Eugene celebrates Oregon's first affordable housing project with childcare

At 1520 W. 13th Ave., Eugene families can now do something that has been almost impossible in this market: live in an affordable apartment and walk a child to care in the same complex. Ollie Court opened April 30 with 81 affordable homes in two four-story buildings and a 12,000-square-foot early learning center, turning a former Naval Reserve site near César E. Chávez Elementary School into a one-stop housing and childcare campus.

The project matters because it compresses two of the biggest expenses in a working family’s budget. Ollie Court’s one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments are aimed at households that have been priced out of much of Eugene’s rental market, while the Leap and Learn Center brings six classrooms managed by Head Start for residents and nonresidents. That combination gives parents a chance to keep housing stable and childcare close to home, instead of juggling separate waits, commutes and pickup deadlines across town.

Homes for Good, which developed the project, says it partnered with Head Start of Lane County and Early Childhood CARES to make that model work. Eugene city records have described Ollie Court as a low-barrier permanent supportive housing project with all units using Project Based Vouchers, and the city previously said the development would also include an on-site manager residence and supportive services. That puts the project squarely in the city’s broader effort to link housing stability with daily support for households that need it most.

The site’s opening also shows how long the project has been in motion. Ollie Court broke ground on Aug. 7, 2024, after earlier plans pointed to construction starting the following summer. Eugene city records later said completion was expected in December 2025, with lease-up beginning in early 2026. The grand opening arrived after a financing stack that included $11.3 million in Local Innovation and Fast Track funds, a $13 million low-income housing tax credit allocation, and $2 million in HOME funding.

House Speaker Julie Fahey called it “an innovative model that co-locates affordable housing with an early learning center so families can have both a safe, affordable place to live and access to affordable childcare.” That logic is easy to see on the ground in the Jefferson Westside neighborhood, where parents can now picture a morning routine without the extra drive between home, daycare and school.

The model arrives as Lane County continues to absorb punishing housing inflation. Homes for Good board chair Larissa Ennis has said local home prices climbed from about $245,000 in 2017 to $460,000 in 2024, while apartment rents rose about 40% over the same period. Ollie Court cannot solve that entire squeeze, but it gives Eugene a local example of what happens when housing and childcare are built together instead of forcing families to patch them together on their own.