Santa Rosa bike bridge could cost $20 million
By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The projected costs of a pedestrian and bicycle bridge spanning Highway 101 between Santa Rosa Junior College and Coddingtown mall have soared to as much as $20 million, more than double original estimates.

The new projections may be a significant factor in the Santa Rosa City Council’s decision Tuesday night about whether to move forward with the project, long sought by the city’s cycling community.

http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/1672/bikebridge.jpg
A model of the proposed bicycle and pedestrian bridge over Highway 101

Councilman Gary Wysocky, an avid cyclist, said the project would be an important way to link the college, a key retail shopping area, and the likely future location of the northern Santa Rosa SMART rail station.

“A pedestrian and bicycle bridge connecting to a light rail station — you show me a greener project in America,” Wysocky said.

In 2009, when the city first held community meetings on the project, initial estimates ranged from $5 million to $9 million. The city then commissioned a just-completed feasibility study that put the numbers between $10 million and $14 million.

But a city staff report before the council Tuesday notes that the “full cost to deliver a complete bridge project could be closer to $20 million.”

That’s due to a number of “unknown costs” that could be associated with getting people to and from the bridge, such as bike and walking paths and signs, and higher potential construction costs if funding challenges delay the project further, according to the report.....

source and full article: http://www.watchsonomacounty.com/2010/11/cities/santa-rosa-bike-bridge-could-cost-20-million/

Santa Rosa bike bridge in peril after emotional vote

By Kevin McCallum
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Tuesday, November 30, 2010 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, November 30, 2010 at 11:42 p.m.

The proposed bicycle and pedestrian bridge over Highway 101 may become the first project blown away by the changing political winds in Santa Rosa following a dramatic City Council meeting that put the plan in peril.

The possibility of losing a project dear to cycling advocates outraged Mayor Susan Gorin, who denounced her colleagues as shortsighted, and reduced Councilwoman Veronica Jacobi to tears.

“It’s painful that this wonderful project’s in jeopardy and I can’t do anything about it,” said Jacobi, who lost her reelection bid and was overcome with emotion Tuesday night as she read a series of resolutions aimed at pushing the planning process forward.

Technically, several measures backing the proposed span and authorizing additional studies passed on 5-2 votes Tuesday, which should have been cause for its advocates to celebrate. Councilmembers Jane Bender and Ernesto Olivares, who is likely to become the city’s next mayor, voted against it, citing concerns about the cost and timing.

But Councilman John Sawyer, who shared the concerns of Bender and Olivares, cast a vote for the project — and said he was only voting “yes” for the sole purpose of reconsidering his vote at next week’s meeting, when new council members take office.

By then, Sawyer and Olivares will have two new allies on the council, Jake Ours and Scott Bartley, and if the item was revisited, the group would have the votes to halt the proposed bicycle and pedestrian bridge....

source and full article: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20101130/ARTICLES/101139947/1350?Title=Santa-Rosa-bike-bridge-in-peril-after-emotional-vote

SMART planners select Guerneville Road site

By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Commute rail planners settled on a new site for a northern Santa Rosa station that is closer to housing, government, schools and shopping and cheaper by $3 million than one in a previous plan.

The location on Guerneville Road east of the railroad tracks is about half a mile from Coddingtown Mall.

It will cost the rail agency $12.2 million to build the station and acquire needed property on Guerneville Road where two stores are located, Sonoma Kitchen & Bath and Kelly-Moore paints.

The location is a half mile north of the initial site near Jennings Avenue, which was a former railroad junction called a “wye” and was heavily contaminated. That site would have cost $3 million more, not counting possible environmental cleanup.

“This is the best site for the station,” said Debora Fudge, Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit chairwoman, on Wednesday. “It is better for buses and it gets us away from the contamination of the wye site.”

http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/1906/smartcoddingtownstation.jpg (http://img809.imageshack.us/i/smartcoddingtownstation.jpg/)
A map showing the two proposed locations of a SMART station in northern Santa Rosa

SMART planning manager John Nemeth said SMART could scale back the Guerneville station by more than half, saving $6.7 million, by acquiring just the Kitchen & Bath store and providing less parking in a first phase.

The savings could help SMART build a longer line for a first phase of construction, scheduled to be open in 2014.

SMART’s board on Nov. 6 adopted a controversial plan to begin service from Railroad Square in Santa Rosa to the Civic Center in San Rafael, instead of the 70-mile line from Cloverdale to Larkspur that had been envisioned.

The truncated line is necessitated by a $350 million gap in what district’s sales tax, depressed by the economy, can raise and what the 70-mile line is estimated to cost.

However, SMART officials hope to go out to bid early next year to take advantage of the economic downturn’s affect on construction, which has caused bids on highway and other public works projects to come in 20 to 30 percent below estimates.

The hope is lower bids could allow SMART to open an initial line that goes to Guerneville Road or Windsor to the north and downtown San Rafael to the south.

“In the near term, we would continue to do station design work, but not buy property until a formal decision to extend the line,” Nemeth said.

The cost of extending the line 2.5 miles from Railroad Square to the Guerneville Road site is estimated to cost $24 million, half of which is for the station.

The Guerneville Road site is preferable because it is closer to the Sonoma County Administration Center, Santa Rosa Junior College, Coddingtown Mall, bus service, businesses and homes than the Jennings site, according to Nemeth’s report.

Codding Enterprises, which co-owns Coddingtown Mall with Simon Properties, paid $40,000 for the study.

The study does not take into account proximity to a bicycle and pedestrian bridge Santa Rosa was planning to build over Highway 101 from near Coddingtown to the Santa Rosa Junior College.

The new station site is slightly farther away from the proposed bridge, which is now mired in controversy at the Santa Rosa City Council.

SMART’s real estate committee Wednesday approved amending the environmental impact report for the Guerneville Road site. It will go to the full board Dec. 15.

source: http://www.watchsonomacounty.com/2010/12/featured-articles/smart-planners-select-guerneville-road-site/

AT&T building developer gets access through transit mall

By Kevin McCallum
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at 11:35 p.m.

The Santa Rosa City Council gave a tentative green light to a developer who wants future residents of his downtown high-rise to be able to drive on a street now restricted to bus traffic.

On a 6-0 vote, the council instructed city staff to continue working with Hugh Futrell to find a way that future residents of Museum on the Square project will be able to safely access the building through the city transit mall on Second Street.

Futrell said the proposal will increase the leasable space by avoiding putting a driveway through the ground floor of the building.

City traffic officials had objected to Futrell's request, citing the possible interference with city buses and safety concerns for pedestrians.

But after hearing a presentation from an independent traffic engineer who said it could be done safely, council members said they thought the project was important enough to give it a try.

“There's lot of way to make this thing work,” Councilman Scott Bartley said.

Museum on the Square is a city redevelopment project that proposes to transform the monolithic former AT&T building downtown into a 10-story glass tower with a museum and restaurant on the first floor and office and residential units above.

The project promises to create 261 short-term construction jobs, 523 long-term jobs and $68 million in annual economic activity.

“I think it's important that we start working these things through and try to get this project moving forward,” Mayor Ernesto Olivares said.


http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20101214/ARTICLES/101219737/1350?Title=AT-T-building-developer-gets-access-through-transit-mall

Santa Rosa eyes new downtown courthouse

By Kevin McCallum
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

It's a little late in the game, but Santa Rosa is still hoping the state can be convinced to build a new $180 million criminal courthouse downtown.

State judicial officials last year rejected the idea of constructing the courthouse on the site of the downtown post office on Second Street after concluding it couldn't be done quickly enough.

That left only one other site under active consideration, a spot beside the existing Hall of Justice in the Sonoma County administration complex.

But Santa Rosa City Manager Kathy Millison wants to make sure the city has fully explored whether a downtown site could meet the state's needs. She set up a three-member City Council subcommittee last week to look into the issue.

“For us, it's a long shot, but I really didn't want to pass up the opportunity if there was any interest,” Millison said.

Council members Jake Ours, John Sawyer and Susan Gorin agreed to sit on the committee.

After checking with state officials about the progress of negotiations with the county, Millison said she learned the state still was interested in entertaining a downtown proposal, if one were made quickly.

The state has been working with the county for more than a year and expects to make a decision on a site soon.

“The window is slightly open for someone to give us a proposal that we cannot refuse,” said Jose Guillen, executive officer for Sonoma County Superior Court.

The existing Hall of Justice was built in 1966 two miles north of downtown after the old courthouse in the heart of the city was deemed seismically unsafe. A 2008 state feasibility report described the current courthouse as crowded and unsafe.

The state has been negotiating with the county over the possible sale of a 4.6-acre site beside the existing courthouse and jail where it would construct a six-story criminal courthouse housing 15 courtrooms.

The proximity to the jail, district attorney's office, and other public services makes the location the logical choice for the new courthouse, said Jose Obregon, Sonoma County's general services manager. The court doesn't stand alone, but rather is “one component of a multicomponent system,” he said.

“I feel confident that the state and the county are moving in the direction of making the new courthouse a reality here,” Obregon said. He said state officials told him they consider the county site the “preferred” site.

But the negotiations have dragged on longer than anyone expected, and parking has been “one of the issues that we've been struggling with in terms of the county site,” said court spokeswoman Teresa Ruano.

A 173,000-square-foot courthouse will require 450 parking spaces, according to the 2008 report. Determining whether the downtown has a location that could meet such requirements will be the subcommittee's charge, Millison said.

The city owns two parking lots on the east side of Highway 101 that might fit the bill, including a 1.3-acre lot between the library and the post office, known as the White House site. A second possibility is a lot at Ross and B streets across from Macy's, Millison said.

The size of the lots will be a key issue. An ideal site, according to the 2008 study, would be 6.5 acres, one acre for the building and five for parking.

Since the state rejected the post office site, it has identified another potential site on North Point Parkway, a business park in the southwest part of the city, Guillen said.

Some feel having the courthouse downtown would provide a host of benefits for the city's civic and cultural life.

Bankruptcy attorney Richard Koman noted that most of the city's attorneys work downtown, and going out to the county center isn't a great experience for them. The current courthouse is a “horrible Soviet-style hulk,” parking is “a mess,” and there are few services there, he said.

“There isn't any vibrancy at all at the county center,” Koman said.

For a city split by a highway and mall and struggling to keep its downtown vital, a new courthouse can only help, he said.

“I just think a courthouse and everything that happens around that could be an anchor for revitalization downtown,” Koman said.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110116/articles/110119597&tc=yahoo

Race to redevelop Roseland

By MARTIN ESPINOZA & Kevin McCallum
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Sonoma County is on the verge of owning a Roseland eyesore that redevelopment officials hope to transform into a neighborhood center that would become the pride of southwest Santa Rosa.

But an ominous cloud has settled over the future of the dilapidated Albertsons shopping center on Sebastopol Avenue.

As part of the state's budget proposal, Gov. Jerry Brown has threatened to effectively end the six-decade era of subsidized redevelopment.

Cities around the state are scrambling to understand the implications of the governor's move and react accordingly. Some are looking to spend the money they have as quickly as possible.

On Feb. 28, escrow closes on a portion of the old Albertsons center, which the county redevelopment agency is prepared to purchase for up to $3.75 million.

“Is it better to let the $3.7 million go back to the state of California?” said John Haig, redevelopment manager for the county Community Development Commission.

“I think the best think to do is to purchase the property and prepare for development ... We don't want to take our foot off the gas pedal for this important project.”

