Westmoreland: Several potential buyers show interest in purchasing property
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sage to buyers that the sale is
not secure.
The real estate market
Frohnmayer said after the meeting
that several potential buyers have
come forward in the past few days. He
would not say who, but he did confirm
that one was a non-profit organization
interested in low-income housing.
When presenting the University’s
proposal to sell the property, Frohn
mayer cited the need to improve the
residence halls and the need to be
able to buy property closer to the
University as the “once-a-century”
opportunities arise.
He cited the UO Foundation’s pur
chase of the vacant Joe Romania car
lot east of the University-owned
Williams’ Bakery site on Franklin
Boulevard as an example. Had it not
been for the foundation, the proper
ty may have been sold to another
buyer because the University did not
have sufficient funds for the purchase
and would have to go through an ex
tensive process to secure bonds,
Frohnmayer said.
“We cannot afford to be that
un-nimble in this kind of market,”
Frohnmayer said.
Frohnmayer said after the meeting
that he hopes to build a land bank in
the east campus neighborhood along
Franklin Boulevard that will serve as
the legacy of his administration.
“It’s my dream,” he said.
Financial factors
Frohnmayer told the board that
the University will be helping West
moreland tenants financially in their
search for different housing, though
he emphasized that such a search
may not be necessary if the buyer of
the property continues to operate
the apartments.
“We will be prepared to make
some portion of the sale proceeds —
if it should sell — available in order
to mitigate the financial need,”
Frohnmayer said. The Westmoreland
property has been valued at $15 mil
lion to $18 million.
Julian Catchen, president of the
Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation,
stood when Frohnmayer mentioned
possible tuition waivers for interna
tional students who may be displaced
if the property sells and said they al
ready get free tuition.
All graduate teaching fellows receive
free tuition as a partial payment for
their work duties.
“You’re allowing the University to
testify again and again,” Catchen told
the board as members told him he had
already had his chance to speak and
ordered him to sit down.
During his testimony, Catchen criti
cized the University for not involving
students until after the decision to try
to sell the property was made.
“The University has been rushing
this issue from the beginning, and the
beginning was two weeks ago,”
Catchen said.
Catchen expressed concern that no
one from the University has said
what exactly the sale money will pur
chase, saying he fears it will be used
“for something completely unrelated
to housing,” such as property for the
basketball arena the University hopes
to build.
The negative effects the closing of
Westmoreland will have on the people
who live there is not worth any future
property purchase, he said.
Frohnmayer told the board that
the sale has nothing to do with the are
na, which, if built, will be paid for by
private donations to the
Athletics Department.
University officials say that parcels
of property surrounding Williams’
Bakery, the site for the potential area,
will be purchased if an arena is built.
Frohnmayer said after the meeting
that the University will not seek out
those properties until it is definite that
a sports arena will be built because
condemnation is an act of last resort.
But if the current owners offer them for
sale, the University will jump at the
chance to purchase them, he said.
Senior Vice President and Provost
John Moseley said in an interview Oct.
26 that the parcels of property, which
include a 7-Eleven store and a dentist’s
office, have been estimated to cost
about $2 million.
International students
Catchen said 150 of the University’s
1,350 GTFs live at Westmoreland and
that no community in Eugene has as
much ethnic and cultural diversity.
Graduate student Joe Christison be
rated the University for botching the
number of international students who
hold leases at Westmoreland when of
ficials first announced their hopes to
sell the property.
“Is it lies or are they really just as
ignorant as they appear?” he said to
the board.
An Oct. 20 news release said 25
international students hold leases at
Westmoreland. The University has
since concluded that the number is
actually 87.
University Housing supplied the
original number. University Vice Presi
dent for Finance and Administration
Frances Dyke and Interim Vice Presi
dent for Student Affairs and Director of
University Housing Mike Eyster real
ized the number was probably wrong
after tenants challenged it during a
meeting Oct. 26. The Office of Institu
tional Research checked every lease
holders’ official record to come up
with the new number.
GTF Darlene Hampton told the
board that the Chinese Students and
Scholars Association claims 80 percent
of its members live at Westmoreland.
Lawmakers get involved
Numerous city, county and state of
ficials have written letters to the Uni
versity and to the board criticizing the
University’s process for pitching the
sale and questioning how the Universi
ty will help the hundreds of students
who could be displaced.
Sen. Floyd Prozanski, D-Eugene,
wrote a letter to the board on Thursday
asking that it require the University “to
develop a plan that will ensure that
there will be sufficient affordable fami
ly housing available.”
Lane County Commissioner Bill
Dwyer, Eugene City Councilor Bonny
Bettman and Sen. Bill Morrisette, D
Springfield, submitted letters stating
similar concerns.
Rep. Phil Barnhart, D-Eugene, spoke
during the public comment section of
the meeting, saying that as long as the
Kate Horton | Photographer
President of the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation Julian Catchen speaks to the
Oregon State Board of Higher Education Friday in Portland. He protested the University’s
plans to sell Westmoreland Apartments, where he said 150 GTFs reside.
board was confident the University
was taking the necessary steps to help
tenants who may be displaced, he
does not object to the University mov
ing forward with plans to sell.
Lane County Commissioner and De
mocratic candidate for governor Pete
Sorenson arrived near the end of the
meeting and spoke with students
about their concerns and about what
can be done. He will be writing a letter
to the board within the next few days,
he said.
“My first observation is the process
really stinks,” Sorenson told students.
“It’s really unfair.”
Sorenson hopes to set up a meet
ing between University officials, stu
dents and government officials to dis
cuss the possible sale and allow
students a chance to further discuss
their concerns.
“They heard from you today one
time,” Sorenson told students. “We’re
not done.”
Board, student reactions
Though higher education board
members questioned the University’s
efforts to help students find other
housing as inexpensive as Westmore
land, no one overtly objected to the
University's desire to sell the west Eu
gene property in order to buy property
adjacent to the campus.
“This is an entirely rational and rea
sonable proposal,” board member
Howard Sohn said.
ASUO President Adam Walsh, an
Oregon Student Association board
member, spoke about the possible
Westmoreland sale during OSA’s allot
ted speaking time and said afterward
he was pleased board members spent
time questioning the process for pitch
ing the sale and demanding more be
done to help tenants who may be
forced to move.
“It's nice that this wasn’t some sort
of rubber stamp process,” Walsh said.
Residence Hall Association Presi
dent Todd Mann said though the meet
ing’s outcome definitely wasn’t ideal,
it was encouraging to hear board
members show skepticism about the
overall proposal.
“If we grab a hold of that, I think
there is potential to make the case for
Westmoreland,” Mann said.
Contact the news editor
at mcuniff@dailyemerald.com
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