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Freeway widening could slam into Medford apartment plans Friday Jan 19, 2018 at 4:47 PM Jan 19, 2018 at 4:47 PM Damian Mann Mail Tribune @reporterdm The future of a 108-unit apartment complex near downtown Medford is in question following the Oregon Department of Transportation’s decision to buy a 60-foot swath of the property for a possible future widening of Interstate 5. “It’s up in the air,” said Mark McKechnie of Oregon Architecture. His client, developer Dan Thomas, wanted to build the apartment complex on Almond Street, just south of the Medford Senior Center, just to the east of the viaduct and 300 feet south of Main Street. Previously, Thomas said the complex would cost $12 million and would be designed for a younger market, though not low income. But McKechnie said ODOT approached Thomas about buying a portion of his 1.23-acre property after Thomas had jumped through planning reviews, including from the Site Plan and Architectural Commission. In fact, Thomas theoretically could pull permits to start building the 22,290-square-foot Almond Street Apartments, McKechnie said. “I know Dan is waiting to hear something from ODOT,” he said. “I know ODOT is getting an appraisal for everything they want.” McKechnie said Thomas still wants to build the apartment complex, but it would likely require significant changes, depending on how much land ODOT needs. The project also likely would have to undergo more review by the city. The four-story section of the apartments, which would be one and two bedroom, is within about 50 feet of the viaduct edge, according to drawings submitted to the city. Most of the parking would be underneath the building. McKechnie said the third story would be eye level with the viaduct deck. The four-story section along the freeway is 54-feet high, and two three-story sections toward Almond Street are 33-feet high. He said the large size of this project is unique for the downtown area, and for Medford in general. Also, Medford councilors have indicated they want more housing to help improve the downtown area. ODOT has been considering widening and earthquake retrofitting the viaduct, which engineers say could collapse if this area was struck by a subduction zone earthquake. “It’s called a ‘protective purchase,’” said Gary Leaming, ODOT spokesman. “Isn’t it better for the taxpayers to buy it now than when it’s all developed out?” He said the property would be far more expensive if the apartment complex was built on the property. Leaming said a purchase agreement hasn’t been settled yet. ODOT also hasn’t finalized plans for the viaduct widening, but Leaming said it’s possible engineers could add a 28-foot section on the east side of the viaduct, away from Bear Creek. The existing viaduct would be beefed up to better withstand a quake and a new set of supporting columns would be added to accommodate the widening, Leaming said. However, ODOT hasn’t settled on a particular design for the structure. Once completed, the viaduct would still have two lanes in each direction, but it would have wider shoulders for emergencies. Also, if I-5 were widened to three lanes, the retrofitted viaduct could be widened to three lanes in each direction if necessary. Leaming said ODOT isn’t negotiating to buy nearby properties because most are in government ownership. The city of Medford owns a few properties along the viaduct, near Thomas's property.  — Reach reporter Damian Mann at 541-776-4476 or [email protected]. Follow him on www.twitter.com/reporterdm.