Santa Rosa City Manager Kathy Millison told the city council last week that she and others were looking into the matter with an eye toward whether some projects could be advanced to a stage where the state would be unable to “pull the carpet out from under” them.

“It's very serious and could affect us in many different ways,” Santa Rosa City Councilman Jake Ours said.

The governor is forbidding redevelopment agencies across the state from incurring new debt, crippling future projects.

The proposed Roseland Village would transform the vacant Albertsons grocery store and surrounding buildings into a mixed-use neighborhood center with affordable housing, commercial retail and a plaza.

The site is within the Roseland Redevelopment Project, one of three redevelopment areas in the unincorporated county. The others are The Springs, near Sonoma, and the Russian River.

The county redevelopment agency already has spent “hundreds of thousands of dollars” on preliminary planning and testing for contaminants near the former bowling alley, the main parking lot, a former dry cleaning business and beneath the grocery store's concrete slab, Haig said.

The agency has an exclusive negotiating agreement with the owner of the property, the Baugh Family of Southern California.

Even before the governor's budget proposal was outlined, the agency had been trying to expedite Roseland Village, as well as Highway 12 improvements in the Springs, he said.

In Sonoma County, where all nine cities and the county operate such agencies, redevelopment funds have been used to rebuild Old Courthouse Square following the 1969 earthquake, for sewer line upgrades and affordable housing in Rohnert Park and Highway 12 improvements in Sonoma.

A redevelopment area allows a city or county to use increased property tax revenue generated within the area to finance improvements.

Under normal circumstances when property values rise, all taxing agencies receive a proportionate share of the revenue. Under redevelopment, nearly all of the increase goes to the redevelopment agency.

Dave Gouin, Santa Rosa's director of economic development and housing, said he and his staff are reviewing various projects to see if there are ways the agency can “move faster to get into contract so we can keep that resource here in the community rather than turn it in to the state.”

The governor's proposed budget calls on redevelopment agencies to “cease the creation of new obligations,” but the governor's budget isn't passed yet, Gouin said.

If there are budgeted projects like graffiti abatement or improving traffic circulation around Coddingtown that can progress to the contract stage, that may prevent the state from grabbing the money, Gouin said.

How long the agencies will have is unclear. Gouin said he's heard talk of the legislature passing a law preventing new obligations as early as next month.

In his budget summary, Gov. Brown says redevelopment agencies have “gradually shifted property tax away from schools, counties, special districts, and city general purposes.”

The summary argues that some redevelopment agencies have sat on funds intended for affordable housing, and that the agencies often subsidize private development that “would have occurred even if the (redevelopment agencies) were never established.”

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110115/ARTICLES/110119602/0/sports0908

City rushes $2.2M redevelopment for Coddingtown
Santa Rosa races to fund upgrade for aging mall before money dries up

By Kevin McCallum
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Santa Rosa's redevelopment agency is racing to approve a $2.2 million low-interest loan to the nation's largest mall owner, Simon Property Group, in hopes of boosting the fortunes of the aging Coddingtown mall.

City staffers, who have been working on the deal with mall representatives for about two months, accelerated the loan approval in an effort to spend the money before Gov. Jerry Brown diverts it to bail out the cash-strapped state, said David Gouin, the city's director of economic development and housing.

The goal of the loan is to jumpstart upgrades needed to draw new tenants to the struggling 1960s era mall, including a brewery and restaurant interested in opening in the former Narsi's Hofbrau space. It would also give the mall's corporate owners an incentive to boost their own investment in the property.

“We're trying to stimulate the reuse of an underutilized retail asset in a recessionary economy,” Gouin said.

The proposal may anger redevelopment critics who for years have questioned whether taxpayers should make loans to Fortune 500 corporations. The Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group had a total market value of $56 billion in 2009, and earned profits of $309 million.

The company owns the downtown Santa Rosa Plaza and Petaluma Outlets, and bought a 50 percent stake in Coddingtown in 2005. Simon has made no secret of its interest in tapping public dollars raised from the sprawling Gateways redevelopment district, which covers 1,335 acres of the city's urban areas, including Coddingtown....

full article: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110123/ARTICLES/110129778/1350?Title=City-rushes-2-2M-Coddingtown-redevelopment

It's cool they are planning on opening a BJ's. Good beer, decent food, good atmosphere. :cheers:

Coddingtown gets $2.2M to 'regain the glory'
Santa Rosa redevelopment money will go for upgrades to attract tenants

By Kevin McCallum
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Santa Rosa's development agency agreed Monday to give the owners of Coddingtown mall a $2.2 million low-interest loan to help them pay for utility upgrades needed to attract new tenants.

Codding Enterprises CEO Brad Baker told the agency it wasn't that long ago that the mall was an economic powerhouse with 100 percent occupancy and shoppers from around the region. Today, despite the arrival of a new Whole Foods Market, the mall struggles with a 40 percent vacancy rate, he said.

“We're trying to become that regional spot again and regain some of that glory that we once enjoyed,” Baker told the redevelopment agency board.

Baker said his firm, and its partner Simon Property Group, would use the money to attract the kind of high-volume tenants that will not only boost the mall's fortunes but the city's revenues through higher sales taxes.

Getting such a loan from a bank is challenging, Baker said, because many of the upgrades the 1960's era mall needs – including new sewer, water and electrical upgrades needed by high-volume tenants – involve the mall's core utility capacity, costs that can't be recouped through individual tenant leases.

Chairman Bill Arnone and others praised the loan as “creative” and serving the precise function redevelopment agencies are supposed to, namely filling a funding gap needed to get a project off the ground.

Board member Charles Evans said that since Gov. Jerry Brown has taken aim at redevelopment agencies, the media has stressed the wealth of some corporate recipients of redevelopment dollars.

“But part of the purpose here is to get them to spend their money on you, and this is how you go about it,” Evans said.

Alice Miller, redevelopment specialist for the city, explained that in exchange for the 12-year, 3 percent loan, the city would get an easement allowing it to expand a bus stop on Range Avenue, eliminating a dangerous arrangement that requires busses to turn around in a parking lot.

The loan's repayment is structured to allow some of the principal and interest to be repaid through an anticipated increase in property tax.

The theory is that the loan will create a strong incentive for the owners to aggressively upgrade and find new tenants for the mall.

“We wanted to provide them the incentive. The more they put in, the more the (loan) obligation goes down,” said Tim Kelly, president of the consulting firm Keyser Marston Associates.

It's unclear just how much Codding and Simon plan to invest. Baker said plans to bring in a single new eatery, BJ's Brewhouse Restaurant, are likely to cost $2.2 million in upgrades alone.

He said he would eventually like to see more than a dozen new retailers at the mall.

Some board members urged caution.

The note is to be secured with a personal guarantee, but board member Phil Olsen wondered if that was sufficient security. There are news reports all the time about such malls not making it, he said.

“It may be chump change to Simon, but $2.2 million is a lot of money to this redevelopment agency, and there ought to be some kind of security in that note,” Olsen said.

Baker acknowledged that the agency's loan would be in second position behind a $27 million loan to Bank of America, but assured the board that sufficient equity exists. He noted that the loan payoff assumed the mall's value at $65 million.

“We think this could lay the groundwork of the redevelopment of that whole area,” Baker said.

The loan is subject to confirmation by the Santa Rosa City Council that it meets the goals of the Gateways redevelopment district, said David Gouin, the city's economic development director.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110125/ARTICLES/110129704/1350?Title=Coddingtown-gets-2-2M-to-regain-the-glory-

Santa Rosa gets ready for a makeover

By Kevin McCallum
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The large orange planter pots that line downtown Santa Rosa sidewalks will be removed under a makeover plan approved by the city.

Santa Rosa Mayor Ernesto Olivares praised the plan to remove many planters, install bollards and establish consistent design themes for everything from street lights and garbage cans to benches and bike racks.

“I think this is an exciting plan. It’s almost like a complete makeover for the entire Railroad Square and downtown area,” Olivares said.

The idea is to update the urban streetscape to better reflect the downtown today, which has more restaurants and bars and pedestrian activity than it has in the past, said Raissa De La Rosa, an economic development specialist for the city....

full article: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110130/ARTICLES/110139985/1350?Title=Santa-Rosa-gets-ready-for-a-makeover

Interesting idea and the pictures really look great and i know the project is amazing.

sonoma county was just listed one of the top ten best places to live on the west coast by sunset magazine!


Sonoma County: Dine 5-star. Live in Sonoma County and you may start to take things for granted. You might think rack of lamb is always grilled on an authentic Argentine parrilla, as it is at Francis Ford Coppola's winery in Geyserville. That any class called "The Art of Wood-Fired Cooking" would naturally be taught by Andrea Mugnaini, an authority on Old World open-hearth ovens (her oven company has a Healdsburg cooking school). That every pizza joint offers house-cured lardo as a topping (Diavola Pizzeria in Geyserville). That your Sazerac should be poured by the guy who literally wrote the book on artisanal cocktails (Scott Beattie at Healdsburg's Spoonbar). Which is to say, you just might get a little spoiled. Runners-up: Napa County; Vancouver, B.C.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/g/a/2011/02/17/10_best_West_Coast_cities.DTL&object=%2Fc%2Fpictures%2F2011%2F02%2F15%2Fba-best_towns_so_0502986916.jpg

Big dreams for Sonoma County equestrian center

By BRETT WILKISON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Horse enthusiasts with big dreams are moving forward with their idea to build a $200 million everything-under-the-sun equestrian event center on ranch land in southern Sonoma County.

The sprawling project, on 250 acres of rolling pasture on a 1,200-acre spread west of Cotati, would be a world-class venue intended to attract national and international competitions, supporters say.

The grandness of the vision is matched by the hurdles that must be overcome, not the least of which are financial, environmental and governmental. Yet the promoters seem undeterred.

It would be an economic engine for the area and would restore Sonoma County to what they say is its rightful place at the center of the horse world. Twice in the past two centuries the county has held that honor, they said, but access to local venues and support for equestrian sports has withered in recent decades.

“Everything ‘horse' starts here,” said Karl Bastian, a leading promoter and past president of the Sonoma County Horse Council. Studies have shown that the horse industry, including boarding, training and other business, has been one of the county's top farm sectors, he said. “It's going to happen again.”

Versions of the idea have been passed around in horse circles for years. The latest package has drawn interest from a group of ranching families whose properties occupy much of the land between Meacham and Roblar roads north of the county's central landfill.

The list of facilities envisioned for that land is lofty.

Up to 17 outdoor show arenas, polo fields, an exercise track, museum, restaurants, shops, a conference and equine surgical center and campgrounds would occupy the developed area. It would be anchored by a “coliseum,” a covered stadium of still undetermined size.

The campus would support up to 80 full-time jobs and generate between $65 million and $250 million annually in business and taxes for the county, supporters said. They based those numbers on figures associated with other equestrian centers such as the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, which is about the same size...

Full Article: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110314/ARTICLES/110319776

let's see if they can raise the money...

Santa Rosa Plaza wants to charge for parking

By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 3:25 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 3:25 p.m.

After nearly 30 years providing free parking, the Santa Rosa Plaza mall wants people to pay for the privilege.

The mall owner, Simon Property Group, has asked the city to allow it to begin charging for parking as a way to free up more spaces for its shoppers.

