When one door closes, another opens.
Or, as happened on West Seventh Avenue in Eugene, when a car dealership closes, an office space opens after months of remodeling work is completed.
The former Sheppard Motors car dealership at 2300 W. Seventh Avenue is being converted into an office center for Zip-O-Log Mills.
Here’s information about what’s happening to the old Sheppard Motors on West Seventh Avenue and how the change supports the expansion of the local, historic family-owned business.
What’s happening now to the former Sheppard Motors dealership on West Seventh Avenue?
Zip-O-Log Mills has been producing wood products since Al Hallstrom and George Campbell started their business in Cobourg in 1944. More than 80 years later, Al’s great-granddaughter KayCee Hallstrom serves as vice president, leading the company’s largest expansion.
Zip-O-Log Mills is undergoing a multi-phase expansion to increase plant capacity, increase efficiency, reduce labor challenges and expand planning and sorting capabilities at the company’s Goshen facility.
The former Sheppard Motors building at 2300 West 7th Avenue in Eugene (photo taken on February 9, 2026) is undergoing remodeling. New tenant Zip-O-Log Mills plans to move its corporate offices there this summer.
Part of this expansion includes the company moving into larger offices.
The former Sheppard Motors site occupies nearly 2.5 acres, according to Lane County property records. The space is less than a quarter mile from Zip-O-Log Mills’ current location at 2235 W. Sixth Ave. in Eugene, and the headquarters consists of a maze of hallways and small offices. Zip-O-Log Mills has been operating at its current location since 1951.
The former Sheppard Motors factory was built in 1965 and includes a showroom, offices, parts department, body shop, service and repair shop, paint booth and wash area.
In order to convert the space into offices for Zip-O-Log Mills, an underground storage tank had to be decommissioned. Partial demolition was carried out to make room for the expansion.
KayCee Hallstrom, vice president of Zip-O-Log Mills, said the current building features seven enclosed offices (one of which is a converted closet she shares with her sister), four cubicles and a break room. She said the plan is to convert the current office building into a restaurant.
“A building is just a place,” Holstrom said. “It’s like, hey, no one is expecting glamor, but times are changing, not only because we’re growing as a company and there’s no room, but we need to move forward and make it some kind of flagship.”
Hallstrom said the cost of acquiring the former Sheppard building was about $8 million and the cost of renovations was about $10 million.
The renovations are expected to be completed in October or November. Hallstrom said the project is behind schedule, but Zip-O-Log employees are excited to move in once the project is complete.
“It’s been a dream for my sister and I to be able to collaborate to this degree, and it’s awesome to finally see it,” Hallstrom said. “All these things in the planning have happened but nothing has changed in the building, so it’s nice to finally see something happening.”
Hannarose McGuinness is the Register-Guard’s growth and development reporter. Seeing a development project in Lane County will make you wonder, “What is that?” Send an inquiry to hmcguinness@registerguard.com.
This article originally appeared in Register-Guard: What’s taking over the former Sheppard Motors building?