Lithia Motors, Inc., a Fortune 700 company with 6,830 employees, will reinvest in the region where it was founded more than 61 years ago with its new headquarters project. The company has already broken ground on one of several sites that are part of a larger urban renewal district.

Following an extensive national search for property that would accommodate Lithia’s expansion needs, the Medford-based company decided to keep its headquarters in the city that helped it grow to become the nation’s seventh-largest car retailer.

“Medford has always been our home and we wanted to be part of its future as a burgeoning metropolitan center,” said Mark DeBoer, Lithia’s vice president of construction and real estate. “We are very excited to get this project underway because it isn’t just about building a new headquarters; it is about revitalizing downtown Medford and helping to enhance the face of this city.”

The Commons, a six-block urban redevelopment project, will be the location for Lithia’s new headquarters along with several mixed-use buildings that will accommodate commercial office space, retail shops, restaurants and residences. The project is slated for completion by 2010 and will cost an estimated $150 million.

Once completed, Lithia’s new headquarters will house 550 employees and will seek Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. In addition to the mixed-use buildings, The Commons will also feature a parking garage and three new “park blocks” where downtown residents and visitors can enjoy nature and be more connected to the downtown core.

The urban renewal project was made possible by the combined efforts of Lithia Motors, Inc., the City of Medford and the Medford Urban Renewal Agency (MURA). MURA began by investing $14.1 million to develop the needed infrastructure, while Lithia and its development partners contributed more than $100 million to the project as a whole.

“This project will change the face of Medford,” said Bill Hoke, Medford’s deputy city manager and economic development coordinator. “For a city of fewer than 80,000 residents to have the seventh-largest auto dealer in the nation build its headquarters here speaks volumes for what this community has to offer.”

The Commons project will not be modeled after many traditional “island” developments in which everything is contained within a mini-ecosystem, but will be connected to the rest of downtown Medford. Employees at downtown businesses and students from Rogue Community College will have easy walking, biking and driving access to The Commons.

The downtown Medford location for Lithia’s new headquarters is located in one of Oregon’s 55 enterprise zones. This particular location is one of only 10 enterprise zones with special E-Commerce zone benefits that are designed to encourage growth of predominantly electronic-based businesses looking to expand in the revitalized downtown Medford area.

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