The mall estimates that 15 to 20 percent of its 3,000 parking spaces are filled by 9 a.m. on weekdays by employees of other downtown businesses taking advantage of the free parking. Many occupy prime first-floor parking spaces all day, said mall manager Laura Kozup...

full article: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110317/ARTICLES/110319526/1350?Title=Santa-Rosa-Plaza-wants-to-charge-for-parking

Personally I think that the mall has too much parking. There have always been plenty of spaces open, just not on the first floor. I don't have a problem with them charging for parking, but they should get rid of at least one garage. The northernmost garage should be given up for redevelopment; leaving only the garages behind the mall left. That garage is always empty anyways, and it fronts B street. Removing the garage would also allow the expansion of 6th street to make it a full two lane road connecting downtown to railroad square.

^ for that matter, let's just tear it all down and start over shall we? ;)

seriously though i'm ok with charging as long as the pricing is reasonable

^^ Well yeah...that would work too. In other mall news...

Coddingtown Mall previews new look

By CATHY BUSSEWITZ
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Friday, March 18, 2011 at 3:50 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, March 18, 2011 at 3:50 p.m.

In fashion, it's all about image. And Coddingtown Mall in Santa Rosa is working on its makeover.

The mall's plans, which will need approval by the city, include opening a brewhouse, building two new entryways and renovating the historic Coddingtown sign with new paint and more efficient lighting.

BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse, a chain based in Huntington Beach, is negotiating the terms of a lease with the mall, said Lois Codding, vice president of Codding Enterprises. If finalized, the restaurant will open in 2012 on the mall's north side, she said.

“We're very close, but it's not finalized yet,” Codding said. “They've had an interest in Santa Rosa for a while now.”

Plans are also in the works to demolish and rebuild the mall's main entrance facing Guerneville Road and to build a taller entryway facade on the east side of the complex facing Highway 101.

Representatives of the mall's owners, Codding Enterprises and Simon Property Group, presented outlines of the makeover plan Thursday to the city's Design Review Board, which will review more detailed plans later before approving the project.

“I think the board's excited about what they're seeing,” said Ken MacNab, chairman of the panel. “It's a mall that needs to be updated, and I think everyone including Coddingtown and Simon sees that, and I think they're making the right moves.”

Members of the board asked Simon representatives to bring more information about how the proposed changes would work together for a cohesive new look for the mall.

Laura Kozup, area mall manager for Simon, said in an interview that the mall is planning a kick-off event in mid-April and aims to complete the renovations by mid-November.

“We're still in the early stages,” Kozup said. “We have a lot of work to do.”

Kozup said the mall is planning to restore the wooden rafter beams, upgrade restrooms and build a play area for children. Kozup said many retailers have expressed interest in filling the empty spaces in the mall, but she said it was too early to discuss details.

Ben Stone, executive director of the county Economic Development Board, said the world has changed since Coddingtown was built in the early 1960s, with the arrival of big-box stores, the growth of the region's population and the popularity of online and catalog shopping.

“What people are looking for now in retail, I think, is experience,” Stone said.

Jennifer Harrison, 45, was on her way to Shutterbug in Coddingtown Mall on Thursday. She said she'd love to see a Nordstrom's, Cheesecake Factory or Pottery Barn open in the mall.

“I know they're always talking about bringing them here, but it hasn't come to fruition,” she said.

Joni Silver, 80, was drawn on Thursday to shop at the Hallmark Store and Whole Foods.

“It's really sad in here, all the empty stores,” Silver said. “And I really love this mall.”

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110318/BUSINESS/110319445/1350?Title=Coddingtown-previews-new-look

$12 million boost given to SSU’s Green Music Center

By GUY KOVNER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Philanthropists Joan and Sandy Weill are donating $12 million to Sonoma State University for completion of the Green Music Center, the university announced Tuesday.

Described as the largest single cash gift in SSU’s history, the donation ensures a fall 2012 opening of the center, with its 1,400-seat Tanglewood-style concert hall named after the Weills...

...The Weills’ gift will make possible completion of the concert hall, which held its first public event in October, as well as two other performance venues.

The south end of Weill Hall features a back wall that can be opened to a terraced lawn, accommodating an additional 3,000 guests.

Weill Commons, an area directly east of the main concert hall, will become a 10,000-seat amphitheater for large outdoor events.

The Weills’ $12 million gift includes $4 million for completion of the 14,000-square-foot concert hall, which will be home to the Santa Rosa Symphony, $4 million for landscaping the outdoor facilities and another $4 million for the landscaping in the form of a challenge grant to be matched by other donors....

Full Article: http://rohnertpark.towns.pressdemocrat.com/2011/03/news/12-million-boost-to-ssus-green-music-center/

This is the first that I have heard of the outdoor amphitheater. It would be really cool if they were planning on making it into a large concert venue.

Full Article: http://rohnertpark.towns.pressdemocrat.com/2011/03/news/12-million-boost-to-ssus-green-music-center/

This is the first that I have heard of the outdoor amphitheater. It would be really cool if they were planning on making it into a large concert venue.

the building has large 'shed' doors that open to a landscaped area where people can sit. i'm pretty sure that's what they mean by 'amphitheater':

"the modular, lower rear wall opens fully, extending the concert hall experience to the outdoor audience."

source (pg 6): http://www.flipdocs.com/scripts/showbook.aspx?ID=10003415_480514

the last page has a good picture.

^^ Yeah, the article mentions that. "The south end of Weill Hall features a back wall that can be opened to a terraced lawn, accommodating an additional 3,000 guests" but it also says, "Weill Commons, an area directly east of the main concert hall, will become a 10,000-seat amphitheater for large outdoor events." The picture at the end of your link shows the terraced lawn, but the amphitheater is supposedly in the area east of this which you can see below is a large open area.

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/3420/gmcsiteplan1.jpg (http://img827.imageshack.us/i/gmcsiteplan1.jpg/)

http://princesshaiku.blogspot.com/2007/03/welcome-to-green-music-center-at-sonoma.html

well, i haven't heard of any amphitheater 'structure'. if it's going to fit 10000 people then i have a feeling it's just going to be the sloped lawn in the site plan you posted. there is no way that the project can be this far along and for them not to have planned a structure that will fit 10000 people.

besides, financially there are still many other priorities:

"The 4,500-square foot Schroeder recital hall, which is $6 million short of completion, is not included in the Weills’ gift."

It would be nice if this eventually leads to the opening up of the mall. I was down in Santa Monica a couple weeks ago where they recently improved the Santa Monica Place mall. They converted it from enclosed to open-air which greatly increased connectivity.

Mall, city close to deal on parking fees

By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Tuesday, April 12, 2011 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, April 12, 2011 at 7:40 a.m.

Santa Rosa officials have struck a tentative deal allowing Santa Rosa Plaza to begin charging for parking in exchange for a study of ways to improve access through the downtown mall.

The city has for weeks been negotiating with the mall's owner, Simon Property Group, over the company's request to begin charging people to park in its five garages, the last supply of free parking downtown.

Now the two sides have reached an agreement expected to head to the City Council for its review April 19.

Under the deal, the city would grant the mall's request if it completes by Sept. 1 a “feasibility study” of changes to the mall that “increase connectivity between downtown Santa Rosa at Fourth Street and Railroad Square.”

This would include an analysis of ways to improve pedestrian, bicycle and automobile traffic between the east and west sides of the mall. Simon would be required to include drawings and cost estimates for various options, according to documents outlining the scope of the study...

full article: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110412/ARTICLES/110419912/1350?Title=Mall-city-close-to-deal-on-parking-fees

There is now a webcam for the new Sutter Medical Center construction at

http://oxblue.com/pro/open/unger/santarosa

Hospital construction ready to gear up near Wells Fargo Center

By MARTIN ESPINOZA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 3:55 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 3:55 p.m.

That big mound of grassy earth just north of the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts is about to be moved to a new location, kicking off the next phase of construction of the new Sutter Medical Center.

After two years of design and planning — and several months of quiet soil compression — the familiar sites, sounds and annoyances of heavy construction are about to begin at Highway 101 and Mark West Springs Road in north Santa Rosa.

“Between the dry seasons of 2011 and 2012, all off-site and on-site roadwork and utility work will get done,” said Tom Minard, Sutter’s senior project manager of hospital construction.

The site eventually will give way to an 183,000-square-foot hospital with 82 licensed beds and a 24-station “universal care unit” that hospital officials said will expand the facility’s overnight bed capacity to 116 beds.

The project is the county’s first hospital in more than two decades and the most expensive construction endeavor since the $312 million Warm Springs Dam was completed in 1983.

Mike Purvis, the medical center’s chief administrative officer, said the project will give the North Coast a much-needed economic shot in the arm, creating an estimated 1,500 jobs during the planning, design and construction period.

“We’ve allocated over $3 million just for local testing and inspection to ensure the facility meets all codes,” Purvis said. “Another $30 million will be invested on equipment and furniture, creating jobs for local companies that manufacture and install this equipment.”

By June 1, a new dirt platform will rise where the hospital’s east wing and central utility plant will be located. The dirt compression, a 90-day process called surcharge, eliminates the need for noisy pile driving.

The new surcharge platform cannot be formed until the two sewage treatment ponds that served the arts center are drained and filled. Actually, the ponds were drained and dredged by January. But the heavy winter rains filled them up and elevated the surrounding water table.

As part of the project, Sutter has connected the Wells Fargo Center to the 12-inch sewer line on Old Redwood Highway, which is part of the Sonoma County Water Agency’s sewer system.

Major work set to begin in May includes:

-- On-site roadwork that will widen the site’s main entrance from Mark West Springs Road, from three lanes to five. The T-intersection at the entrance will get traffic signals and added entrance driveway lanes to improve vehicle flows into and out of the arts center.

-- Off-site road improvements which will include widening Mark West Springs Road from two to four lanes, with dedicated left and right hand turns into the main entrance, as well as new bus stops near the T-intersection,

-- All above-ground utilities along Mark West Springs Road, including PG&E, AT&T and Comcast will be put underground along the south side of the roadway.

-- The Highway 101 off-ramp will be widened to include two right-hand turn lanes and an 8-foot shoulder that vehicles can use in case of an ambulance emergency.

Next summer, the intersection at Mark West Springs Road and Old Redwood Highway will undergo major changes, with new traffic signals and lights, more turn lanes, and a system of connecting sidewalks that will provide hospital staff, local residents and students safe walking access to the nearby Larkfield Shopping Center.

Construction plans also call for a continuous stretch of sidewalk on the east side of Old Redwood Highway, from the shopping center to Mark West Springs Road. On- and off-site roadwork is expected to take two years.

The actual steel-frame hospital structure will begin to go up in January. The hospital is scheduled to open two years later.



http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110420/ARTICLES/110429944/1350?Title=Hospital-construction-ready-to-gear-up-near-Wells-Fargo-Center

Renovation starts at Coddingtown

By CATHY BUSSEWITZ
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Thursday, April 21, 2011 at 5:07 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, April 21, 2011 at 5:07 p.m.

It's a long time coming, but the renovation of Coddingtown Mall is finally underway.

That was the theme of a glass-breaking ceremony held at Coddingtown Mall on Thursday.

“It's kind of like wait for it, wait for it, wait for it — and then boom, we're ready to go,” said Santa Rosa Mayor Ernesto Olivares before he donned a blue hard hat and broke a frosted pane of glass to reveal a rendering of a redesigned entryway.

Coddingtown Mall is beginning renovations that include building a play area, updating the restrooms to be more family-friendly, rebuilding two entrances and installing new light fixtures, flooring and plush seating.

“It's something that has been long-awaited, and certainly is overdue,” said Kelly Hartsell, regional vice president for Simon Property Group, which co-owns the mall with Codding Enterprises. “Through this renovation we look forward to bringing in new tenants.”

