Here Comes the Neighborhood

How the Crescent Village vision will transform northeast Eugene, and maybe even local ecological standards
By Aaron Ragan-Fore
(This story first appeared in Eugene Magazine.)

Eugene's eclectic neighborhoods offer a wide range of distinctive housing options, from the stately Victorians of College Hill, to the charming cottages of Whiteaker, to the midcentury ranch homes on the west side of town. The city’s diverse housing market is a testament to the different drumbeats that Eugeneans follow.

And when John Musumeci, vice-president of the family-owned Arlie & Company developers, looks at northeast Eugene specifically at the triangle formed by Coburg Road, Game Farm Road and the Beltline—he sees an opportunity to celebrate and enhance that spirit of non-conformity. Ironically, he wants to do it through the construction of a housing development.

Arlie & Company’s new 40-acre Crescent Village, situated just north of Costco on Crescent Avenue off Coburg Road, is doing its best to buck the cookie-cutter image of planned communities. Billing itself as “Eugene’s Urban Village,” the complex is treading the line between maintaining a distinct style and pace, and integrating with surrounding neighborhoods.

It took 31⁄2 years to refine this multifaceted vision from its initial inception. Musumeci had guessed it wouldn’t be completed until around 2012. But interest from Eugene businesses and prospective tenants has been keen, he says: “We’re kind of being pushed by the marketplace to go faster.” Musumeci now sees the project completed in three or four years.

The seed of the community, says Musumeci, was the result of one simple question: “Can you do a project that would make everyone happy?” Though Musumeci is referring more to the bankers who hold the district’s purse strings and to the neighborhood association that holds its heart strings, he might just as well expect an affirmative answer from his prospective tenants: When completed, the Crescent Village community’s 600 housing units will feature multiple housing options, including apartments, condominiums, tandem row houses, even free-standing, three-story townhomes.

Throughout the development, personal taste is paramount. The 102 apartments feature 36 different floor plans. The 64 townhomes and row houses on the development’s east side boast twelve model variations.

Read the rest of the story on Aaron's Web site!