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http://www.omniture.com --> Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Advertisement Email Story to a Friend May 6, 2006 The area between Highway 99 and Stewart Meadows Golf Course is the proposed site of an 80-acre commercial and residential development. This view looks west across Center Drive and Highway 99 with the Rogue Federal Credit Union headquarters in the lower left. (Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell) Meet Stewart Meadows Village By Meg Landers Mail Tribune Fifteen years after the KOGAP lumber mill in south Medford closed down, an 80-acre office, retail and residential development is proposed to take its place, featuring a restored creek, a passenger train stop and a carousel. Plans for Stewart Meadows Village in south Medford were submitted to the Medford Planning Department Friday. The developer and property owner is KOGAP Enterprises Inc. of Medford. Former Medford Mayor Jerry Lausmann is the company's chief executive officer. "We think it creates a neighborhood feel and effect," said Ed Istel, director of corporate development of KOGAP. Located between Highway 99 and Stewart Meadows Golf Course, north of Garfield Street and south of Stewart Avenue, project plans include 192 golf-course view residential units for seniors, 129 apartments above retail and office space, more than 385,000 square feet of retail space, and more than 273,000 square feet of office space. The total project will cost $200- to $250 million and would be built in phases over 10 years, said David Wilkerson, the project's architect, of OgdenRoemerWilkerson Architecture of Medford. He said given the project will take more than a decade to build and with an unknown future housing market, he couldn't estimate the cost of housing units, but said there will be a range. "A fair number of the units are going to be rentals," he said. The development would add 2,192 vehicle trips at the peak travel hour to surrounding streets, according to the comprehensive traffic study done by JRH Transportation Engineering. The study determined that the developers would have to add left turn lanes for drivers heading into the development, and some timing adjustments would need to be made to traffic signals, said Wilkerson. He said because there are multiple access points to the development, including Highway 99, Garfield Street and Myers Lane, traffic will be spread out. "We're not going to be funneling traffic in and out of one location," he said. Rob Scott, director of the Planning Department, said staff will review the planned-unit development application and make a recommendation to the Planning Commission, but it's too soon to comment on the project. The development will include landscaped open spaces, pedestrian paths, water features and improvements to Hanson Creek. Istel said Hanson Creek was piped underground when the mill was there, and it would likely be restored as a meandering creek through the property, at least until it is piped underground again behind the Grange Co-op, and routed beneath the highway to Bear Creek. There are also numerous small ponds and bioswales to handle storm water throughout the project area. The development also includes plans for a rail stop, in the event an inner-city passenger rail service on the existing train tracks comes to fruition. And there are plans for a carousel, a longtime dream of Donnis Lausmann, Jerry's wife, said Istel. "She's a big fan of carousels," he said, adding that they hope to commission local artists to do the work. While the adjacent Hayes Oil Co. and Grange Co-op will remain, the golf driving range and the warehouses on the property will not. Wilkerson said he hopes construction can begin in the fall. The first phase of the project will be retail and office space in the southeast corner at Garfield Street and Highway 99. Garfield is expected to become a major roadway when the new south Medford interchange is built to the east of Garfield and Highway 99. The project's second phase will be along Stewart Avenue. Across Garfield Street are 20 acres also owned by KOGAP; it's is already approved for commercial and light industrial uses. That parcel is not part of the Stewart Meadows Village planned-unit development. While he wasn't ready to release names, Istel said he's been hearing from commercial and retail businesses interested in the development, especially now that construction has begun on the nearby south Medford interchange. Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail [email protected] . 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