Commercial ventures buy up rentals
By RICHARD WAGONER
Of the Emerald
Commercial ventures are
gobbling up Eugene’s low-cost
housing supply, and unless
renters and tenants fight back
they may find themselves out in
the cold, a neighborhood hous
ing expert believes.
Since October some 40 low
income housing units have
been lost to commercial
development in Eugene —
about 25 units in the West
University Neighborhood alone,
says Rick Goldstein, a staff
member of the Neighborhood
Housing Resource Center
(NHRC).
NHRC is a coalition of five
downtown-area neighborhood
groups — West University, Jef
ferson, Whiteaker, Far West and
Westside. The center currently
is organizing efforts to preserve
Eugene's low-cost housing and
promote construction of addi
tional low-income housing un
its.
Low-cost housing has been
lost in areas where commercial
uses are allowed because those
units provide the least income to
Downtown lures homeowners
uwnerj>, ouiubitjm bctyb.
“People in these neighbor
hoods are losing their most af
fordable housing piece by
piece," Goldstein says. “We
can't afford to lose this kind of
housing. The market is not re
placing it.”
The high cost of replacing
low-income housing is seen in
the newly completed Abbie
Lane housing project, Goldstein
says. The project, a joint effort
among local, state and federal
governments, provided 20 low
income housing units at a cost
of $196,000 to the city.
“Since last fall alone West
University has lost that much
housing just like that."
But commercial development
isn’t the only threat to low-cost
housing, Goldstein says. Higher
gas prices, the new performing
arts center and the proposed
Emerald Canal are making
downtown-area neighborhoods
more attractive to higher-in
come residents.
More affluent people are buy
my uiutsr rental names ana nx
ing them up, he says. This not
only displaces renters, but it
also pushes up property values
and could raise existing rents,
Goldstein says.
Goldstein says this loss of
housing will make Eugene's
tight housing market even
worse. Available occupancy
rates, or the numbers of houses
and apartments for rent in
Eugene, now stand at about 2
percent to 5 percent, compared
to a national average of 5 per
cent to 8 percent. Some 45 per
cent of Eugene residents cur
rently rent, compared to a na
tional average of 35 percent.
Goldstein says renters make up
95 percent of West University
Neighborhood residents.
Goldstein says the city should
step in to slow down the loss of
low-income housing. Seattle
has passed a housing preserva
tion ordinance to limit the loss of
low-cost housing. Goldstein
would like to see a similar or
dinance adopted in Eugene.
Tuition
Continued from Page 1
“If we named a level now, we're stuck with it,"
Moore says.
Moore told the board that a decision would be
“premature” because legislative leaders don’t yet
know what revenue needs will be until sometime
after April 15.
Additionally, the OSL charged that the state
board had not assessed the possible con
sequences that the surcharges would have on
tuition income and enrollment.
The board delayed its decision until the Feb.
27 meeting in Portland.
According to Moore’s calculations on the
$123 surcharge, 4,800 of 8,700 students elimin
ated would be resident undergraduates at one of
the state’s universities or at Oregon Institute of
Technology. About 2,000 University students
would be lost, he estimates.
About 1,300 of the 8,700 would return in the
second half of the year, Moore says.
With a $144 surcharge, 9,800 students would
be eliminated the first year of the biennium, Moore
says — 2,500 of them at the University.
OSL isn’t ready to suggest funding
alternatives, Moore says. But they plan to propose
tuition legislation within the next two weeks.
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tsui tne cuy will not act unless
tenants and renters voice their
concerns, he says.
“Unless people in town whom
this is important to — tenants
and renters — let the city know
what they think, the city proba
bly won't take any action. It’s
easier not to.”
Goldstein also is concerned
that city-subsidized housing
projects being considered for
the downtown area will benefit
middle- to upper-income re
sidents and slight moderate- to
low-income people.
The city is considering finan
cial incentives that would
promote construction of new
housing near the Downtown
Mall to help prop up its sagging
economy. But because middle
and upper-income housing is
more profitable for builders,
those projects will be promoted
at the expense of low-cost
housing, Goldstein says.
“So the city is subsidizing
(housing) for affluent people,”
he says.
The Eugene Planning Com
mission will hold a public hear
ing in March on the downtown
housing proposals. A meeting
to discuss the loss of low-in
come housing in Eugene
neighborhoods will be held Feb.
12 at 7:30 p.m. in the West
University Neighborhood
Center, 1458 Ferry St.
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