiding document for development of the Postal Service site and surrounding blocks, calls for building only 582,237 square feet of office space as part of 3.8 million square feet of total development. That’s smaller than one lease Amazon confirmed in downtown Seattle earlier this month, with the company reportedly taking 722,000 square feet in Rainier Square, a skyscraper now being built.

Amazon expects to spend up to $5 billion in construction for the second headquarters, which could eventually be used by up to 50,000 employees. For Portland, that raises the question of where the employees would be housed in the metro area’s already-tight housing market. Portland had fewer than 6,000 active single-family home listings in September, according to the Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS).

Geographic proximity will be a major factor in Portland’s bid, for good or ill. That hasn’t stopped even cities in Washington and British Columbia from trying.

Portland will point to its burgeoning tech scene and cheaper labor pool as selling points.

“They’ve been so successful in Seattle, it’s driven up the cost of talent,” Forte said. “Now they either need to diversify or spread out.”

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Developer Noel Johnson is reuniting with former colleagues by taking a new role at Cairn Pacific.

Johnson is now a principal at the Northwest Portland development firm, joining Rob Hinnen, Tom DiChiara and Scott Eaton, Cairn Pacific announced Wednesday.

Johnson, 37, previously worked with Hinnen and DiChiara at Trammell Crow Residential in the mid-2000s. Johnson said he’s eager to bring his office and retail expertise to the firm.

“It’s kind of nice to bring in more strength there, because Tom and Rob are really good at residential,” he said.

Firms need experienced teams to navigate the current market, Johnson said.

“In real estate, everything’s pretty frothy right now, so you have to put the right team together to figure out the way forward,” he said.

Cairn Pacific has aggressively moved into the Con-way area and adjoining blocks in Northwest Portland.

“We are thrilled to reunite with Noel,” DiChiara, a Cairn Pacific co-founder, stated in a news release. “His insight, energy and approach to the business will make us all better. We look forward to exploring new opportunities and building our business together.”

Cairn Pacific’s Leland James office adaptive reuse project and a 385-unit, multi-building apartment project called The Carson are under construction.

Cairn Pacific recently completed the L.L. Hawkins residential midrise and the Slabtown Marketplace New Seasons, which is soon to include a branch of Breakside Brewery.

Johnson said he was hoping for a discount at the brewpub.

“The minute they signed Breakside, I knew I needed to work with them,” he said.

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The Portland Development Commission has executed documents agreeing to purchase the 14-acre U.S. Postal Service property bridging Old Town Chinatown and the Pearl District for $88 million.

The finalization of the deal is a milestone in the PDC‘s yearslong plan to transform a keystone area of West Portland into a new neighborhood with mixed-use buildings, public space and transportation.

The documents were signed Thursday, and PDC officials confirmed the development on Friday. Ownership of the property at 715 NW Hoyt St. will transfer to the PDC on Aug. 1.

“As of now, the deal is fully executed,” said Bruce Wood, the PDC’s real estate and construction services manager.

The Postal Service intends to use money from the sale to purchase from Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co. property formerly used by Colwood National Golf Club. Bids for construction of a new facility are due in early July as drawings are finalized.

After the Postal Service closes on its $34.7 million purchase of the Colwood property in August, a two-year construction process will begin. In late 2018, the Postal Service will vacate its existing facility and move into the new one.

The PDC plans to issue a solicitation for development partners in early 2017, Wood said.

The PDC anticipates 3.8 million square feet of development on the Postal Service property, along with parks, open space and transportation infrastructure. A majority – nearly 2.1 million square feet – would be residential, as envisioned by the PDC’s Broadway Corridor Framework Plan released in October.

About 582,000 square feet would be office space, and 194,079 square feet would be retail. The plan also calls for institutional, medical/research and parking uses.

“We’re really excited about the opportunity,” Wood said.

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The goats are going to need to find a new place to graze.

Killian Pacific has filed for a pre-application conference with the city of Portland for development of the “goat blocks” – a popular nickname for a 92,000-square-foot superblock bound by Southeast Belmont and Taylor streets, and 10th and 11th avenues. The grass-filled lot has been the occasional chomping grounds for a herd of goats for many years.

Noel Johnson, vice president of Killian Pacific, said the company purchased the property about 13 years ago and has been waiting for the right time to develop it. Killian Pacific’s holdings include a 41,000-square-foot parcel on the east side of Southeast 11th Avenue.

