At the busy corner of East 30th Avenue and University Street in Eugene, passersby have likely wondered what’s happening to the tall A-frame-style building. It used to be a house of worship owned by Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church. Trinity Evangelical unexpectedly closed the church in 2023, according to news reports.
Now, the building is undergoing remodeling that’s visible from the street. The work, however, seems to have been making slow progress. The church sold the three-quarter-acre property in July 2024 for an undisclosed price to Twodorks LLC, which had been formed by two area residents. Twodorks is converting the church into two apartments and plans on building three additional housing units on the land surrounding the former church, according to plans filed with the City of Eugene.
It’s unclear when the units will be available, or whether they will be for sale or rent.
The property is being developed as so-called middle housing, which is becoming increasingly popular statewide. “Middle housing” refers to a “variety of housing types that fall between single-unit homes and traditional style apartment complexes,” says the city’s website. In 2019, the Oregon Legislature passed a new housing law, House Bill 2001, that allows a variety of housing styles and densities in traditionally single-family home neighborhoods.
Eugene resident Todd Matthews, one of the two members of Twodorks, declined to give an interview after an initial brief phone call with EW. The other member is Springfield resident Jonathan Portz. Matthews said the project has been slowed by the city taking time to grant land-use approvals. However, Reid Verner, a senior planner at the city, says he is not aware of any delays, and that the city has issued approvals dividing the church parcel into lots for middle housing, and that no other planning approvals are needed.
The project did face planning hurdles. Because the building is being converted from a church to apartment units, there were specific requirements separate from the middle housing and land division processes. The city in September issued a change of occupancy permit to convert the church into a duplex. In addition to remodeling the church, the developer plans on building a triplex with three dwelling units next to the old church building, that permit application was submitted on April 13 and is under review.
Around the old church, almost all the buildings are single-family homes. The middle housing law allows the denser residential development.
Seira Kitagawa is a former Eugene Weekly intern. The Bricks $ Mortar column is 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.