The Glenwood Restaurant on Alder Street has been a hangover staple for the student population in Eugene for decades. But the restaurant will soon close to make way for new apartments.
Restaurant owner Jacqui Willey sold the property in June with a hefty price tag of $3 million, according to county records. Willey confirmed that the location will close in 2022, around spring break. The Willamette Street location will continue to operate as normal.
“It’s getting to be pretty tough to be in business down here,” Willey says. She adds that while it’s always been a challenging place in terms of dealing with trash from homeless people in the area, in the last few years, “a regular part of my week is picking up all the dumpsters in the alley and cleaning up human feces, picking up needles.”
COVID-19 closures added to the stress, she says. Willey, who has owned the restaurant for 43 years, plans to retire in the next year and hopes to hand management of the company to her kids, she says.
Alder Ducks LLC, a California firm incorporated in 2014, purchased the lot on June 29, according to the deed. Willey said she was first approached to sell the property several years ago and declined. “But then, just as things have kind of deteriorated around here,” she says, “it seems like maybe it’s a better fit — that it would be safer and maybe a better use of land.”
Alder Ducks also owns the lot to the north, where the 7-Eleven currently sits. The deed to the 7-Eleven was transferred to the company in 2014, shortly after Alder Ducks LLC was created.
Previously, the 7-Eleven was held by a company called Fields Holdings, LLC. Both companies are managed by Eran Fields, a Los Angeles-based attorney and are registered to a mansion in L.A.
Fields has been involved in developing upscale student housing in cities like Seattle and Boise for years. Most recently, FH Brooklyn, an LLC managed by Fields, sold the M Seattle, a 24-story apartment building in the University District, for nearly $138 million, according to King County records. The company bought the land, which was previously occupied by a Chevron gas station, for about $5 million in 2015.
Willey said that she believes that an apartment building will fill the lot in a year or so. Fields did not respond to requests for comment, so for now, exact plans are unknown.
Meanwhile, Willey said she is exploring opening a second Glenwood location in a different area of town. “I very much appreciate the support that we’ve had at this location. And I think we’ve just got the absolute best customers in the world,” she says. “I hope that if we do end up with just one spot, I hope that people will be supporting us at Willamette Street.”
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