City solidifies courthouse commitments.

Byline: Bill Bishop The Register-Guard

Eugene officials offered specifics about transportation, parking and private development for the proposed site of a new federal courthouse in a response to the General Services Administration, which has postponed buying city-owned land for the $70 million project.

The city gave its formal response Friday to questions raised last month by the GSA, when the agency held off on buying the former site of the Agripac cannery.

Although the courthouse delay initially surprised city officials, efforts to answer GSA's concerns served to solidify development plans and commitments for federal transportation funds, City Manager Dennis Taylor said.

Additionally, the response enabled city and state transportation officials to more firmly establish a timeline for changing major streets and intersections that will serve the new courthouse district, he said.

The process also opened new communication and understanding between the city and the GSA, Taylor said.

"There has been significant and strong progress," Taylor said. "I think we have a stronger partnership with GSA than we had before they raised their concerns. It's the first time you have all the elements to bring this project together all in one document."

GSA spokesman Peter Gray did not return a page and a telephone message left at his Auburn, Wash., office on Friday afternoon. A phone message to the GSA's general offices in Auburn also was not returned.

In a seven-page letter to Dan Brown, the GSA's director of portfolio development, Taylor gave specific details about funding plans for new streets, planning efforts and zoning changes to guide private development around the courthouse and information on current and future parking in the district.

Taylor also submitted copies of letters from private developers who have come out publicly in recent weeks with their plans for redeveloping the former industrial site where the new courthouse will be built.

In an interview Friday, Taylor said the University of Oregon's announcement last week of an on-campus site for a new basketball arena clarified the vision for the courthouse district as a vital mixture of multi-use commercial activities instead of an area dominated by seldom-used large public buildings. The courthouse district had been under consideration for the new arena.

"I know some people would have loved to see these two projects linked together," Taylor said. "Now, since there is clarity, you really see the private developers stepping up."

The major benefit of the delay is the additional support it created among the area's congressional delegation for $7.6 million in street construction funds included in federal legislation expected to be approved in the spring, Taylor said. Sens. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., as well as Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., have all expressed strong support to ensure the funding goes through.

The city already received $500,000 in federal funding to plan transportation and pedestrian access to tie the district to the downtown and to major highways in the area. The county also has pledged $325,000 in road funds as well, Taylor said.

"I'm as confident as you can be with something that still requires congressional action," Taylor said. "We have strong congressional support to achieve the entire $7.6 million."

In the unlikely event federal funding falls through, the city is prepared to seek money from the county road fund and urban renewal district revenues to do the work, according to the letter.

"The city is committed to making the road and infrastructure improvements necessary for the courthouse district," Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey said Friday.

The city's letter also points to about 1,100 parking spots within walking distance for courthouse employees, but Taylor said more will become available within the courthouse district as development progresses.

He said the city also intends to develop and promote public transportation into the area.

By February, the city plans to begin the process for selling about four additional acres of city-owned land east of the courthouse site.

Parking probably will be among the requirements listed in the city's request for proposals from potential developers who wish to buy the site, Taylor said.

In spite of the initial alarm caused by the GSA's delay, Taylor said the problem produced a lot of positive effects.

"It galvanized the support that has been there for the courthouse development," he said. "I have high confidence this project will go forward."