Housing
Continued from Page 10
said.
Six years ago there were two
empty dorm halls because of
low student enrollment at the
University. One year later, in
1983. one dorm, or 80 beds, sat
vacant, according to Ramey.
Ramey speculated the student
perception that on-campus
housing is hard to come by may
be forcing many to look off
campus for housing. And in a
rental market already near
saturation, that can aggravate
the problem.
Because neither the federal
government nor the University
currently is building new hous
ing in Eugene, the ball has
fallen directly into the court of
Eugene landowners and
developers to alleviate the hous
ing shortage, said Pat Decker of
the Eugene Planning
Department.
But Eugene city planners got
a "bleak response” at a recent
meeting with banks and
homebuilders, in regard to new
multi-unit housing starts,
Decker said.
Citing the high cost of con
struction, interest rates and
property taxes, developers said
they will not build new multi
unit housing in Eugene until
rental rates increase substantial
ly, she said.
In the last two years only two
multi-unit complexes have been
built in Eugene, according to
Molly Cox-Cheshire of the
Eugene Building Safety
Department.
But the 154 apartments in
volved are part of the
Willamette Oaks Retirement
Center and do nothing to
alleviate current student hous
ing problems, she said.
Granted, there is a 59 single
unit apartment complex being
built by a private corporation on
18th Avenue and Alder Street,
but it may be the exception
rather than the rule, she said.
Since 1980. 472 rental apart
ments in 20 buildings have been
constructed in Eugene at a cost
of $9,9 million.
All total, there were 61.000
rental and residential housing
units in Eugene in April 1987,
according to a Eugene housing
vacancy survey conducted by
the Federal Home Loan Bank.
{no vacancy
I
Rent
Continued from Page 10
which in effect has been “sub
sidizing the rental housing in
dustry," passed the 1986 Tax
Reform, she said. Before the Tax
Reform, landlords who lost
money on rental housing could
write off their losses against
other earned income.
Once the law passed,
however, many professional
people, such as physicians and
attorneys, who had acquired
rental property in Eugene, ex
clusively as “tax breaks,”
discovered the new $25,000-a
year maximum deduction
didn’t cover their losses, she
said.
On the advice of organiza
tions such as the National
Apartment Association and the
National Association of Home
Builders, local landlords felt
Correction
A1 Lavine of Lane Coun
ty Mental Health, was
misidentified as holding a
doctorate degree in Tues
day's Oregon Daily
Emerald article on the
county's new psychiatric
hospital. Lavine is work
ing toward a doctorate
degree through the
University's clinical
psychiatric department.
A photo in Thursday's
Emerald misidentified
Christine Taylor as Andy
Curtis.
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justified raising rents 25 to 30
percent, she said.
Stogsdill, a professional con
sultant specializing in the rental
industry, believes many Eugene
landlords have gone overboard
on rent increases, she said.
In addition, those who own
the rental property and are jack
ing up rent prices, have the law
firmly on their side — Oregon
state law prohibits local rent
control.
Oregon Statute 01.225 states
“...that the imposition of
general restrictions on housing
rents will disrupt an orderly
housing market, increase defer
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housing stock, lead to abandon
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and create a property tax shift
from rental-owned to owner
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The statute, passed in 1985 as
an emergency mesure by the
Oregon legislature, may have
been a conscious move by
rental-property owners and
other business people, an
ticipating the economic upsw
ing in Oregon and recognizing
the state's comparatively low
rental-housing rates.
The statute was lobbied
heavily by groups such as the
Oregon State Home Builders
Association. Oregon Bankers
Association, Affiliated Rental
Housing Association and the
Oregon League of Financial In
stitutions, according to Oregon
legislative records.
Protection for increasing
rental prices now seems to be
moving into the national
records. The Reagan budget
draft for the next fiscal year
calls for a new policy that
would prevent cities with rent
control from receiving these
“rental rehabilitation funds."
The federal government cur
rently distributes $200 million a
year to cities to help repair ren
tal propery and bring it up to
local building codes.
More than 200 cities nation
wide have some form of rent
control including New York,
• Boston. Washington, D.C., Los
Angeles and San Francisco.
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