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Winetrout plan reaches for the sky Five-story atrium at heart of revision for $20 million project for Medford center By MELISSA MARTIN Mail Tribune Winetrout developer Greg Bessert unveiled a new design Tuesday of the $20 million, six-story building planned for the corner of Main and Fir streets in downtown Medford. At the heart is a five-story atrium that opens to a food court, offices, condominiums and a conference room on multiple levels. "It will be a 60 to 70 foot high, cylinder of space - every level will have access to this," said Bessert, an owner of KSC Development and Winetrout Properties LLC, of Battleground, Wash. Bessert plans to break ground on the project by the end of the month. The developer talked of art and mobiles hanging in Winetrout's atrium when he presented the new design to Medford Urban Renewal Board members Tuesday night "It wouldn't surprise me if we not only hit a mark in creating a magnet for downtown's redevelopment, but a magnet for Southern Oregon as well," Bessert said. Here's how he describes Winetrout's interior: Restaurants and retail shops will occupy the ground floor. There will be a Main Street lobby and entrance and another entrance on Evergreen, a street the urban renewal agency plans to build along the railroad tracks. On the second floor, there will be a food court in the atrium. Offices will be situated next to the atrium on the fourth floor and a condominium and a conference room will enjoy the atrium on the fifth floor. Fifth-floor drawings show eight condominiums sharing a garden plaza, as well as offices. Offices with a view will occupy the sixth floor. The mixed-use building will also have 300 to 400 parking spaces, most of them either on the basement and third floor. But shops, offices and a mezzanine will wrap around parking on the ground floor, second floor and fourth floor. His redesign ended up with 90,000 square feet of office space, too much for the Medford market, he told the board. So he eliminated the "twin towers" in earlier sketches and created instead a tempered glass atrium in the middle of the football field-size building. Medford Urban Renewal Agency will spend nearly $9 million for land, the parking garage and other portions. The developer has invested about $2.5 million so far. Bessert said he came to Medford this week to meet with potential tenants. He still hopes to find tenants to occupy large offices, but also needs 8 to 10 businesses to occupy smaller spaces. "We haven't been successful in finding large tenants who have leases coming up in a timely fashion," Bessert told the board. "The office space will rent eventually, but will it rent before debt service is due in July, that's the question." Urban Renewal Agency gives approval to parking changes Downtown drivers who do the lunchtime shuffle to avoid a ticket may find parking a little easier after the Medford Urban Renewal Agency Tuesday approved a new rule. Drivers who park in a one- or two-hour zone can avoid a ticket by moving their car across the street or to the next block before the time expires. The old rule required drivers to move the car 750 feet, or about three blocks. "We�re changing the rule so people can understand it and so we can better track information about the violation of it," said Linda Beauchamp, administrative assistant for Medford Urban Renewal. After the Medford City Council adopts it, the new rule will be effective during a 90-day trial period so the urban renewal board can evaluate its effectiveness, said Don Burt, agency director. "Now people can stay downtown and do their shopping without taking up one space all day long," Beauchamp said. The urban renewal board also voted Tuesday to increase from $1 to $5 the annual price of a permit that allows drivers to park a different car in the same leased space. The city owns 11 downtown parking lots and last year earned $172,402 in lease income from them, $16,402 more than budgeted. The city collected $78,966 in parking fines, $11,136 more than budgeted. Many of the tickets were written in the Rogue Community College area, despite a nearby new lot that offers free, three-hour parking and $2 all-day parking, Beauchamp said. The lease and fine income pays for things such as security patrols at the 300-space parking garage on Riverside and 6th streets, electricity to light parking lots and water for the landscape. It also helps pay for the city�s $99,850 contract with Diamond Parking for managing city-owned lots and patrolling downtown�s 1,902 parking spots. Despite the increases in leases and fines, the city�s $375,962 annual parking budget is not self-sufficient, Burt said. "The fund isn�t paying for capital costs, such as resurfacing parking lots on Front and Holly streets or replacing landscaping," he said. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.