Connor, Woolley mull next move.

Byline: Edward Russo The Register-Guard

The four-story Centre Court building sits empty at Broadway and Willamette Street, a hulking reminder of the challenge that lies ahead in redeveloping downtown Eugene.

The Centre Court property - and other Broadway buildings owned by Eugene landlords Don Woolley and Tom Connor - would have been razed to make way for their proposed $165 million housing, shopping and entertainment complex. But Connor and Woolley and their development firm, Opus Northwest, last week pulled the plug on the project, unable to acquire the 15 neighboring parcels that they wanted.

Others may step forward to redevelop the key two-block stretch in the heart of downtown, observers now say, but it probably won't be a massive project similar to the one envisioned by Connor and Woolley.

The 2 1/4 -block development would have been an instant cure for the ailing part of downtown, said Eugene commercial real estate broker Sue Prichard, who represented Connor and Woolley in negotiations with the adjoining property owners.

"Now we are back to relying on redevelopment happening piece by piece," she said.

But who might carry out that work - and when - remains unclear.

The two Broadway blocks in question are situated between the busy shops on the east end of Broadway, near Pearl Street, and the upscale Broadway Place housing and commercial complex on the west end. Some of the buildings along the stretch have empty storefronts, and the area is a magnet for street youths and panhandlers.

Some of Connor and Woolley's Broadway tenants, even those with cut-rate rents, are struggling financially and have fallen behind on their rent, Woolley said Monday.

With the redevelopment plan now dead, Woolley on Monday said he and his partner will see if they can find tenants for their half-dozen buildings on Broadway.

If they can't, they could end up selling most of their Broadway holdings, he said.

The partners own other, more successful buildings in Eugene, including the Eugene Planing Mill, which houses the REI store, and the Fifth and Pearl building, which houses restaurants. Connor and Woolley also own other real estate investments up and down the West Coast.

Connor and Woolley said they plan to keep the former Bon Marche and Kaufman's buildings on West Broadway, near Charnelton. They recently attracted the Eugene-based International Society for Technology in Education into part of the former Bon building. The partners hope to put other tenants in the two buildings.

Connor and Woolley aren't sure what they are going to do with the Centre Court building and four other buildings along Broadway. Woolley said he and his partner may consider converting Centre Court to condominiums or offices.

A few years ago, the Centre Court was 70 percent occupied with office tenants, but Connor and Woolley didn't renew leases as they expired, and the building eventually emptied out. At the time, Connor and Woolley said they were exploring rehabbing the building into condos. But they later scrapped the idea, saying it was not financially feasible.

Meanwhile, they'll try and find tenants for their other buildings.

"We'll basically let the market tell us which way we are going to go," Woolley said.

If they can find long-term tenants, Woolley said, they could renovate the structures. Yet he didn't sound hopeful about that.

The "street atmosphere" along Broadway will probably scare away tenants, Woolley said.

"The likelihood of finding long-term tenants for the foreseeable future is slim."

Woolley said there might be buyers interested in the buildings.

Eugene-based Arlie & Co. said it contacted Connor and Woolley last week, soon after learning that the redevelopment project had hit a dead end.

`We are very interested in speaking with them and also city staff about possibilities downtown," said Sadie Dressekie, Arlie's marketing director.

Dressekie said she couldn't provide details about what Arlie has in mind "because we don't know what properties are available for sale."

"We're interested buyers, but we're not sure if they are interested sellers," Dressekie said.

Connor and Woolley's intentions might become clear in the next few months.

The city is soon expected to seek proposals from developers interested in buying the city-owned quarter-block at West 10th Avenue and Charnelton. That parcel, the former Sears property, is immediately south of a Connor and Woolley building, at West Broadway and Charnelton Street.

Woolley said he hopes that the city property will be acquired by a "really dynamic" developer who might be interested in one or more of his and Connor's properties on Broadway.

Arlie is interested in responding to the city's request from developers for the former Sears site, Dressekie said.

Sockeye Development of Portland and Eugene developers Kent Jennings and Greg Pitts also have expressed interest in submitting proposals.

Also, Connor and Woolley would entertain offers for an Olive Street building that formerly housed the Book Mark, Woolley said.

The partners acquired the building as part of their redevelopment plan.

Jo Dee Moine, owner of Luckey's bar on Olive Street, said last week that she is interested in acquiring the property. Woolley said he would consider selling it to Moine and anybody else.

"We're going to put it on the market and we're not going to exclude anyone," he said.