Ya Po Ah Terrace

Ya-Po-Ah Terrace (nickname The High Place[1]), is the tallest building in Eugene, Oregon at 212 feet (65 m). It is a controversial high-rise apartment building for senior citizens erected in 1968 at the foot of Skinner Butte.[2]

Ya-Po-Ah Terrace
General information
TypeApartments
Location350 Pearl Street, Eugene, Oregon, United States
Coordinates44°03′22″N 123°05′26″W
Completed1968
Opening1968
Height
Roof212 feet (65 m)
Technical details
Floor count18

History

"Ya Po Ah" means very high place in the language of the Kalapuya Indians who inhabited the Willamette Valley prior to the arrival of the Euro-American settlers. Ya Po Ah was the name used by the tribe for what is now called Skinner Butte, in honor of Eugene Franklin Skinner, the founder of Eugene City. He built his first log cabin on the western slopes of the butte to avoid the frequent floods of the Willamette River to the north, per the advice of the Kalapuya.

The building is an 18-story, 222-unit apartment building located on the southern slopes of Skinner Butte, overlooking downtown Eugene. Ya Po Ah also houses a performance hall, library, salon, and convenience stores. Constructed in 1968, public outcry over the building's size led to laws being passed soon after, limiting the height and stories of buildings in Eugene.[3][4] This was a measure taken to preserve, among other things, the views of nearby mountains. It remains the tallest building in Eugene.[5]

A major renovation project is under way in the summer of 2019.

Up until the end of the 1990s these building restrictions limited density and upward growth as the city's population grew, forcing urban sprawl outward, which was then limited by the current Urban growth boundary. Only within the last decade has Eugene begun to amend some of these measures to promote denser growth within the city's core.

References
  1. "Ya-Po-Ah Terrace statistics". Emporis.
  2. Style & Vernacular: A Guide to the Architecture of Lane County, Oregon. Western Imprints, The Press of the Oregon Historical Society: 1983. ISBN 0-87595-085-X
  3. Banta, Megan (February 14, 2023). "Taller buildings will soon rise near Skinner Butte. Here's what's coming". The Register Guard. The Skinner Butte Height Limitation Area limits buildings between the Willamette River, Sixth Avenue, Washington Street and Coburg Road to 500 feet above sea level or 40 feet tall, whichever is greater.
  4. "Site Development Standards". Retrieved February 24, 2023. Within the Skinner Butte Height Limitation Area, the maximum height of any building or structure is as follows: 1. Where the existing ground elevation is at, or below, 460 feet above mean sea level: a. Except for buildings and structures located entirely within the southern half blocks between 5th and 6th Avenues, the maximum height shall be to an elevation of 500 feet above mean sea level. b. For buildings and structures located entirely within the southern half blocks between 5th and 6th Avenues, the maximum height shall be to an elevation of 530 feet above mean sea level. 2. The area referred to in subsection (3)(a)(1) as the "southern half blocks between 5th and 6th Avenues" is that area located within the Skinner Butte Height Limitation Area and not more than 193 feet north of the centerline of 6th Avenue.
  5. Adams, Tom (April 5, 2019). "Renovation of Eugene's tallest building begins at the top". KVAL-TV. Construction work is well underway at the very top of Ya-Po-Ah Terrace, the tallest building in Eugene.
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