The company has been talking with at least four tenants who are close to some sort of agreement, Hartsell said in an interview. It is “very close” to announcing an agreement with an “exciting national retailer” to move into the empty building vacated by Gottschalks in 2009, she said.

“There's a lot of interest, more interest than we've had in years,” Hartsell said.

Lois Codding, vice president of leasing at Codding Enterprises, said the mall was getting close to an agreement with BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse, but it was not yet finalized. She added that the mall has been talking to a lot of potential tenants but they haven't yet signed leases...

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110421/BUSINESS/110429853/1350?Title=Renovation-starts-at-Coddingtown

^^ Sounds good to me

A little bit of exciting news for downtown...

Santa Rosa Plaza getting an upgrade

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/8654/renderingp.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/685/renderingp.jpg/)

There are some exciting changes in store for the Santa Rosa Plaza, as unveiled this morning in a preview of upgrades about to take place. Construction is slated to begin in July of this year to create a more inviting and friendly shopping plaza, as well as to integrate the mall with the downtown area and Railroad Square. The construction is proposed to last 16 months, and will upgrade every major aspect of the Plaza.

There has been question about whether or not the Hand at the entrance of the mall will be remaining, and it is assured that it will. In fact, all improvements to the East/Main Entrance will be designed around the favored art sculpture. One of the exciting new features that will be added to the B Street side of the Plaza will be a circular drop off area. Cars will now be able to drive through and drop off passengers near the front entrance. The Main Entrance itself will have the glass doors moved forward to be parallel with the front of the building, creating a more expansive interior entrance to the mall. Another restaurant or shop will be added to the right side of the building, across from Rubio’s. The landscaping and lighting will be improved. And more seating will be added.

The walkway leading to the West/Rear Entrance from Railroad Square will possess new signage leading up to the mall. The area will be freshly landscaped and will be revamped with better lighting, as well as benches. The improvements to the parking garages include refurbished elevators, better lighting, paint, landscaping, and signs at each car entrance to the lot.

The inside of the mall will be receiving many new improvements. Watch for new carpeting on the upper level, as well as new glass handrails to replace the ones already there. The restrooms will be refurbished with new stone and tile features, and the mall will include a new Family Restroom. Soft seating will be available throughout the mall to make lingering in between shops that much more enjoyable.

And, of course, they’re excited about some new tenants moving in to the Santa Rosa Plaza.

Papaya, a shop for girls in the 16-25 age bracket, will soon be making its debut in the mall. Their clothes are a brilliant mixture of boho, florals, frills, dressy, and casual, and are moderately priced.

And another big name retailer is bound for the store directly above Forever 21, though the Santa Rosa Plaza is still remaining tight lipped about who it might be. I’ve heard a few rumors, but I’m almost afraid to mention them in case it jinxes their arrival. Let’s just say, if I’m right – it’s going to be huge.


http://www.shopsoco.com/2011/05/santa-rosa-plaza-getting-an-upgrade/

Rendering of the west entrance of the remodeled Plaza

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/899/santarosaplazawestentra.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/3/santarosaplazawestentra.jpg/)

http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/34020/santa-rosa-plaza-to-get-multimillion-dollar-upgrade/

You can discuss all related issues in the City of Santa Rosa in here.

Animo. I'm not sure we need two threads for Santa Rosa.

In search of funds for SR bike bridge

On Thursday, two elected officials and I got into the weeds — literally and figuratively — over the proposed bike bridge spanning Highway 101 in Santa Rosa.

When Santa Rosa City Councilwoman Susan Gorin and Rohnert Park Vice Mayor Jake Mackenzie and I took a walk along Armory Drive to Steele Lane, we had to walk single-file at one point to wade through the waist-high weeds lining the sidewalks.

“Now we get into the weeds of traffic,” said Gorin as she motioned west where Steele Lane passes under Highway 101 near Coddingtown.

Gorin recounted her tale of biking to a meeting on the west side of town one morning and nearly losing her life with trying to maneuver through the area to turn south on Cleveland Avenue. “I will never, ever, do that again,” she vowed.

No question. It’s a hazardous and uninviting area to anyone having to travel by foot or bike. Traveling with kids? Forget about it. But, aside from the Highway 101 crossing at Bicentennial Way, which isn’t much better, it’s the only way to get from one side of the highway to the other in that part of town. Which is why so much political energy is being invested in building a bike bridge connecting the Santa Rosa Junior College neighborhood with the southeast corner of Coddingtown Mall. With a SMART train station to be built up the block on Guerneville Road, it makes all the more sense. But does it make financial sense, given the projected cost of somewhere between $10 million and $20 million?

Gorin and Mackenzie, both avid cyclists, invited me on the field trip because of our editorials raising questions about whether this is the best use of gas tax, redevelopment and other funds. The cost of just doing initial studies has jumped from $200,000 to $500,000.

They argue its still worth the investment, particularly given that transportation projects can take years to move foward. Remember how long it took to widen Highway 101?

Mackenzie, chairman of the Sonoma County Transportation Authority, says it’s possible that Santa Rosa could be reimbursed for some of the study costs through funds from Measure M, the quarter-cent sales tax county voters passed in 2004 for transportation.

After that, they hope to build the bridge through grants, federal transportation funds and possibly through some local fund-raising. But will local residents be willing to contribute to a bike bridge?

If the Measure M funds come through, it may help persuade the majority of City Council members to keep the idea alive for now. But there remain a lot of thorns on this issue.

- Paul Gullixson

http://www.watchsonomacounty.com/2011/05/inside-opinion/in-search-of-funds-for-sr-bike-bridge/

Hi!

The other one is already locked and you can post new updates here. As you can see right now I am cleaning up the forum and its easier to read/update threads.

Cheers,

Animo

Animo. I'm not sure we need two threads for Santa Rosa.

Alright. Thanks for clearing that up.

Judge weighs arguments in Sutter hospital project lawsuit

Dan Verel, Business Journal Staff Reporter
Friday, May 20, 2011, 6:06 pm

SANTA ROSA — A Sonoma County judge today heard arguments in a lawsuit [1] filed to stop construction of Sutter Health’s $284 million hospital [2] next to the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts north of Santa Rosa.

Superior Court judge Rene Chouteau heard the arguments from attorneys for Sutter Health and the North Sonoma County Healthcare District, which oversees Healdsburg District Hospital and was the lead party bringing the suit. The suit questions the scope of the project as it relates to licensed beds, greenhouse gas emissions and employment figures [3].

A ruling is expected within the next few months.

Attorneys with Shute, Mihlay & Weinberger, representing the health care district, argued that the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors erred in certifying the environmental impact report on Sutter’s forthcoming hospital. The report fails to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, they assert.

“The EIR is filled with inconsistent and conflicting data about the project’s basic attributes,” according to the brief by district’s legal brief for the hearing today. The attorneys previously called the report “flawed and fragmented.”

The groups bringing the lawsuit argue in filings that Sutter’s bed count at the proposed new hospital — 82 beds with a possible expansion of 27-bed expansion — falls short of requirements in the 1996 county Health Care Access Agreement. That document permitted Sutter to take over operations from the county at the Chanate facility, a much larger hospital.

Sutter’s attorneys from Cox, Castle & Nicholson countered that the bed count is not the most relevant factor. Rather, square footage and staffing ratios are what should determine the appropriate level of care provided. The scope of the project, which has changed over the years, fits within CEQA’s guidelines and that the county was correct in its approval of the project, the team argued.

“Hospitals often have fluctuating numbers of beds that can be used by patients,” Sutter’s attorneys wrote in a court filing. “Indeed, due to strict hospital staffing ratios, the actual number of beds in use is dependent on the available staff.”

Joining the health care district in the suit are Palm Drive Healthcare District, California Nurses Association and San Rafael-based Transportation Solutions Defense Fund.

The Sonoma County Department of Health Services had to approve Sutter’s planned new hospital before the Board of Supervisors could do so. The department did so last July.

http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/34349/judge-weighs-arguments-in-sutter-hospital-project-lawsuit/

Plans moving forward to connect Santa Rosa's Sixth Street

By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Sunday, May 22, 2011 at 7:27 p.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, May 22, 2011 at 7:27 p.m.

Long-delayed plans to reconnect 6th Street in Santa Rosa under Highway 101 may get a jumpstart this summer thanks to cost savings from widening work along the highway.

The California Transportation Commission last week approved nearly $700,000 for the project, which is expected to cost about $1.5 million.

“We think it's a good project to better connect Railroad Square and the other side of downtown,” said city public works director Rick Moshier.

Sixth Street was one of the many city streets severed by the construction of the freeway in the early 1960s. CalTrans was expected to reconnect it as part of the two-year, $111 million widening project that began downtown in 2006.

It built the overpass, but because the work came in over budget, it didn't have the money to complete the work at that time, Moshier explained.

Now the recession has caused the pendulum to swing in the other direction, with construction bids often coming in below estimates, Moshier said.

“The public is getting really good prices when we put projects out to bid,” he said.

That has created some extra money for other transportation projects, explained Suzanne Smith, executive director of the Sonoma County Transportation Authority, which advocated for the funding.

This allowed $200,000 in state transportation funds to be dedicated to the project, Smith said.

“It's a long-overdue project and we're delighted to see Santa Rosa be able to go out to bid on it this summer,” she said.

The city also worked to win $492,000 in federal transportation dollars, for a total of $692,000, Smith said.

“Santa Rosa and (City Councilman) Gary Wysocky in particular have been very dogged in pursuit of this project,” Smith said.

Currently, the underpass is a fenced off patch of dirt, with weeds growing along the edges and graffiti adorning the overpass walls.

When completed, the 300-foot stretch will have bike lanes, sidewalks, pedestrian lighting, storm drains, and signals and crosswalks at both intersections, said Colleen Ferguson, deputy director of public works.

Reconnecting the street should improve traffic flow through the area, said supervising engineer Dave Montague.

Traffic on the east side of the highway heading west on Sixth Street now must turn south on Morgan Street and cross beneath the freeway at 5th Street.

“It's kind of a little detour,” Montague said.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110522/ARTICLES/110529852/1350?Title=Plans-moving-forward-to-connect-Santa-Rosa-s-Sixth-Street

Study reviews new, bigger Sonoma County criminal courthouse

By MARTIN ESPINOZA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 8:03 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, May 25, 2011 at 8:03 p.m.

The state has released a draft environmental review of the proposed new Sonoma County criminal courthouse — a $179 million, six-story building located next to the old jail facility in the county administration complex in Santa Rosa.

The new courthouse would be located next to the existing, two-story Superior Court building and would be almost three times larger. The Judicial Council of California, which governs the California's more than 500 courthouses, has deemed it one of 41 courthouses in “immediate and critical need.”

The new courthouse would consolidate all criminal court operations into a single facility. The Family Court Services, which until last year was located in leased space at 475 Aviation Way, would also be located in the new building.

The new criminal courthouse would relieve issues of overcrowding, accessibility and security, state officials said.

“It keeps the judicial facilities close to one another but also close to the jail,” said Teresa Ruano, a spokeswoman for Administrative Office of the Courts, the council's staff arm.

“We've been working a long time to make the new criminal courthouse part of the county administration center,” she said.

While the proposed location, at 600 Administration Drive, is the preferred site, a second location — 7.6 acres in Santa Rosa's Northpoint Corporate Center — has been approved as an alternate site by the state Public Works Board, Ruano said.

