Bon building next up for rehab.

Byline: Sherri Buri McDonald The Register-Guard

This summer, the former Bon building on West Broadway in downtown Eugene will receive its first major face-lift in 12 years.

Owners Tom Connor and Don Woolley bought the 102,000-square-foot building in 1993 and converted it to offices for Symantec Corp.'s customer service center.

Now the owners plan to spend $600,000 to spruce up the building's exterior and the ground-floor interior, said Tim Campbell, the building's leasing agent.

The building is partially leased, but the ground floor and basement are available, Campbell said, adding that companies are expressing interest in the space.

The building secured two tenants last year - The International Society for Technology in Education on the third floor, and catalog retailer Harry & David's seasonal call center on the second floor. The owners had been planning to improve the property for those tenants, Campbell said.

Connor, Woolley and Opus Northwest, a Portland-based developer, had been thinking of including the building in a major retail, housing and entertainment project along West Broadway. Those plans fell through, however, and the City Council has since endorsed Portland-based Beam Development and KWG Development Partners as the developers to transform that section of downtown.

The former Bon building won't be the only remodel in the neighborhood.

"This renovation will complement all of the existing and planned buildings downtown," Campbell said.

Attorney Hugh Duvall plans to spend $450,000 turning the former Bookmark at 856 Olive St. into law offices.

The WesTown low-income housing project is rising on Eighth Avenue next to WOW Hall, and Davis' Restaurant & Bar is renovating its space in the Washburne building on West Broadway.

Dave Hauser, executive director of the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce, said renovation of the former Bon building is an "important piece of the puzzle that hopefully will contribute to the broader discussion of downtown and the projects by Beam and KWG."

The Bon building is not among the downtown properties optioned by the city of Eugene for redevelopment.

West Broadway, with its many shuttered storefronts, has been a gathering place for street people. And, at times, the exterior of the Bon building has been marred by graffiti.

Campbell said the owners aren't planning increased security or asking the city for more frequent patrols.

"They're just going to deal with it," Campbell said. "We're hoping that with all the positive things that are being discussed and happening downtown it will just kind of take care of itself."

In the first five months of the year, the Eugene Police Department responded to 19 calls to the property, compared with 34 calls in the first five months of 2006.