A Utah developer wants to build a hotel in Glenwood, but not in the hapless east end of the neighborhood, where Springfield officials for decades have tried to spark a revival.

Instead, it’s picked Glenwood’s more upbeat west side, close to Eugene and to three other hotels built on Franklin Boulevard in Glenwood in the past decade.

The developer, Lehi-based West 77 Partners, wants to build a four-story 126-room hotel on what is now the Wilson’s Used Cars lot, West 77’s filings with Springfield show. The parcel, between Franklin and the Willamette River, is opposite the Planned Parenthood of Southwest Oregon clinic.

The estimated $20 million economy brand LivAway Suites project isn’t a done deal. West 77 has filed initial paperwork to find out if the three-acre parcel’s “office mixed use” zoning allows a hotel. Glenwood is part of Springfield.

The property is owned by Coburg-based Cochran Family Investments.

“We are confident that this project is a great fit for the city,” Paul Duncan, West 77’s chief development officer, tells EW. “While there are a lot of moving pieces to get our approvals on this site, we feel confident that we will be able to work with the city to get all necessary approvals.”

Roundabout

Filings by West 77’s planning consultant suggest the city’s rules are unclear on whether a hotel is allowed on the site. The parcel is near where Glenwood Boulevard connects to Franklin. Springfield’s long-range Glenwood plan calls for construction of a roundabout at that intersection, and for a new road to run north from the roundabout, and then along the Willamette riverfront. That new road would apparently cut through land that West 77 proposes for its hotel parking lot.

“Our site fits pretty well within the northeast corner (of the planned roundabout) and we should be able to work seamlessly with the (planned public) improvements,” Duncan says. He hopes to start building the hotel in mid-2026.

“This is a strong market that we are excited to be in,” he says. “Proximity to the University of Oregon is great for our hotel and we’d love to be close to it to service the campus. Eugene has historically been difficult for us to develop a hotel (in), so we have been looking around Springfield for a while.”

The Cochran parcel, which contains several small buildings, has a market value of $1.3 million, according to the Lane County Assessor’s Office. Eugene Weekly was unable to reach the owner.

Springfield Mayor Sean VanGordon says another hotel on the west end of Glenwood makes sense. “We do have a hotel hub that is really developing there,” he says.

But the key to really unlocking the full redevelopment potential of the west end of Glenwood is to close the Lane County garbage and recycling transfer station there, VanGordon says.

Budget and Upscale Brands

Founded in 2014, West 77 has 15 hotels around the country, with more in development. The company uses several brands, including LivAway and upscale Homewood Suites.

Springfield officials have spent years trying to coax investors to build a high-density mixed-use development at the east end of Glenwood, near the bridge that carries Franklin into Springfield. But so far, no luck.

The side of Glenwood next to Eugene has fared better. Eugene-based Alko Hotels has built three hotels there. Alko’s website says the hotels are “right in the heart of Eugene” and it touts their proximity to the UO, the Hult Center and 5th Street Public Market.

VanGordon says Glenwood has a lot of redevelopment potential, in part because it has lots of vacant or underused land. “The city of Springfield is really optimistic about Glenwood as a whole,” he says.

UO Buys Office

In unrelated business, the University of Oregon has bought a sizable office building, saying it is short of office space on campus. The UO in May paid $3.3 million for the 29,000-square-foot building at 720 East 13th, the deed shows. The 33-year-old building sits next to the new Chapter at Eugene student housing high-rise.

The purchased building has three stories of office space plus a basement for parking.

The UO Business Affairs department was already leasing most of the building. “Owning the building will eliminate the need to lease the space,” says UO facilities vice president Michael Harwood. “This is all about saving the university money in the long-term.”

Business Affairs had moved into the building after its space in Oregon Hall was renovated into other uses, Harwood says.

The seller was a Eugene company, Thompson’s University Center LLC. The Thompson family bought the building in 1999 for $1.9 million, according to the deed.

Bricks $ Mortar is a column anchored by Christian Wihtol, who worked as an editor and writer at The Register-Guard 1990-2018, much of the time focused on real estate, economic development and business. Reach him at Christian@EugeneWeekly.com.