One of downtown Eugene’s least attractive buildings — the four-story red-brick cube at 10th Avenue and Oak Street — has been given a facelift that makes it, if anything, even less appealing.
Black perforated-steel floor-to-ceiling security grating has been fastened all along the street-level north and west sides of the building to keep homeless people and other uninvited guests out of the exterior, covered walkways on those sides of the building.
The building is owned by Lumen Technologies of Denver, previously known as CenturyLink. The property has been used for decades by a succession of phone company giants. It’s unclear from property records when the place was built. But it seems to have been at a time when red bricks were in vogue.
The exterior walkways, sheltered in part by cantilevered brick overhangs, were a popular spot for unhoused residents, despite signs warning away unwanted visitors.
“Over the past several years, the building has experienced multiple safety and security incidents that have created risks for employees, contractors and visitors,” Lumen says in a statement to Eugene Weekly. “The installation of perimeter fencing is intended to improve overall site security.”
The grill paneling will do that. It also gives the place the feel of a criminal detention center.
The city issued permits last year. No other construction work at the building is planned at this time, the company says.
Thurston vacancy
A Eugene entrepreneur looks to repurpose the building on Main Street in the Thurston area of Springfield that until recently housed the Driftwood Bar and Grill.
The Driftwood shuttered earlier this year, after 25 years at that spot, leaving the building without a main tenant. Now, the building owner, Vijay Thangarasa, is asking city permission to turn the property into “general retail” use.
The building, at 5094 Main Street, is a sprawling, ramshackle structure, built in 1952, totalling over 5,000 square feet, on a lot nearly an acre in size.
It sports a big blank pole sign with the Driftwood name just barely visible.
Thangarasa is using part of the property for his van service, VK First Class Secure Transport LLC.
He tells Eugene Weekly he’s currently using the building for “personal office” space and doesn’t have any specific retail tenant in mind. “Just general retail, whatever comes along,” he says.
Thangarasa bought the property in December 2023 for an undisclosed amount. He also owns a small office complex further east on Main, plus real estate in Eugene.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.