Eugene 4J wants to buy vacant riverfront property

Eugene School District 4J is looking to buy the vacated Eugene Water & Electric Board property at 500 E. Fourth Ave.

A news release announced 4J's interest in the property. EWEB declared the 4th Avenue property as surplus in 2018. Since then, it has moved all its employees to its new Roosevelt Operations Center and has been seeking a buyer for the property.

The district is proposing to move its administrative headquarters to the former EWEB headquarters and then open its current administrative building at 200 N. Monroe St. as an educational community center, mentioning possible career development and applied learning programs.

4J Superintendent Andy Dey said he is optimistic about winning over EWEB and earning their approval for taking over the Fourth Street buildings.

The property's 4.44 acres include three developable parcels and parking lots and two buildings that total about 100,000 square feet, with a sky bridge connecting them.

The district said the riverfront site would require little modifications to consolidate and streamline district operations. Some of 4J's administrators recently toured the facilities. Dey said the transition would be "turnkey," and just requiring some minor projects.

"We would want to do remodeling of the kitchen space, updated with commercial equipment, (and) there would be some fairly minor wall removal," Dey said.

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Different learning opportunities

The Monroe Street location was never designed to be the seat for administrative functions. It was initially built for Lane Community College and sold to 4J. It is zoned for public education facilities.

Dey said over the years it has served as 4J's admin building, it has undergone some minor construction to fit the district's needs. Some changes will need to be made if the switch is made to an educational center, but nothing is set in stone.

If a sale is approved by EWEB, the district would partner with Lane Arts Council and the Eugene Science Center, among other community partners, to honor the history of the Monroe Street site, establishing a multicultural center that celebrates learning, innovation and creativity.

4J intends to seek community input on what sort of courses and resources the public would like to see at the Monroe location.

Dey said the center would create more learning opportunities for not only 4J students, but for the entire Eugene community.

4J Director of Communications Jenna McCulley said enrollment at Early College & Career Options, Monroe location's neighboring alternative high school, is high, indicating there is a large interest in CTE and alternative learning programs in Eugene.

"I can't say that, from the community, there has been an overwhelming request specifically for a central CTE skill center, but in almost every conversation about the future of our schools, I hear that we need career and technical education," Dey said. "We would need to engage the school district community, the community as a whole, students and parents."

Costs and funding

Dey said the funding for the property and any minor remodels will not dip into general obligation bond funds or recent state investments. Instead, it will be funding the purchase through funds raised by recent property sales, short-term investments, contingency funds and other reserves.

"We have, for some time, been really conservative and responsible with community resources," Dey said. "We've confirmed that we have funds that we believe will be sufficient to acquire the property while not seeing that drop in service level in any way."

There is not yet an estimate for how much EWEB is asking for the property. Dey said that he would not disclose an offer amount while there are still competitors.

What can we expect next?

Aaron Orlowski, EWEB spokesperson, confirmed multiple potential buyers have expressed interest in purchasing EWEB’s former headquarters, each with its own proposed use for the property. EWEB will be evaluating the proposals in the coming weeks.

In 2022, EWEB conducted a formal Request for Proposals process that generated community interest and enthusiasm for the property, according to EWEB.

EWEB’s Board of Commissioners canceled the RFP after none of the submissions met its criteria. It has now granted authority to the general manager to pursue and negotiate the sale of the buildings within guidance parameters. The general manager will be working closely with the board throughout this current stage of the process, according to Orlowski.

4J intends to finalize and submit its proposal to EWEB this week. The next scheduled EWEB Board of Commissioners meeting is at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 7.

If approved, Dey expects the buying process to take about a year. He said he hopes the Fourth Street location might be fully operational by September 2024 for all of 4J's administration purposes.

"Hopefully, they will find our proposal the most compelling," Dey said.

Miranda Cyr reports on education for The Register-Guard. You can contact her at mcyr@registerguard.com or find her on Twitter @mirandabcyr.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Eugene 4J wants to buy vacant riverfront property