Here Comes Another Mega Student Housing Project

Franklin/Broadway is bustling with developments.

Last year, Café Yumm! announced it would close its Broadway location because the landlord wanted to demolish the building and build a multi-story mixed-use unit. In the meantime, another mega student housing project was announced a few blocks west of the restaurant.

On Sept. 24, Greystar and Star America Infrastructure Partners announced they acquired the 476 E. Broadway building and have plans to develop a $100 million, 357-unit student housing project called Union on Broadway. The project is expected to be complete in August 2022.

President of Star America, Christophe Petit, said in a statement that the project will be the company’s seventh investment in student housing projects.

Union on Broadway will be 12 stories tall with 608 beds and retail space on the ground floor. The building will also have a fitness center, study lounges on each floor, a computer lounge, computer rooms, an activity and game room, a media lounge, underground parking and bike parking, as well as outdoor amenities like a spa and grill area. It’s unclear from the press release how the venture will be profitable given the sheer amount of local student housing in Eugene for the University of Oregon and the effects of the COVID-19.

The project isn’t the first ambitious student project on Broadway/Franklin to be developed. Portland’s project^ proposed redeveloping the Joe Romania car dealership, making it a mixed-use development unit with a boutique hotel, office space, apartments and retail location, as well as parking spots, according to an Around the O post from January 2019. And there are other student housing buildings on that street: The 515, 959 Franklin, 2125 Franklin.

Yumm’s “On Broadway” location began looking for a new space for lease that would be suitable for relocating the restaurant. The company announced Sept. 24 that Café Yumm! On Broadway (which opened 13 years ago) will permanently close on Sept. 25, and the restaurant team and operators will reopen a few weeks later at a new location just four blocks south at 860 East 13th Avenue.

“The good news is that our Team Members are transferring to the new Café Yumm! near the University of Oregon. We will open in just a few weeks, and we are working with each employee to find positions for them. We are thankful to have experienced staff help us open in a beautiful new space, and the new restaurant is just a 7-minute walk from the former location,” Café Yumm! co-founder and president Mark Beauchamp said in a statement.

An earlier version incorrectly reported that the project was taking the place of Café Yumm!