A downtown site on Third Street where the post office is located was dismissed because it would involve protracted negotiations, according to city officials. In early February, Santa Rosa's City Council voted 4-3 not to encourage the state to build its criminal courthouse downtown.

The administrative office has determined that the project will not have significant impact on the environment and is considering adopting a “mitigated negative declaration” in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act.

A public comment period will extend to June 24.

According to the draft environmental study released Wednesday:

The project will provide three parking lots for courthouse users — an adjacent surface parking on the east side of the site, a lot to the north on Russell Avenue, and a lot across Ventura Avenue, where the city fleet services building is located.

The offices of the district attorney, county public defender and the probation department will remain in the existing courthouse building.

The new building will centralize criminal, traffic, and juvenile dependency proceedings, family court mediation, probate investigation, and drug court support services.

Other features include jury assembly and deliberation rooms, in-custody holding, attorney interview/witness waiting rooms, a children's waiting room, and security screening for all court users.

The deadline for written comment is June 24.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110525/ARTICLES/110529659/1350?Title=Favorable-review-of-new-bigger-Sonoma-County-criminal-courthouse

Hopefully they will have some interesting ideas.

Architects to unveil ideas for vacant Caltrans land in Santa Rosa

By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 12:26 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at 12:26 p.m.
A group of architects in town to help residents envision a future use for a long strip of vacant land in southeast Santa Rosa will present their findings tonight.

A team from American Institute of Architects has been in Santa Rosa since Monday holding meetings aimed at helping the community come up with a vision for a sustainable use for the property.

The 300-foot-wide, two-mile swath of land stretches from Farmers Lane to Summerfield Road. It is owned by Caltrans, which once proposed to use it to extend Highway 12 over Spring Lake.

The Southeast Greenway Committee has been working for several years to preserve the property.

The AIA's Sustainable Design Assessment Team will present their findings tonight at 7 p.m. at the Friedman Event Center, 4676 Mayette Avenue.

redtape news.

SMART to confer with land owners on rail crossings
By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 at 5:22 p.m.

Architect's image of the SMART commute trained planned to begin operation from Santa Rosa to San Rafael in 2014.
With commute trains still scheduled to run three years from now between Santa Rosa and San Rafael, Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit officials plan to meet with the users of 28 private track crossings on safety issues.

“We all share the concern of the safety of our citizens with trains going by at 70 miles per hour,” said Farhad Mansourian, executive director. “The goal is so nobody gets hurt and to make sure their business and livelihood is not hurt.”

SMART has sent letters to the 300 owners of private crossings on the track from Cloverdale to Larkspur, where SMART plans to someday run trains, and from Novato to Napa, which is SMART-owned track that the Northwestern Pacific Railroad will use for freight trains.

The commute rail district wants to eliminate and consolidate as many crossings as possible for it’s own safety concerns and also to comply with state Public Utilities Commission and Federal Railroad Administration policy.

The 28 crossings in the initial segments range from farmland to the crossing at the Redwood Landfill and Recycling Center in Novato, said SMART Chief Engineer Bill Gamlen.

SMART’s operating committee on Wednesday approved Mansourian’s proposal to meet first with the owners of the crossings from Santa Rosa to San Rafael, the segment SMART is building first because of budget restraints.

The lessons learned in those meetings can be used to deal with the remaining hundreds of crossings elsewhere on the line that will be built later, Mansourian said.

“It is going to be a challenge to find solutions that will satisfy everybody,” Mansourian said. “I don’t believe one size fits all will work in such a diverse area.”

He estimated the cost of holding 14 separate meetings to deal with clusters of crossing users will be $50,000.

SMART had proposed charging crossing owners $1,500 to apply to have the crossing studied to remain open and another $2,600 a year for inspection services, but Gamlen said those fees have not been adopted.

Mansourian is serving as SMART executive director while taking time off from his position as Marin County public works director.

Fixing up FoodMaxx with more strip mall stores.

New life for vacant Roseland shopping center
By CATHY BUSSEWITZ
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Friday, June 24, 2011 at 5:05 p.m.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=SR&Date=20110624&Category=BUSINESS&ArtNo=110629648&Ref=AR&Profile=1036&MaxW=250&border=0


JOHN BURGESS/Press Democrat
Construction workers build the facade for stores, including a new Ross store, at Stony Point Plaza in southwest Santa Rosa.
A Roseland shopping center that has long suffered from vacancies will soon be home to four new stores, and locals are hoping the additions will breathe new life into the economically challenged area of southwest Santa Rosa.

Ross, Anna’s Linens, Goodwill Industries and Fallas Paredes, a discount clothing chain, are slated to open outlets in Stony Point Plaza, a shopping center on Sebastopol Road anchored by Food Maxx.

Construction work on the center is scheduled to be completed near the end of August. Goodwill plans to open its store by the end of 2011. Representatives from the other companies did not provide opening dates.

“This whole section was so vacant for so long, so it will be nice to have more businesses coming in,” said Carl Weber, sales manager for the Rent-A-Center store in Stony Point Plaza.

The new stores are moving into a site targeted by Wal-Mart before the retail giant abandoned the controversial project two years ago, citing delays and unfavorable economic conditions.

Meanwhile, a strip of stores and restaurants across the parking lot have struggled to remain profitable in a center where nearly half of the retail spaces have been empty.

“The past few years it has been really tough,” said Salvador Sahagun, owner of Taqueria Santa Rosa. “That part of the shopping center was a ghost town, because there was really little traffic on that side.”

But having dozens of hungry construction workers around is already helping his business.

“It has come alive again,” Sahagun said. “Having a store like this will be good for the area. It will create a lot more traffic and a lot more jobs.”

About 45 local construction workers are currently employed on the project, said Kile Martin, project supervisor for HBI Construction. The crews have built a new facade with raised buttress columns that are more than 30 feet tall.

Representatives for Ross did not return phone calls. The Pleasanton discount clothing chain, which also operates a store in Montgomery Village, has been steadily expanding, according to an equipment salesman who handles dock installations for Ross.

“Things are still slow in new construction,” said Ricardo Bustillos of Hayward-based Arbon Equipment Corp. “So to see this on a local basis is encouraging. We need it.”

Anna’s Linens, a Costa Mesa retail chain that sells bedroom, bathroom and window furnishings, plans to hire about 20 new employees, said Travis Essary, district manager.

“We’re looking at some huge growth here in the Bay Area,” Essary said. “We have two new stores just this year, and I see a lot more to come.”

Goodwill Industries is moving from a smaller store on Sebastopol Road, enabling it to expand its used books collection and provide more employment training opportunities to the public, said Anne Martin, vice president of retail and operations. Goodwill also opened a store on Fourth Street last week.

Supervisor Efren Carrillo, who grew up in the area and now represents it, said the new stores will enable residents to shop where they live.

“It’s still a tough economy, but I think it’s a sign that things may be stabilizing, and we will begin to see opportunities for improved economic development and the jobs that come with it,” Carrillo said.

“I hope it brings some business, because we really do need it,” said Joanne Kanu, store manager at Payless. “It’s pretty dead out here.”

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=SR&Date=20110628&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=110629455&Ref=AR&Profile=1350&MaxW=728
The proposed 'Museum on the Square' project in downtown Santa Rosa.
PD FILE

'Museum on Square' developer strikes parking deal with City Hall
By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 at 9:21 p.m.

The developer of the proposed Museum on the Square project in downtown Santa Rosa has worked a deal with City Hall that would allow tenants to drive through the city's bus-only transit mall.

The city will grant an easement through the mall for tenants to park in or beside the 10-story, glass-clad mixed-use tower planned on the site of the long-vacant former AT&T building...

The arrangement retains the seven spaces of bus parking within the mall. It also requires that the parking gate to the building lot be set back 18-feet from the sidewalk so cars don't block the sidewalk as they wait to enter. Flashing lights and an alarm will go off when a car is leaving the lot to warn pedestrians, Frank Kasimov, program specialist in the city economic development department, told the council.

Hugh Futrell has said allowing parking access on the south side of the building was an important way to increase the leasable space on the ground floor, making the project more financially viable. The other, more expensive option was to tunnel a driveway through the building from Third Street....

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110628/ARTICLES/110629455/1350?Title=-Museum-on-Square-developer-strikes-parking-deal-with-City-Hall

Sounds like good news to me. Last I heard the demo/construction is supposed to begin this fall. I really hope we see this one come to fruition soon.

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/5590/425379293781388c912ez.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/32/425379293781388c912ez.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)
http://tlcdtoday.com/2010/01/07/museum-on-the-square-goes-public/

Sounds like good news to me. Last I heard the demo/construction is supposed to begin this fall. I really hope we see this one come to fruition soon.



Are they demolishing the building? I thought they were just renovating it?

Are they demolishing the building? I thought they were just renovating it?

i believe they are renovating it and adding 4 floors.

Are they demolishing the building? I thought they were just renovating it?

They are renovating the existing structure, but they have to remove the 18 inches of solid concrete that make up the facade of the building.

i believe they are renovating it and adding 4 floors.

They are adding 5 floors of residential on top unless something changes.

Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital revives emergency room expansion

By MARTIN ESPINOZA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Friday, July 1, 2011 at 12:00 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, July 1, 2011 at 12:00 p.m.

St. Joseph Health System, which runs Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, on Wednesday approved a $15 million expansion of Memorial's emergency department, a project that had been postponed after the collapse of the economy in 2008.

The work, which is expected to begin in early 2012, will add nearly 50 percent more space to the county's busiest emergency room and the North Coast's only level II trauma center, St. Joseph officials said. It will feature 26 private patient rooms and is expected to be completed in early 2014.

Memorial's emergency department currently treats more than 100 patients a day, officials said.

The upgraded emergency department is intended to provide faster care to people with non-traumatic conditions, including stroke and heart attack patients.

The plan calls for construction of a 4,228 square-foot expansion next to the current 9,280-square-foot space by way of an adjacent single-story, 4,228-square-foot. The project will increase beds from 19 to 26, convert patient bays to private rooms and provide bigger waiting and reception areas.

While St. Joseph has received pledges for donations, the project has yet to receive sufficient pledges to cover the cost of the expansion.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110701/ARTICLES/110709976/1350?Title=Memorial-Hospital-reviving-ER-expansion

Some awesome roller derby action coming to downtown...:cheers:

HomeWreckers roll into downtown Santa Rosa

By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Friday, July 1, 2011 at 7:27 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, July 1, 2011 at 7:27 p.m.

A group of roller derby queens is making a new home for themselves in downtown Santa Rosa, turning a former furniture store into a skating rink where they hope to host bruising bouts for up to 700 people.

For the past two weeks, members of the Wine Country HomeWreckers roller derby team have been ripping up rugs, hauling away debris and polishing floors — often while wearing their skates — as they transform the former Furniture 2000 store on Mendocino Avenue into an entirely new type of venue for the downtown.

“When we look at this space, it has endless possibilities,” said Mari-Dantia Almeida, who skates under the name D. Enforcer.

After-school skating programs, roller derby bouts for up to 700 spectators, live music and a variety of other special events are envisioned for the 13,000-square-foot space, which Almeida and two other veteran skaters are investing in and plan to lease back to the league.

The HomeWreckers, the main team in the Sonoma County Roller Derby league founded in 2007, needed to find a new home after a faction loyal to the Cal Skate roller rink in Rohnert Park formed their own league, the Resurrection Roller Girls, and elbowed them out.....

full article: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110701/ARTICLES/110709936/1350?Title=HomeWreckers-roll-into-downtown-Santa-Rosa

Yay, I love roller derby!

