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L/RAIN Temp: 43 °F Wind: SW at 5 mph Monday, April 21, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend March 25, 2003 Medford Urban Renewal Agency is pursuing a pair of projects at the former Winetrout site, including a parking structure design similar to this rendering. MURA unveils parking garage plan A second proposal calls for a mixed-use building By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune Urban renewal is getting back up on the horse. After its pet project fell through because of a lawsuit last year, the agency is making plans to build on the site formerly known as Winetrout. "Our first and foremost objective is to build a parking structure," said Medford Urban Renewal Agency Director Don Burt. At a meeting today, MURA’s board will consider a request for proposals on two projects to be built at Main and Fir streets. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in Room 340, City Hall, 411 W. Eighth St. One project is the Fir Street parking structure, a four- or five- story stand-alone building with 400 to 425 parking spaces. It would be on the southwest corner of the project site. The other project proposal is for a residential mixed-use building, to face Evergreen Way. Evergreen Way is a proposed tree-lined roadway adjacent to the train tracks. The three- or four-story building would have approximately 12,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space with 30 to 68 residential units on the upper floors. The two projects leave an unspoken-for portion of the vacant lot that fronts on Main street, which could be a commercial (office and retail) structure in the future, according to Burt. The parking structure would be funded by MURA and the agency would need to find a developer to build the mixed-use building. Urban Renewal’s plans to build a six-story, mixed use building with a parking garage at Main and Fir streets were under way when Bill Ferguson, who owns several downtown office buildings, filed suit in February 2002, claiming the project did not fall within the agency’s revitalization plan. The project was abandoned in July after the lawsuit led to missed deadlines. Circuit Court Judge Philip Arnold dismissed the case in February. The vacant dirt lot has since become an unofficial public parking lot. Ferguson said he feels better about this new proposal. He said he’s still concerned about whether downtown can support it, given all the unleased space. "There’s a huge amount of vacancy now," said Ferguson. Burt said some of the commercial space looks run down. "It’s old," he said, adding that new space will have more appeal. Portland real estate consultant Bruce M. Ostly, who is preparing a study for MURA on the need for office space in all of Medford, said that while Winetrout was too big, with 75,000 square feet of office space and 14,000 square feet of retail, this project is smaller, and that Medford could support it. "You don’t want to build more than you can absorb in a reasonable time," he said "There were a lot of things about Winetrout that offended people. "What they started out with was not what they ended up with. There was an out-of-the-area developer. The scale of it was larger than the market would bear." Burt said a Dec. 30, 2004, deadline was set to get things moving, but is not in stone. "If you don’t have (deadlines) then you’re just floundering around, so you have to have them." MURA’s board today will consider holding a public hearing for the proposal on April 8. Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail [email protected] Parking structure schedule May 2, 2003 — Request for proposal response due. May 13, 2003 — Award design contract. July 25, 2003 — Complete final design. March 18, 2004 — Award construction contract. April 1, 2004 — Begin construction. Dec. 30, 2004 — Complete construction. Source: Medford Urban Renewal Agency Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S