“As a company, we’re focused on trying to do something that is, I guess enduring may be the word,” Johnson said. “So, having the timing being right is really difficult because sometimes it’s good to do retail, and then other times it’s good to do housing. This is a site that wanted both, but you have to execute it in the right way.”

Designs are still preliminary, but the plan is to build a mixed-use development with approximately 200 residential units. The initial concept calls for three or four separate buildings similar to Trammell Crow Residential‘s Tupelo Alley on North Mississippi Avenue. That development has three buildings and incorporates community plazas and walkways.

The amount of ground-floor retail space at the Killian Pacific development will depend on the massing, but Johnson said it would be significant.

“It’s going to be a pretty big chunk of retail and should be enough to activate (the area) and provide a real catalyst of energy,” he said.

Killian Pacific has a large anchor tenant lined up for the site, but Johnson couldn’t name it yet.

He said he thought the project would help complement the Grand Central Building two blocks west. Foresight Development in 2008 restored that 45,000-square-foot building’s historic facade, and reintroduced a hip bowling alley, restaurant and bar. The recession curtailed development of much more in the area, but Johnson said retailers are becoming aggressive again.

“So, when we come in and build additional retail it will really start to get an interesting node of energy to that area,” he said.

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After a two-year fight that included an appeal to the state land-use board, a Eugene advocacy group is finally getting what it wants: a say in what will happen with a 67-acre undeveloped waterfront parcel near the University of Oregon.

UO President Richard Lariviere has asked developer Trammell Crow Co. to consider a second site for the four-story, 79,800-square-foot office building that was pegged for 4.7 acres of the waterfront parcel. Lariviere also called for a new master plan for the entire property.

The announcement encouraged Connecting Eugene – a group of citizens and UO students, faculty and alumni that has asked for the property to be used as a public amenity since plans for the building surfaced in 2008.

The university teamed up with Trammell Crow in 2008 to start development of a new office building for the Oregon Research Institute, an independent behavioral research center based in Eugene, at 855 Riverfront Parkway.

The building would have been only the third built on the property since 1989, when a master plan called for construction of 10 buildings – totaling 1.2 million square feet – for private research. The two existing buildings total 110,000 square feet.

When plans were unveiled for the ORI project, Connecting Eugene – while working with the University Senate and the Associated Students of the University of Oregon – immediately responded with concern because the property occupies a prime location along the Willamette River and near campus.

“I’m cautiously optimistic (about the decision),” said UO graduate student and Connecting Eugene member Paul Cziko. “Yet (I’m) delighted that President Lariviere is responding to the concerns of the students, faculty and community members who want to see the Oregon Research Institute project built while protecting the riverfront from inappropriate development.”

Cziko has long called for the property to be developed for a public use. The $17 million ORI project would benefit only the developer, he said, and would be a loss for the university and taxpayers.

While the announcement doesn’t guarantee realization of Cziko’s dream of a public waterfront, it does leave the door open for such development.

“Connecting Eugene welcomes any move that would expedite construction of the ORI building in a location away from the riverfront,” said Allen Hancock, a member of the group.

Lariviere asked Trammell Crow to consider another university-owned parcel nearly a quarter-mile away at 1700 Millrace Drive. He asked the development firm to simultaneously examine the feasibility of the Millrace Drive site while continuing to plan for the existing site.

“The decision to postpone development of another new building within the research park allows us to re-examine the best location for the (ORI) building,” Lariviere said. “By exploring the feasibility of the 1700 Millrace site, I am confident that we will arrive at the best possible outcome for everyone involved.”

One of the major issues, according to university officials, is whether the Millrace Drive site, which is only 2.5 acres, could accommodate the same building planned for the waterfront site.

According to Steve Wells, senior managing director of Trammell Crow’s Portland office, the company wants to construct a high-quality, energy-efficient building that adds to the Eugene built environment. He said the company is fully committed to developing the waterfront site, but officials are willing to simultaneously explore the other site.

In addition to exploring the alternative site, the university will develop a new master plan before moving forward with any other projects in the research park, according to UO Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies Rich Linton. The existing master plan is set to expire in 2012.

“Beyond the project, the university will launch a master planning process to help address future facilities needs for UO’s expanding role in catalyzing innovation and its ties to economic development,” Linton said.