18 inches of solid concrete, crazy!

Yay, I love roller derby!

18 inches of solid concrete, crazy!

Yeah. It was built more than 40 years ago during the height of the cold war. It used to house very sensitive material and was built to withstand a nuclear blast. (obviously distance applies)

Santa Rosa seeks funding for Railroad Square project

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/2499/bildezi.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/13/bildezi.jpg/)
Artist's rendering of the New Railroad Square project.

By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 6:29 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 6:55 p.m.

Santa Rosa is hoping to kick-start a transit-oriented development in Railroad Square by going after $7.1 million in federal grants and loans for a key portion of the project.

The City Council next week will consider whether to seek federal financing to help San Francisco developer John Stewart build a $48 million portion of a mixed-use project west of a future rail station.

This first phase of the New Railroad Square Project calls for construction of a two-story health club topped by 82 rental units. It would be located on the 2.1-acre site of a former cannery on Third Street, whose brick walls have been propped up for years awaiting construction.

The mixed-use development is part of a $200 million project, covering 7.4 acres, that would create a food and wine center and additional offices, shops and housing on the neighboring property owned by the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit station.

“It’s a transformative project for our city,” said Frank Kasimov, economic development specialist for the city.

The city wants to apply to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for two types of financing. A $1.5 million grant would help cover the cost of additional clean-up of contaminated soil on the site, which contained an underground fuel tank and massive crude oil bunker. The other is a $5.6 million low-interest loan aimed at helping redevelop the site.

“Not only does it transform a vacant parcel in Railroad Square into something that’s vital and active, but it also generates economic activity,” Kasimov said...

full article: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110707/BUSINESS/110709595/1350?Title=Santa-Rosa-seeks-funding-for-Railroad-Square-project
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

$1.5 million donation for west Santa Rosa senior center

By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at 1:43 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at 1:43 p.m.

The seniors' wing of the Santa Rosa Finley Community Center got a big boost Wednesday with the announcement of a $1.5 million donation toward completion of the project.

The gift from the Ernest L. and Ruth W. Finley Foundation will allow construction of much of the interior of the $7 million building to proceed, including the auditorium, kitchen, café and art gallery.

Construction of the shell, an extension of the community center on West College Avenue, began last year. City Hall and the non-profit group Seniors Inc. have been actively seeking money to complete it...

full article: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110713/ARTICLES/110719806?tc=ar

As long as the market at the new SMART station development pans out this isn't too big of a disappointment. :yawn:

Developer abandons public market project at Sonoma County Fairgrounds

By ROBERT DIGITALE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Monday, July 18, 2011 at 12:33 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, July 18, 2011 at 12:33 p.m.

A developer has abandoned plans for a $10 million public market at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.

Boise developer Mark Rivers acknowledged Monday what fair officials had concluded two months ago: his Sonoma County MarketHall project is dead.

In a brief statement, Rivers said Monday that “the financing environment and political climate just weren't conducive” to developing the project. He added that “the folks at the Fair and many in the community were terrific to work with.”

Fair manager Tawny Tesconi said earlier this month that Rivers had not responded for months to her requests to speak about the project.

Tesconi released a May 5 letter to Rivers, which said she had tried without success to reach him on several occasions since January.

“If I do not hear from you by May 1, 2011, I will assume you are abandoning the project,” Tesconi wrote. She said she never received a response.

Rivers created a stir in March 2010 when he proposed the project, which was to feature local produce and prepared foods. He outlined an ambitious timeline to open by April 2011.

Rivers proposed building nearly 70,000 square feet of space in an existing fairgrounds parking lot near the southeast corner of Brookwood Avenue and Bennett Valley Road. Plans called for about 140 vendors and creating more than 100 permanent jobs.

Rivers told the public he didn't need outside financing for the MarketHall because he had a group of investors who were willing to back the project.

But despite Rivers' pronouncements, the project stalled before it could go through a formal planning review process.


http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110718/ARTICLES/110719527/1350?Title=Sonoma-County-Fairgrounds-public-market-project-is-dead

Rob Schneider eats here to help make a memorial from a piece of the WTC

Monday, July 18th, 2011 | Posted by Chris Smith | no responses

By Chris Smith
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Firefighters in Santa Rosa have taken possession of a steel beam recovered from the World Trade Center. They and some partners intend to make it part of a 9/11 memorial to be constructed at a fire training center on West College Avenue.

Plans call for granite towers and a beam from the World Trade Center to stand on a slab the shape of the Petagon.

To cover the estimated $9,000 cost of building the Fallen Public Safety Officer Memorial, involved firefighters and police officers are putting on a couple of dinners Wednesday evening, July 20, at Franco’s Ristorante on Mendocino Avenue.

An artist’s rendering of the memorial will be on display at the restaurant and there will be a celebrity guest in the house. Actor-comedian Rob Schneider is an old friend of Franco’s owner Franco Fabiani and he’ll take a break from a movie shoot in Napa to mingle with the diners at Wednesday’s four-course benefit meal...

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/5186/911memorial.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/39/911memorial.jpg/)
Plans call for granite towers and a beam from the World Trade Center to stand on a slab the shape of the Petagon.

full article: http://santarosa.towns.pressdemocrat.com/2011/07/news/rob-schneider-eats-here-to-help-make-a-memorial-from-a-piece-of-the-wtc/
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

Nothing too big.

Santa Rosa closes A Steet block, gives land to developer
By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 3:00 a.m.


The Santa Rosa City Council Tuesday gave a portion of South A Street to the developer of a Kia dealership over the objections of residents and businesses concerned the move would restrict access to their neighborhood.

Council members said they were sensitive to the feelings of residents, but believed the economic benefit outweighed the access issues.

“Change is hard. It’s frightening,” Councilman John Sawyer said. “But I have to be optimistic that it will ultimately benefit those businesses and property owners on South A Street.”

The decision means the city will give up public ownership of the southern end of the street between Barham Avenue and Santa Rosa Avenue, giving the property at no cost to the adjacent property owners.

The property to the west is owned by the developers of the Nissan of Santa Rosa dealership, who now want to build a 12,000-square foot Kia dealership and other automotive related businesses on what council members called a blighted property.

The project is expected to create 20 new jobs and generate up $25 million in revenue and significant sales tax annually. The developers, Jim Bone and Lawrence Amaturo, have said they need the street to create the frontage on Santa Rosa Avenue required by Kia for a new dealership.

Critics of the plan raised a host of issues, mainly traffic related. Most worried about their access being restricted, making it harder for customers to reach several small long-time area businesses.

Jim Strong, owner of Strong’s Golf, said the notion that the city would give away part of the public street where his business is located had never occurred to him.

“In 35 years of living in Santa Rosa, I’ve never heard of it,” Strong said.

He also said it was ironic that the developers say they needed the street to increase the visibility of Kia dealership when doing so will result in exactly the opposite happening to his and other businesses.

Other neighbors said they worried about increased traffic on Barham if South A Street, which serves an average of 900 cars per day, is ended there. Others urged delay, citing the poor notification of residents. Still others condemned the council and threatened legal action.

“This is wrong and this is not the end of it,” said Rosa Koire, who unsuccessfully sued the city to block the Gateways redevelopment area.

Councilman Scott Bartley said the council has to look out for the entire city, not just a handful of businesses. He said there clearly is a financial benefit to the city of having a successful business locate here. It is also in line with the council’s focus on economic development, he said.

“We’re trying to set a new tone here, and for that reason, I think this is a really good project,” Bartley said.

Ken Blackman, former Santa Rosa City manager who now represents the developers, said they already have applied for permits and intend to begin construction by the fall and be open next year.

Councilman Gary Wysocky, who visited the area and spoke to several businessman concerned about the impacts, said didn’t agree with claims that properties in the area would be devalued by the access issue. If anything, a successful business on their doorstep should help, he said.

“This project I believe will be an overall net benefit for the neighborhood,” Wysocky said.

Sawyer said he understood the anxiety of small business people, and even knew some of those affected personally.

“But I have to believe that there is a silver lining to this kind of change,” he said.

The measure passed 6-1, with Marsha Vas Dupre voting no.

BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse to Coddingtown
Author: biteclub | posted 08/9/11 |

Word has just come in that Coddingtown Mall will be adding a BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse near the mall’s renovated North Entrance. The restaurant is slated to open in 2012 when renovations on the 49-year-old Santa Rosa mall are complete.

According to representatives of Coddingtown, “The new BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, planned for the North exterior side of the mall near the main entrance, will be approximately 9,500 square feet. It will have a capacity for approximately 280 guests, and will feature BJ’s extensive menu including BJ’s signature deep-dish pizza, award-winning handcrafted beer and famous Pizookie(R) dessert. BJ’s highly detailed, contemporary decor and unique video statement, including BJ’s 103″ plasma display as well as several high-definition flat panel televisions, will create a high energy, fun and family-friendly dining environment for everyone to enjoy.”

A sketch of the new restaurant space shows it located east of the new north entrance, which faces Guerneville Road. Coddingtown publicist Julia Rachlin said no current tenants are vacating to make room for the restaurant. “As far as BJ’s, the restaurant will mostly be new build and then the mall is shifting some space inside to accommodate part of the restaurant, but no current tenants will be leaving, including Sweet River Grill.”

Ernesto Olivares, the mayor of Santa Rosa said, “This is great news for Santa Rosa and the Coddingtown area. It not only stresses our commitment to redevelopment investment in public infrastructure to expedite the re-tenanting of vacant space, it also reinforces that our community remains a desired destination for key restaurant and retail uses.”

“We are very excited about BJ’s Restaurant and what it means for Coddingtown Mall,” said John Phipps, senior vice president of development at Simon. “The mall’s agreement with the City will facilitate utility upgrades that are necessary to support both a signature restaurant like BJs and other key tenants interested in Coddingtown Mall. We greatly appreciate the City’s support of our efforts to attract new business to the Santa Rosa community.”

“The opening of a quality restaurant like BJ’s is important in many ways for Sonoma County, including the creation of approximately 200 jobs during construction and then another 220 positions when the restaurant opens. As the tenant mix at Coddingtown continues to strengthen, we are thrilled to see new interest from other high quality retail and restaurants for the mall,” said Lois Codding of Codding Enterprises.

In April, Simon Property Group and Codding Enterprises announced the planned renovation of the 841,000 square foot regional mall, anchored by JCPenney and Macy’s.

http://www.biteclubeats.com/2011/08/bjs-restaurant-and-brewhouse-to-coddingtown.html

Target eyes Gottschalks space at Coddingtown

By CATHY BUSSEWITZ
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Friday, August 12, 2011 at 2:58 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, August 12, 2011 at 3:10 p.m.

The long-vacant former Gottschalks space in Coddingtown Mall could become home to a new Target store, mall employees said on Friday.

Managers are in talks with Target to open a new store in the empty building that anchors the south side of the mall, which has been vacant since Gottschalks filed bankruptcy and closed in 2009.

“We've been in discussions with a few different tenants,” said Lois Codding, vice president of leasing for Codding Enterprises. “Target has expressed interest, but nothing is concrete about that yet ... From my understanding, Windsor is talking with Target as well.”

A different mall employee said survey crews from Target would be checking out the property next week, and would begin construction next year. In the interim, a Halloween costume store will open in the space.

Representatives from Simon Property Group, which co-owns the mall with Codding Enterprises, did not confirm or deny the talks with Target.

“Right now we're just not at liberty to say anything,” Kim Hall, area marketing director for Simon, said in a phone message.

