The seven-story Gordon hotel and apartment building is under construction on the
Willamette riverfront in Corvallis. (Photo was taken on May 14.)
On a bike ride in Corvallis this month, I came across a big construction project of the Eugene-based Obie Companies, and I wondered if the developer has a similar, though probably smaller, project in mind for Albany as well.
At the corner of First and Madison streets in Corvallis, across the street from that city’s Riverfront Park, Obie is building what has been billed as the Gordon Hotel and Gordon Residences.
The project will have seven floors accommodating 75 guest rooms in the hotel portion and 92 apartments in the rest.
The company’s website says the project “will offer locals and visitors the right mix of engaging social spaces, food and beverage offerings and an environment for connection.”
Several broadcast outlets and the Corvallis-Albany newspaper all had stories about this project when Obie announced it in October 2024. They said the apartments would rent for market rates. But none of he stories I saw said anything about parking in downtown Corvallis.
The Corvallis Gordon, named to echo a similar development in Eugene, is being advertised as opening in 2027.
In Albany, Obie Companies has an option to buy, for $1,710,000, three city-owned parking lots on the south side of Water Avenue. The properties are the former Penney’s lot, the lot between the closed Eagles lodge and the Ellsworth Street Bridge, and the lot between the Ellsworth and Lyon Street bridges.
Before any sale takes place, Obie and the city would have to negotiate, and the city council would have to approve, a development agreement. The agreement would spell out what the company plans to build, in what time frame, and how the developer would make up for the loss of parking spaces downtown.
The council has already approved a property tax exemption program for multiple-family housing projects, and Obie’s interest in the Albany lots was predicated on such a program being in effect.
I asked Sophie Adams, the city’s economic development manager, about any potential Obie project on Water Avenue.
“I understand that Obie has engaged architectural firms and is working on designs for a phased construction project,” she replied on Tuesday. “Their option agreement expires [in] May 2027.”
So, whether something like the Corvallis Gordon Hotel is in store for Albany, we may have a better idea by this time next year. (hh).
Uhhh, Albany is planning to eventually close some schools because the population of children is down. Those children we don’t have in Albany I assume have parents we don’t have, also. Where are the people that might be going to live in a huge downtown Albany apartment building? Our unhoused people don’t have money for rent. Most single people and couples without children in Albany don’t have money for fancy downtown apartments either. Just asking….
Let’s not cross bridges and burn them before we get to them! IF Obie exercises their options & follows through, they will have spent millions on their project before they make a dime. I’ll also suggest they will have done serious due diligence beforehand! In the end, the “market” will determine their success – or not. And it presumes Council will get out of their way!
Yes, Obie got a great deal (don’t-have-to-pay-property-taxes-for-years-and years-type deal!) The Council and CARA said “How high?” when Obie said “Jump.” Well, actually sounds like Ray K. is the Council and is the City of Albany. That’s not entirely true, but Ray sure as hell is their spokesperson, whether City signed him up as life-time spokesperson or not. We know Albany is out of money needed to run the city (such as fixing the streets), but Ray K. says “fingers crossed” that everything will work out ok. We know some schools are closing sooner than later because of lack of students, but, again, Ray K. says “fingers crossed.”
Who made that wonderful deal with Obie? Isn’t he the guy that used to be the CARA contact and now works for Obie? Were there any conversations between the two before he got the deal they wanted? All questions that deserve an investigation and an answer in the open before ANY negotiations are entered into.
At this point, there is NO “deal” with Obie! They simply have an option to purchase the properties and then go through that easy application process… It appears they are doing their necessary due-diligence before they pull the trigger. As far as your snarky comment about Seth, you’re implying some sort of backroom, underhanded “deal” for him. 100% pure BS! They liked his attitude, work ethic, and success he had here – and wanted “that” for their team. Why do you think they’re even considering Albany to invest millions of $$ in??
Snarky comments???? The facts are that he made the deal and then got a sweetheart deal with them, whether or not he did anything else is what an investigation is for
Ray, or has it been so long since you were a Republican that you have forgotten that?
How’s that for a snarky comment?
“How’s that for a snarky comment?”
Definitely down your rabbit hole for sure. Definitely not mine…
Californians retire and then move here with their inflated pensions. They sell their house for twice as much as an equivalent house in Albany costs and live relatively high on the hog compared to locals. Greedy City Council sees all those various City Fees and their mouth waters for more Californians.
Thank you for covering Corvallis new developments
Fingers crossed! Obie has done phenomenal work-projects in other communities… We should be so lucky for them to do same for Albany too!
Why would the city give a developer such a sweet deal … no property taxes? Where can the rest of us get a deal like that? In other communities, developers are responsible for road improvements, schools, etc. In Albany, we pay them to get a sweet deal.
Obie gets hammered before they come to albany…..easy big fellers….
It doesn’t really make sense to sell the parking lots. They just developed the Water Street area where they can have different community events that need parking and then they want to get rid of the parking for the events. Crazy. People in Corvallis are complaining about buildings not having parking requirement which would also happen in Albany downtown because of the parking district.
Interesting in that I don’t hear folks complaining about said “lack of parking” from major events aka River Rhythms, et al…