The Lane County Board of Commissioners Chair Pete Sorenson, left, shakes hands with Casey Barrett, second from left, vice president of Obie Companies, as Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis is hugged by Brian Obie, president and CEO of Obie Companies, after they used a jackhammer to break ground at the site of the 5th Street Public Market expansion at 6th Avenue and Oak Street. The project is expected to be completed in fall 2020. [Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard] - registerguard.com ▲ Casey Barrett, vice president of Obie Companies, holds his son Will, as he talks about what the 5th Street Public Market expansion at 6th Avenue and Oak Street will mean to the future of Eugene as Brian Obie, left, applauds. The project is expected to be completed in fall 2020. [Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard] - registerguard.com ▲ Brian Obie, president and CEO of Obie Companies, takes a photo with his smartphone as Casey Barrett, right, vice president of Obie Companies, talks during groundbeaking ceremonies about the 5th Street Public Market expansion at 6th Avenue and Oak Street. The project is expected to be completed in fall 2020. Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard] - registerguard.com ▲ Members of the Obie Companies team gather for a photograph before a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the 5th Street Public Market expansion at 6th Avenue and Oak Street. The project is expected to be completed in fall 2020. [Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard] - registerguard.com ▲ Brian Obie, president and CEO of Obie Companies, offset his black suit with neon green tennis shoes to break ground at the site of the 5th Street Public Market expansion at 6th Avenue and Oak Street. The project is expected to be completed in fall 2020. [Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard] - registerguard.com ▲ A rendering of the 5th Street Public Market expansion at 6th Avenue and Oak Street. The project is expected to be completed in fall 2020. [Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard] - registerguard.com ▲ A rendering of the 5th Street Public Market expansion at 6th Avenue and Oak Street. The project is expected to be completed in fall 2020. [Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard] - registerguard.com ▲ The 5th Street Public Market expansion at 6th Avenue and Oak Street is expected to be completed in fall 2020. [Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard] - registerguard.com ▲ A rendering of the 5th Street Public Market expansion at 6th Avenue and Oak Street. The project is expected to be completed in fall 2020. [Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard] - registerguard.com ▲ The 5th Street Public Market expansion at 6th Avenue and Oak Street is expected to be completed in fall 2020. [Andy Nelson/The Register-Guard] - registerguard.com ▲

Developers, local officials hail the $75 million project as the start of a new era for downtown Eugene

Local developers joined with elected officials Thursday to break ground on the expansion of the Fifth Street Public Market, a project six years in the making that they hailed as representing the start of a new era for Eugene's downtown.

Obie Companies, the market's owner and project developer, said the $75 million expansion on a half-block site at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Pearl Street will be the largest private commercial development ever in downtown Eugene.

The project received ample public assistance. The company has secured as 99-year lease for the project site, now a parking lot, with Lane County. In addition, the Eugene City Council relaxed the site's height restriction and approved a 10-year property tax waiver to help the project move forward.

The start of the project — construction is slated to begin next week — comes as the proposed county courthouse, City Hall and downtown riverfront projects have all made significant headway in recent months. To the southeast, the University of Oregon's new Knight research campus and new Hayward Field stadium are under construction.

"We've got a lot going on in this community," said Brian Obie, president of Obie Companies, the market owner and project developer. "We can all be proud of it, for sure."

The project consists of a three-story building with retail and office space, a seven-story, 127-unit apartment building called Gordon Lofts, and the seven-story, 82-room hotel, The Gordon Hotel. The hotel and apartment building are named in honor of Obie's late father.

The project is scheduled to be completed in September 2020. There's been no announcements of commercial tenants who will lease space in the expanded market. Jenny Ulum, Obie Companies' spokeswoman, said there's strong interest in the project.

Obie joined his grandson, Casey Barrett, the company's vice president, Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis and Lane County Commissioner Peter Sorenson to break ground at the project site with a gold-painted jackhammer as a crowd of about 200 people looked on.

Earlier, while holding his 6-month-old son, Barrett said the market's expansion will contribute "toward a vibrant, bustling downtown core."

"I think that's the most exciting thing for us to celebrate here today — that we're doing it," he said. "Everybody's talked about it, but we're doing it."

Vinis said the project will add jobs and bring in tax revenue that will allow the municipal government and other public agencies to make investments in Eugene's future.

"It may be raining today in Eugene, but it's not raining on our parade," she said. "This is a day of sunshine for us."

To secure the tax waiver, Obie agreed to pay the city $400,000 dedicated to the construction of moderate-income housing in Eugene; the estimated value of the property tax waiver is $4.3 million. The completed market expansion is set to generate $458,600 a year in property taxes, increasing by an additional $378,600 a year when the waiver expires, according to estimates.

Homes for Good, Lane County's public housing authority, is scheduled to finalize financing and break ground in March on an affordable housing project across Oak Street from the market expansion.

The federal shutdown delayed the required review before the project financing could close, said Jacob Fox, Homes for Good's executive director.

The complex will feature 50 units of affordable housing, including 15 units dedicated for low-income veterans and people with disabilities, plus ground-floor retail space that Obie Companies is planning to negotiate to purchase and lease out to tenants.

The Homes for Good project is scheduled to be completed in May 2020.

Fox said his agency is delighted to be part of what he called an "unprecedented downtown revitalization."

"Any major development needs affordable housing as part of those bigger efforts," he said.