A spokeswoman from Minneapolis-based Target Corp. also said she did not have any information about a new store in Santa Rosa.

“I can't say yes or no either way, I just really don't have any details about what's happening in 2012,” said Sarah Van Nevel, Target spokeswoman.

The company, which has run a store on Santa Rosa Avenue since 1995, also held talks with Coddingtown in 2009 about taking over the Gottschalks space.

Check back later for more details on this story.

You can reach Staff Writer Cathy Bussewitz at 521-5276 or cathy.bussewitz@pressdemocrat.com.


http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110812/BUSINESS/110819811/1350?Title=Target-eyes-Gottschalks-space-at-Coddingtown

I love the Halloween costume stores, always there help to fill the gaps.

Hey everyone. Just a quick bit on BJ's and the Pizookie (R). My 2 y/o niece has Cystic Fibrosis. A genetic disease affecting about 35,000 Americans of European decent. While not technically considered terminal, their life expectancy is only 35 and much of those years are spent in and out of hospitals. The proceeds from all Pizookie (R) purchases goes to the CF Foundation to help find a cure. Thanks to everyone who's bought one.

Santa Rosa Courthouse Square reunification back on track

By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Monday, September 12, 2011 at 6:09 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, September 12, 2011 at 6:09 p.m.

Santa Rosa continues to lay the groundwork for the reunification of Courthouse Square despite having neither wide public support for the project nor the $14 million to build it.

Plans calls for closing off the one-block section of Mendocino Avenue that bisects the 1.5-acre park, rerouting that traffic along B and E streets, and giving the park a complete make-over.

The idea has been around since the mid-1990s, but gained momentum in 2008 when the city selected an architect to design it.

Since then, the city's budget woes have slowed the project, but the City Council remains committed to seeing it through, said Councilman Scott Bartley.

“It is one of the council's top priorities,” Bartley said. “The dream would have been that we could have moved a lot faster, but it took us a little to get the money scared up.”

B Street has been reconfigured to handle the additional traffic, and the sewer and water upgrades underway on Third Street are aimed at supporting reunification.

An environmental review for the project is next at a cost of about $150,000. After that's done in about nine months, construction drawings will be commissioned, which will cost about $350,000. That should leave the project ready to break ground in spring of 2013, said David Gouin, the city director of economic development and housing.

Gouin will give the city council an update on the project at its meeting tonight.

Because the city doesn't have the funds to build it all at once, the work will be done in phases. The first will entail the closure of Mendocino through the park, and the construction of two one-lane streets connecting Third Street and Fourth Street along the eastern and western edges of the park, streets once called Hinton and Exchange.

This will restore the square to a layout similar to what existed prior to 1966, when the courthouse that occupied the site was deemed vulnerable to earthquakes and torn down.

“It won't be everything we want, but it's going to a presentable solution,” Bartley said.

The first phase of the project is estimated to cost between $3.2 and $3.8 million, Gouin said. Some potential funding sources for the first phase have been identified by staff, but the council has yet to sign off on them. These include money set aside for upgrades to the water and sewer lines under the park, redevelopment funds and park development fees, among others, Gouin said.

Even if those sources, “there's still a gap,” Gouin said, meaning the council will have to find other additional revenue.

Money has yet to be identified for subsequent phases of the park. They include construction of a glass water wall, an overhead light arbor, several areas to stage musical and cultural events, a cafe, restrooms and new landscaping.

Polls have shown the public is skeptical of the value of the project, and Bartley said he was once, too. But now he's convinced it will provide a crucial economic and psychological boost for the downtown.

“I know this is the right thing to do for the city” Bartley said. “If I based my support on what the polls said, we wouldn't touch it. But I don't care what the polls say. I know what the city needs.”

If the project moves forward on a track similar to that of the nearby Museum on the Square commercial and residential project on the site of the former AT&T building, people would see the city is serious about revitalizing the downtown, he said.

“That would be a huge shot in the arm for the impression of what our downtown is,” Bartley said.

Bartley predicted that once people see the unified space, they'll understand the change and support it.

City Council is full of brain dead morons :bash:

Santa Rosa may build one parking garage, tear down another

By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at 7:18 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 at 7:18 p.m.

After a decade of failed attempts to build something on the site of the former White House department store downtown, the Santa Rosa City Council is shifting its development strategy for the property.

Instead of teaming up with a private developer to construct a tower combining retail, a public parking garage and residential units, the council thinks separating the projects might give each a greater chance of success.

The idea now is for the city to build a 700-space public parking garage on the 1.3-acre White House site, now a vacant lot, between Second and Third streets. The project would cost about $17.5 million and include ground floor retail spaces, said Cheryl Woodward, the city deputy director of economic development and housing.

That would allow the city to demolish the nearby 204-space parking garage at Third and D Streets, known as Garage 5. The 1960s-era structure needs $1.8 million in upgrades in the next few years, an expense the city would like to avoid.

Removing it would leave a vacant site in the heart of downtown that would be “shovel ready” for a private developer to build whatever the market will bear, such as a small hotel.

The strategy, outlined by the majority of the council Tuesday, reflects a belief that previous efforts to develop the White House site have failed in part because the city put too many burdens on its private development partners.

“The city has been meddling too heavily in the project,” said Vice Mayor Jake Ours. “We just have to get out of the way and let the market tell us what works.”

Councilman Scott Bartley agreed that the city should be more open minded about what types of projects it would accept for the Garage 5 site.

“Let private industry tell us what is marketable or financeable at this point, rather than trying to micro-manage it,” he suggested.

The city has failed three times in the past decade to get something built on the site of the department store that closed in 1985, was razed in 1991 and now is a city parking lot.

City Hall has long dreamed of building a mixed-use tower incorporating retail, parking and housing on the site, hoping it would turn a stagnant commercial district into an active, 24-hour area.

In 2007, the council killed a development deal with Monahan Pacific Corp. of San Rafael to build 183 condominiums atop a 545-space city-owned parking garage after costs soared and demand for housing softened.

In 2009, a plan for MetroPacific Properties of Tiburon to build a 545-space city parking garage next door to its proposed six-story, 151-room boutique hotel fell apart after new council members questioned the need for so many parking spaces.

Woodward said the complexity of integrating the city's needs with those of a private developer responding to market forces created challenges for the projects. Separating them into two sites should give each a better chance to succeed, she said.

Not all council members agreed.

Councilwoman Susan Gorin said she saw little indication that developers can get the financing they need to build significant projects anytime soon. Financing is lacking for the projects in Railroad Square and even Hugh Futrell's highly anticipated Museum on the Square project in the former AT&T building is not guaranteed to succeed, she said.

“It is really dicey as to whether he will get his financing,” Gorin said.

She requested additional study of the lending climate before the city wastes energy on a project that's not ready.

“I just want to make sure that we're not expending our limited staff resources on something that doesn't have a viable chance of moving forward,” she said.

Councilman Gary Wysocky said he likes the idea of opening up the Garage 5 site for development because of its great location. But he's not eager to see the city spend millions on a new parking garage until a need for those spaces is clear.

“The best deal is sometimes the one you don't make,” he said.

The majority of council members, however, supported moving forward now. The city needs to prepare for the eventual rebound in the economy, as other cities in the state are doing, Councilman John Sawyer said.

“In this economy people are gearing up for the return,” Sawyer said. “There are investors all over this state who are putting big money into really unique and visionary large projects in different parts of the Bay Area.”

Woodward said there is reason for optimism. MetroPacific Properties is still interested in building a hotel in Santa Rosa, and has demonstrated it can pull it off even in this economic climate, she said. It recently broke ground on a new hotel project in Riverside, she said.

The council also directed staff to analyze what it would cost to get a tenant into the former WestAmerica Bank offices across from City Hall, which the city purchased in 2009 $4.1 million. The 14,500-square-foot building needs accessibility work and remains vacant.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20110928/ARTICLES/110929439/1350?Title=Santa-Rosa-may-build-one-parking-garage-tear-down-another

it doesn't sound obvious, but I guess it's movement. Avoiding the upgrades and getting rid of a parking garage by moving it farther away from downtown doesn't seem so bad.

it doesn't sound obvious, but I guess it's movement. Avoiding the upgrades and getting rid of a parking garage by moving it farther away from downtown doesn't seem so bad.

It's across the street, so it's not moving away from downtown. This is actually the most prime piece of real estate downtown, and they want to cover it with a parking garage. There is currently no need for more parking downtown. There are tons of open spaces. This is just a huge waste of money and land.

If these idiots really do move forward with this garage at least build up and don't cover the whole lot with a garage. Better yet, if they really want to get development moving downtown remove all the stupid restrictions on the developers. Forget the garage aspect of the project at the white house site and let the developer build whatever they want. No developer wants or has the resources to have half of their mixed use highrise filled with public parking.

City hall has this clouded idea of building an absurd amount of parking downtown in preparation for 'the huge swarm of people that are going to flock downtown after all these improvements are made', and that is just not the way things work. Let developers build their projects, and in time more people will come downtown. When parking begins to become a problem that is when they should think about building a new garage. There will be land still available, and we are talking years if not more than a decade down the road.

Protesters want pedestrian bridge and the jobs it will bring

By MARTIN ESPINOZA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at 3:46 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, October 4, 2011 at 3:46 p.m.

Chanting “Build it Now,” a group of North Bay activists rallied Tuesday morning at the site of the proposed bicycle and pedestrian bridge over Highway 101 in Santa Rosa.

Members of the North Bay Organizing Project, which includes labor, immigration, conservation and bicycle advocates, said the proposed bridge has the potential to create jobs and bring together the east and west ends of the city.

Advocates also framed the construction of the bridge as a vital link between the two communities once the SMART train is up and running. The west end of the bridge would be located just south of Coddingtown Mall, near an envisioned SMART station.

“We see the bridge as an important part of the SMART project,” said Dennis Rosatti, executive director of Sonoma County Conservative Action.

Rosatti said the bridge would bring jobs to Santa Rosa “during a down economy.”

Chris Snyder, district representative of the Operating Engineers union, called the bridge a “pathway to good middle class jobs” and emphasized the need to go forward with the SMART train project.

“Let’s get the SMART train built, because that’s going to be the backbone of the local economy,” Snyder said.

The event was one of many held throughout the country to showcase the results of a national study of how states rank in on-the-job-training and apprenticeship programs that boost job access for minorities and women in the federal highway construction field.

The study, which was conducted by the Transportation Equity Network, an advocacy group based in St. Louis with affiliates around the country, found that California ranked third highest in the country in the use of training and apprenticeship programs.

California Assemblyman Michael Allen, D-Santa, also attended the rally and said there “is no better way to create jobs” than the bridge and train project because of the impact it will have on the 101 corridor.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20111004/ARTICLES/111009831/1350?Title=Protesters-want-pedestrian-bridge-and-the-jobs-it-will-bring

Railroad Square project boosted by grant
Developer looking for tenants after health club pulls out

By Eric Gneckow, Business Journal Staff Reporter

SANTA ROSA — A large mixed-use city-centered development planned at the site of the historic Santa Rosa Cannery has received a $1.5 million federal grant and the possibility of an additional $5.6 million loan, a major boost to the project even though it has lost a health club as a potential lead tenant.

The grant, from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will go towards the commercial side of the new Railroad Square development. Awarded to six cities, the Brownfield Economic Development Initiative grant also paves the way for a city backed, low-interest federal “Section 108” loan that could fund another $5.6 million.

The Santa Rosa City Council is expected to vote on the loan application on Nov. 1, which will use community development block grant funds as collateral.

