Attracted by the influx of college students and office workers into downtown Eugene, a young immigrant from China plans to remodel a dilapidated and long-empty building in the heart of the city into a dim sum-style Chinese restaurant.

The eatery, to be called Spice �n Steam, would go into the vacant 5,200-square-foot building immediately west of The Kiva store on West 11th Avenue.

John Li, 23, said he and his family expect to spend as much as $500,000 repairing, remodeling and equipping the building, which is owned by Eugene investor Ada Lee.

Li said he has a long-term, as-is lease on the property.

Members of Li�s family immigrated to the United States many years ago, he said, and he came here from the Chinese city of Guangzhou when he was 15. His family had operated a restaurant in Guangzhou, he said. That city is about 60 miles north of Hong Kong and formerly was called Canton.

Li hopes the remodel will be done within the next few months.

Representing Li, Eugene architect Ken Nagao has submitted tentative plans to the city.

Li said dim sum � prepared in bite-size or individual portions and served in small steamer baskets or on small plates � should appeal to the downtown�s growing roster of student residents. The property is a block north of the Capstone student housing complex and a block south of the Lane Community College downtown housing complex. It�s across West 11th from the Musgrove Mortuary property where a national hotel chain, Widewaters Hotel, has tentatively proposed building a four-story hotel.

�It really is a great site,� Li said, adding that it has plenty of parking. Lee, in addition to owning the building, also owns an adjacent parking lot, according to county property records.

Lee did not return a call seeking comment.

The building was constructed in 1950 and has gone through remodels over the years for various tenants, county records show.

Nagao said it has been empty since about 2010, when remodeling work for a tenant never was completed.

The building is a frequent target of graffiti artists � a crew was painting over tags last week � and sports a roughly 30-foot-high decorative tower. Nagao said that under the city code, the tower is too high to be used for signage, so it probably will be decorated with artwork instead.

A 3,000-square-foot basement will be used for storage, he said.

Li said he expects to start with a staff of 10 to 20.

�We will be bringing in traditional Chinese food and combining knowledge of Chinese cuisine and Chinese culture, and melting it into American culture,� he said.

Lee has owned the building for decades, according to property records. Nagao, in a letter to the city, noted that Lee had operated Cathay�s Chinese Restaurant there in the 1950s and 1960s.

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