Eugene eyes former EWEB headquarters for new city hall

This story was updated at 11 a.m. Thursday with additional responses.

Eugene city officials will negotiate a deal with the Eugene Water and Electric Board to purchase the utility's former headquarters on Fourth Avenue for a new city hall.

EWEB made the announcement Wednesday after the utility’s board of commissioners and Eugene’s city council held separate executive sessions to discuss property transactions. The exact terms and details of the deal, including a purchase price, will be negotiated during the next few weeks.

Frank Lawson, the utility’s general manager, said having the city as a potential buyer with the goal of turning the headquarters into a city hall provides the opportunity to “consolidate city services with significant savings to the community.”

The city’s plans as submitted in a proposal to the utility require “only minor changes,” Lawson said, and will allow EWEB to maintain a shared customer-facing space for paying utility bills and similar needs.

Any move to sell the building to the city will go through several steps as part of a public process, including city council discussion on terms and details of the purchase in coming weeks and a vote on key deal points before more negotiation.

City Manager Sarah Medary said she's hoping the process moves quickly because there isn't "a lot to negotiate other than basically price and terms."

Eugene has been looking for a new city hall for Medary's entire career with the city, and she recalled discussions about it taking place when she was weeding landscape beds at the city hall on Pearl Street in 1996. The city even previously considered the riverfront EWEB building.

The city currently rents space at Lane Community College and other locations and uses the fourth floor of the downtown library as office space.

EWEB's former headquarters is an ideal location for a new city hall for many reasons, Medary said.

“The EWEB headquarters has the potential to be a responsible, smart location for multiple City services, including a permanent City Hall, that builds on previous investments, maintains a public asset and potentially saves taxpayers significant dollars in both the short and long term,” she said in a statement sent Wednesday evening. “At the same time, this location increases public access to the historic riverfront property.”

Medary added Thursday that the site also would help solve a lot of "small issues," including more parking for riverfront access, ability to maintain the plaza fountain, keeping a small footprint for EWEB and the potential for a future fire station on the site.

The biggest benefits, she said, are short-term savings through consolidation and long-term savings through not spending $50 million building a new city hall.

Moving into the former EWEB headquarters also would mean the city can reimagine plans for the vacant space at the Park Blocks, Medary said.

EWEB has been looking for a buyer for the 4.44-acre property for years and has been actively working on the sale for about a year. It declared the property as surplus in 2018 after moving most employees to the Roosevelt Operations Center.

The utility is hoping the rest of the process goes quickly, spokesman Aaron Orlowski said.

"It's been a long road to this point, and we're excited that the negotiations can move forward with the city," he said.

The property at 500 E. Fourth Ave. includes three developable parcels and parking lots and two buildings totaling about 100,000 square feet, with a sky bridge connecting them. It is adjacent to the river's bicycle paths, the DeFazio Bridge and Downtown Riverfront Park, across from Alton Baker Park.

The building is nestled in the northern end of more than a dozen acres the city bought from EWEB. The city is working to redevelop it into a new neighborhood that will reconnect downtown to the river.

The Downtown Riverfront Park, which opened last summer, runs along the eastern edge of the property, and Portland-based developer Atkins Dame is building housing to the west and south of the former utility headquarters.

Further south will be more housing and a park plaza. At the south end, the city is working with a development team to revamp the former EWEB steam plant to round out the redevelopment of the utility's former operations yard.

Eugene owns the park and plaza space and is selling several other parcels to Atkins Dame for development after buying them from EWEB in 2018. The city said in a press release there are funds designated to determine a permanent home for city hall. Medary clarified Thursday that's around $12 million in reserves.

EWEB didn't assess the value of the property or release any dollar figure to the public, Orlowski said. County property records show the assessed value of 10 tax lots that comprise the property is around $10.6 million as of 2022.

Several agencies and organizations have expressed interest in the building, including the Eugene Science Center and Eugene School District 4J.

4J announced its interest earlier this month in purchasing the building to use as its new administrative offices, transitioning its current district center on Monroe St. into a community education center. The community was divided on this topic, with many taking to Facebook comments to voice opposition.

"We appreciate all of the feedback that we've had from our community and the support for making sure that we increase educational space," said 4 J Director of Communications Jenna McCulley.

Contact city government watchdog Megan Banta at mbanta@registerguard.com. Follow her on Twitter @MeganBanta_1.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Eugene eyes former EWEB headquarters for new city hall