City Council approves Affordable Housing Trust Fund awards totaling $709,879, prioritizes time‑sensitive Park Run project

Eugene City Council on June 9 approved allocations from the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund to three development projects, voting 8–2 to direct $373,832 to Legacy Park (Cascade Housing Association), $200,000 to Park Run (Community Development Partners) contingent on maintaining state funding awarded in 2025, and $136,047 in gap funding to the Lucy (referred to in the record as “Glussey”) by Cornerstone Community Housing.

The decision implements the advisory committee and staff recommendations to prioritize projects ready to start construction within the next 12 months and to preserve the stability of an existing development. Councilors discussed tradeoffs between supporting an ownership model advanced by Floral Hill Community Land Trust and the time sensitivity of Park Run’s state awards.

City Manager introduction and staff presentation City staff framed the recommendation as three targeted disbursements drawn from this year’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund requests for proposals. Laura Hammond, senior staff with community development for affordable housing production, told council Floral Hill (a community land trust proposal managed by DevNW) is in early development, is still attempting to acquire a site and likely would not begin construction before 2027. Hammond described Park Run as “ready to start construction pretty much this summer, late summer, maybe into the fall,” and said the project had been awarded competitive, time‑sensitive state funding — which staff described in the record as about $54,000,000 in state awards that require construction to start by the end of the year. Hammond said Park Run will create 158 new units and that 29 of those units will be reserved for households at 30% of area median income or below.

Floral Hill Community Land Trust and ownership model Councilors asked staff to explain the Floral Hill Community Land Trust model. Hammond said DevNW would retain ownership of the land while homebuyers purchase only the houses and pay a monthly land lease, which reduces purchase price and preserves long‑term affordability. Hammond said income eligibility for that program is targeted at roughly 80% of area median income and used an example of $71,000 annual income for a household of four, as discussed in the staff presentation.

Council discussion and vote Councilors asked clarifying questions about timeline, affordability thresholds, and long‑term protections. Councilor Groves asked whether the ground lease ensures long‑term income qualification; staff replied the ground lease term would be 99 years. After brief discussion, the council president moved the motion to approve the three funding recommendations as presented. The motion passed 8–2.

What the council approved - Legacy Park (Cascade Housing Association): $373,832 from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. - Park Run (Community Development Partners): $200,000 from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, contingent on maintaining state funding awarded in 2025. - Lucy/Glussey (Cornerstone Community Housing): $136,047 in gap funding from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

Next steps and caveats Staff said if Park Run cannot meet the state funding deadline, the city’s committed funds could be returned to council for reallocation, potentially to Floral Hill. Hammond said staff would continue to work with Floral Hill on securing the $200,000 that the advisory committee recommended to keep that project advancing while it pursues site acquisition.

Ending Councilors and staff described the allocations as part of ongoing efforts to deploy limited local funds alongside larger state and federal awards. No ordinance or contract action was completed during the meeting; council’s vote authorized the use of Trust Fund dollars for the three projects described.