According to Cziko, choosing to leave the riverfront site undeveloped under the existing master plan would allow for renewed citizen involvement. The Associated Students of the University of Oregon already has pledged $56,000 for educational events and opportunities for public involvement related to the riverfront.

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Property lease deal isn’t fair, some say

The Trammell Crow Co. has reached a deal to lease approximately four acres owned by the University of Oregon, but critics say the deal isn’t equitable.

Trammell Crow signed a 55-year lease and agreed to make a one-time, upfront payment of $1.46 million, according to Diane Wiley, director of the Riverfront Research Park.

To some people, including graduate student Paul Cziko, that is not nearly enough for the property. Cziko said the property, which was valued at $3 million in a 2004 independent appraisal, could command as much as $25,000 annually.

“This is prime riverfront property and it’s also one of the only riverfront properties with any commercial potential,” he said.

But Wiley said the numbers aren’t askew when the property’s net present value is considered.

“It needs to be looked at like the lottery,” she said. “The winner can either take payments over time or one smaller, lump sum up front.”

Wiley added that although the 2004 appraisal valued the property at $17 per square foot, the university valued it at $15 per square foot.

Also, the agreement requires the university to provide the roads and other public utilities to the site. That work is expected to cost $1.4 million.

In most places these days, new construction would be welcomed with open arms. But that is not the case in Eugene.

The in February plans to break ground on a 79,800-square-foot office building project on University of Oregon-owned land along the Willamette River.

But the University Senate – a group of faculty and students – is calling into question whether the university is breaking a 1989 pact between the city and the school that called for an open and public process of development. The school says the pact is no longer binding, but the University Senate is challenging that statement by seeking review by the state Land Use Board of Appeals.

In 1986 the city of Eugene and UO entered into an to build 10 office buildings – totaling 1.2 million square feet – as part of the Riverfront Research Park, a private complex with ties to the school. But several hurdles popped up in the last 25 years, and only two buildings – totaling 110,000 square feet – have been built on the 67-acre site.

“Yeah, we definitely saw this park moving along faster when we started,” said Diane Wiley, director of the research park since 1985. “But if you look at other research parks, like the research triangle in North Carolina, they can take several decades to develop.

“We’ve been very selective about tenants and we will continue to be in the future in order to maintain what we are going for.”

Trammell Crow approached UO a couple of years ago with a proposal of constructing a four-story headquarters for the , which is presently at another site nearby. Now, the plan calls for another researcher, the , to also occupy space in the new building.

According to Paul Cziko, a biology graduate student at UO and a cosponsor of a University Senate resolution to oppose the development process, said his main gripe is that the property is one of only a few riverfront parcels near campus and should be reserved for a better use. Cziko said the lot should become a public gathering place for students, and not an office building surrounded by parking structures.

“We are not anti-development,” he said. “We just think that the public needs to be involved in this development, as it’s stated in the (intergovernmental agreement).”

According to Section 3 of the intergovernmental agreement, “this agreement shall be of indefinite duration unless one or more parties indicates its intention to withdraw.”

Wiley said this happened when the city and the university decided to disband a joint riverfront commission (for public oversight) that was formed when the intergovernmental agreement was created.

“Over time the city developed different priorities, and with not much going on with the park, the city decided to hand the project back over to the university,” she said.

Cziko and the University Senate contend that the intergovernmental agreement was never fully terminated, noting that it still is on record with the city and was mentioned in the lease agreement between the university and Trammell Crow.

“We are talking about building on publically-owned, open, riverfront space within the urban core,” he said. “At the very least this is the type of project that needs public oversight.”

Working through his local advocacy group, , Cziko is calling for the Land Use Board of Appeals to perform a consistency review of the intergovernmental agreement. Cziko’s group would like to see a new master plan for the entire Riverfront Research Park and a new intergovernmental agreement.

“We are talking about a plan that is over 20 years old,” he said. “It’s out of date.”

The university and Trammell Crow determined that the intergovernmental agreement was dissolved. And in a letter to the university, Eugene’s assistant city manager stated that the city attorney had reached the same conclusion.

Steve Wells, senior managing director for the Portland office of Trammell Crow, said ground is expected to be broken next month and the project is expected to be finished in the first quarter of 2012. The city is reviewing plans, and permits are expected to be issued later this month, he said.

“This project fits in with what we outlined for this park originally, and even though it’s been a long time, it will help lead the way for more development in the park,” Wiley said.

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