A prominent Springfield-based real estate investor has bought a big chunk of retail property off Coburg Road in Eugene, bulking up his portfolio.
An entity headed by Richard Boyles, a regional hotel owner and manager, last month bought the four-building “Oakway Landing” retail cluster at Coburg Road and Oakway Road, the deed shows. It’s a high-visibility spot with tenants such as a DSW shoe store and a Rife’s furniture outlet.
It suffers one drawback: tricky vehicular access. The complex lives in the shadow of its neighbor, the much bigger and flashier Oakway Center shopping center.
The sale deed did not list a price. But the complex had been listed for sale at $19.6 million, according to the marketing brochure issued by the listing broker. Boyles took out a $12.25 million mortgage to finance the deal, a deed shows.
The complex totals 81,000 square feet of buildings on 5.5 acres. The seller was a business group headed by Jeffrey Robinson, which had owned the property for many years.
The south end of Coburg Road is one of the city’s premier retail strips. It features lots of car traffic and stores, and is near many of Eugene’s wealthier neighborhoods.
The long-established magnate of Coburg Road real estate is the family-owned Eugene-based McKay Investment Co., which owns the 15-acre Oakway Center.
Boyles is better known for owning hotel, retail and office properties in Springfield’s Gateway area. But he is no stranger to the Coburg Road strip. In 2017, he teamed up with McKay Investment to build, own and manage the Hyatt Place hotel next to Oakway Center, record shows.
Oakway Landing has long suffered from somewhat awkward vehicular access because it sits at the busy intersection of Oakway Road, Coburg Road, Southwood Lane and an Interstate 105 off-ramp.
But that apparently has not deterred tenants.
The complex is fully leased, says the marketing brochure. Over 90 percent of the leasable square footage is occupied by tenants that have been there more than 15 years, says the brochure. Tenants include Oakway Fit gym and the Emerald Lanes bowling center.
Boyles did not return messages from Eugene Weekly.
Apartments for Thurston?
In unrelated news: Springfield’s acute shortage of rental apartments has caught the eye of a Tualatin-based developer.
Cobalt Built has submitted tentative plans for a 96-unit apartment complex in the Thurston neighborhood at the eastern edge of Springfield.
The development would be off 67th Street on the south side of Main Street, on six acres that are zoned for multi-family development.
The tract — fields and trees with an old duplex — has a colorful history.
Businessman Kevork Nercessian bought the property in 2001 for $450,000, the deed shows. The property then became entangled in a dispute among members of the Nercessian family, court records show, with Kevork Nercessian eventually retaining title. But he never did anything with the property. He then sold it to Salem-based Slayden Construction in 2008 for $640,000, deeds show. Slayden never did anything with it either, and in 2011 sold it for an undisclosed sum to Todd Woodley, who is currently listed by Cobalt as one of the top executives and owners of Cobalt.
Woodley did not return messages from Eugene Weekly.
The proposed complex would include one- two- and three-bedroom units, of 800 to 1,400 square feet, the plans show.
Cobalt has completed a number of apartment projects, mostly in the Portland area, according to its website.
Bricks $ Mortar is a column anchored by Christian Wihtol, who worked as an editor and writer at The Register-Guard in Eugene 1990-2018, much of the time focused on real estate, economic development and business. Reach him at Christian@EugeneWeekly.com.