The developer, San Francisco-based John Stewart Co., learned of the awarded funding around the time that the Club One plan dissolved, according to company Chairman John Stewart. The company was expected to build a two-story health club spanning the entire 40,000 square feet of commercial space and employ more than 200 people.

Club One co-founder and managing director of Clubsource Development Partners, Jill Stevens Kinney, said the company chose to change its plans after considering the uncertain economy and potential competition from a proposed wellness center near Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. The center is still in development, and no date has been set for construction, said Katy Hillenmeyer, spokeswoman for St. Joesph Health System–Sonoma County, which operates Memorial.

“We are looking today at a situation where there is enough uncertainty that it’s caused us to take a step back,” said Ms. Kinney, who has been involved in the proposal for two years, said. “It doesn’t have anything to do with Santa Rosa or Railroad Square — we love John Stewart, and we love the Railroad Square location.”

With the exit, the John Stewart Co. is now looking for commercial tenants. The proposed space can accommodate companies of several sizes, with an objective of creating the same net total of jobs — more than 200 — envisioned in the Club One proposal.

The developer said that the exit won’t affect long-term plans for the site, expected to begin construction in 2013. The three-phase development involves areas surrounding the future SMART rail station.

The initial five-story building planned for the cannery location represents the first phase. With two floors of retail, the upper floors will feature 82 units of housing, 68 of them designated affordable housing.

With the $11.4 million in Proposition 1C bond funding the developer already received from the state in 2009, the total of $18 million in “inexpensive money” should help support what are expected to be competitive lease rates for commercial tenants, said Mr. Stewart. The commercial portion is expected to cost $19.9 million to build, though it will be built along with the residential component.

The entire first phase is expected to cost $48 million, funded through tax credits for the commercial and residential portions, private equity, the city of Santa Rosa, Burbank Housing, state Proposition 1C funding and federal funding, according to the company.

A timeline has not been set for two additional phases. The second phase, south of the future station, could feature three buildings including office space, retail, a “market hall” and a garage. The third, north of the station, would include additional housing.

The John Stewart Company has owned the cannery property since 1999 and has spent $650,000 to date on environmental remediation and historic preservation there, Mr. Stewart said. The walls of the former cannery, along with the water tower, will be preserved in the development.

Club One still has its sights set on Santa Rosa, said Ms. Kinney. The company opened a location in Petaluma in 2009 and operates 68 locations in 10 states.

“We’re hoping that we’ll be back in the market at some point in time,” she said, “We love Santa Rosa, and we want to be in Santa Rosa.”


http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/42479/railroad-square-project-boosted-by-grant/

Bicycle bridge back!

The bicycle bridge is back.

Despite misgivings expressed by some council members over the estimated $20 million cost of the bridge over Highway 101 at Santa Rosa Junior College, the issue of planning money comes before the council on Tuesday.

The city needs to prepare a report for Caltrans on the proposed pedestrian and bicycle bridge to link SRJC and Coddingtown Mall neighborhoods. The $400,000 price would be paid from redevelopment funds, Measure M tax money and regional transit funds.

Press Democrat (http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20111113/ARTICLES/111131066/1350?Title=Bicycle-bridge-back-on-Santa-Rosa-City-Council-s-agenda)

Santa Rosa council funds study of bicycle and pedestrian bridge


By KEVIN McCALLUM (http://www.pressdemocrat.com/personalia/KMcCallum)
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 at 3:00 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 at 10:52 p.m.


Page 1 of 2
Santa Rosa will spend an additional $400,000 studying a controversial bridge over Highway 101 for bicycles and pedestrians.

The City Council on Tuesday approved funding for the 18-month study, which is essentially a permit from Caltrans for the project, estimated to cost up to $20 million.
Bicycle advocates, Santa Rosa Junior College students and residents of the areas to be served by the bridge voiced strong support for the council's decision.
“I'm really excited that we're moving forward on this bridge that so many of us have been waiting so many years for,” Junior College neighborhood resident Julie Chasen said.
The council appears to have overcome some of its earlier resistance to spending more money studying what some have seen as an unnecessary and expensive pet project of the cycling community in general and Councilman Gary Wysocky in particular.
Scott Bartley alluded to some of the acrimony that developed late last year when the new majority on the council appeared poised to block further funding for the project.
There was some “pretty intense negative energy about this project” back then, Bartley said, adding that he hopes backers can find a way to put that behind them.
“I think we really need to get it into a positive place,” Bartley said. “Negativity is not where a project of this significance can survive.”
It will be years before the city can attract the funding needed to construct the bridge, he said.
The city has spent more than $390,000 to date on the project, which envisions a curvaceous 15-foot-wide span from Elliott Avenue on the east side of Highway 101 to Edwards Avenue on the west. The precise design and layout would be determined later after community meetings and negotiations with property owners.
The next phase of the funding will come from $200,000 in Measure M transportation funds, $100,000 in Redevelopment Agency funds and another $100,000 in regional transit funds.
A handful of residents objected to the city spending additional money on the project. Kay Tokerud, a frequent critic of redevelopment agencies, objected to funding of something she saw as unnecessary.
“If those funds weren't spent on this project, they would be spent on other projects that could possibly be more important,” she said.
But the majority of speakers at Tuesday's council meeting expressed strong support. Some argued the bridge, like the New Deal public works projects of the Roosevelt era, would help create much needed jobs.
Barbara Moulton noted that it fits together perfectly with the city's goals of reducing greenhouse gases, improving air quality and locating a second SMART commuter rail station on Guerneville Road.
“Not only is this project a fabulous project on its own merits … the synergy between this project and all the other good projects that Santa Rosa is engaged in is stunning,” Moulton said.
The Coddingtown area is poised for significant, high-density growth in coming years, Councilwoman Susan Gorin said. The Association of Bay Area Governments sees up to 7,600 more people living in that area of the city in coming years, and those folks will need more transportation options, she said.
“Even if we don't get there quickly, we know that the area is going to grow,” Gorin said.


http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20111115/ARTICLES/111119656?p=1&tc=pg

Welcome to the forum Kyle. :cheers:

The bridge would definitely be a great benefit to the neighborhood, especially to the SRJC students from the West side that want to ride to class. However, the city better make sure it actually happens after spending $400,000 or else people will be up in arms about the money spent.

Welcome to the forum Kyle. :cheers:

The bridge would definitely be a great benefit to the neighborhood, especially to the SRJC students from the West side that want to ride to class. However, the city better make sure it actually happens after spending $400,000 or else people will be up in arms about the money spent.

That's a lot of money for studying

That's a lot of money for studying

Hey thanks for the welcome! It is a lot of money but im really hoping it stimulates the economy and salesfor that area. its going to have huge potential after the remolding is done.

Has anyone heard any news on the possible Target filling in the old Gottschalks or about the new Cheesecake factory or PF changs?

Has anyone heard any news on the possible Target filling in the old Gottschalks or about the new Cheesecake factory or PF changs?

I haven't heard anything since August, but as far as I know they are moving forward, albeit slowly. Target said they would begin construction in 2012, but nothing is concrete. However, I think the BJs brewery is definitely moving forward.

I haven't heard anything since August, but as far as I know they are moving forward, albeit slowly. Target said they would begin construction in 2012, but nothing is concrete. However, I think the BJs brewery is definitely moving forward.

I talked to some workers at coddingtown on black friday and a lot of them said that Cheesecake Factory is going to build where the old lodge was and was suppose to start sometime next year. who knows though.
That will be nice to have a target there. Did you read that they are going to begin construction in an article? if so do you know where i can find it?
Yes it looks like after they are done with the remolding BJ's is gong to coming in and open up sometime next year!

Futrell gets extension to buy former AT&T building in Santa Rosa

By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 7:33 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 7:33 p.m.

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/2251/bildem.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/502/bildem.jpg/)

Santa Rosa has given a developer more time to complete the purchase of the long-vacant former AT&T building downtown.

The city's redevelopment agency had hoped to complete the $1.9 million sale of the building — which the agency purchased for $3 million in 2007 — to developer Hugh Futrell by year's end.

Futrell and his partners hope to transform the empty five-story concrete eyesore into a 10-story glass-clad mixed-use tower dubbed Museum on the Square. It's the city's highest profile, highest priority downtown development project.

But some thorny planning issues put the project behind schedule last year, requiring a second six-month escrow extension, which was granted Dec. 20. The sale agreement now gives Futrell until June 29 to complete the transaction.

Futrell says he probably won't need that much time. He and his partners — who have invested $1 million in the project to date — now expect to complete the purchase and move forward with construction by the end of April.

“We would not be making this kind of investment in the asset if we were not still seeing a green light for the project,” Futrell said.

Redevelopment agency officials say they are comfortable granting the extension because Futrell is making significant progress toward his goals.

Design drawings are complete and under review by the city, and Futrell has pre-leased 75 percent of the commercial office space planned for the building, said city redevelopment specialist Frank Kasimov.

“Those are substantial steps. He has made a very large investment in making this a reality,” Kasimov said.

The project ran into its first setback in 2010, when the city took months to decide whether to allow future tenants to drive through the city transit mall to access the building's parking. The city ultimately agreed to grant the access, and the change forced a minor redesign.

Then early last year software maker Metier Ltd. backed out of the project after initially agreeing to lease at least one floor of the building.

Futrell has since found a replacement tenant, which he declined to name, citing a confidentiality agreement with the firm. The other tenant remains TLCD Architecture, a partner in the project.

The two companies plan to occupy three of the four commercial floors.

Having 75 percent of the commercial space pre-leased puts the project on firm footing to secure the required funding, Futrell said. The project has been estimated at $23 million.

One key hurdle remains: Securing new market tax credits for the project, which would entitle lenders to receive credits against their income taxes. The federal government offers the credits to encourage investment in low-income communities.

The remaining hurdle would be to secure the construction and permanent loans for the project, Futrell said.

Much work remains, but Futrell said the project has reached a critical phase.

“We're at the point now where discussions become agreements and favorable indications become documents,” Futrell said.

The abolition of redevelopment agencies in the state, which seems likely given last week's state Supreme Court ruling, shouldn't pose a threat to the project because the deal is a “pre-existing contract” that has to be honored, Kasimov said.

“It's a very transformative and exciting project for our downtown and our city,” Kasimov said.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120104/ARTICLES/120109819/1350?Title=Futrell-gets-extension-to-buy-former-AT-T-building-in-Santa-Rosa-
Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

SMART train construction gets started in Santa Rosa


http://www.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=SR&Date=20120110&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=120119970&Ref=AR&Profile=1350&MaxW=445&border=0
Jon Kerruish, SMART's access control manager, and Stacy and Witbeck, Inc. employees Scott Bowdish, Bobby Chavis, and Nick Slama check the elevation of the railroad crossing at 3rd Street near Railroad Square in Santa Rosa on Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012.




By DEREK MOORE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 1:16 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 1:16 p.m.

Construction on the SMART commuter rail system through Sonoma and Marin counties got underway Tuesday.
Photo Galleries

SMART Line - Santa Rosa To San Rafael

The work included surveyors taking measurements at Railroad Square in Santa Rosa and crews putting up signs announcing that construction is taking place.

The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit Board of Directors on Monday voted unanimously to approve a $103.3 million contract with Alameda-based Stacy and Witbeck Inc. and Herzog Contracting Corp. to build the first phase of the project.

Service is expected to begin in late 2015 or early 2016.

Hansel launches $21 million expansion

Hansel Auto Group
By CATHY BUSSEWITZ
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 7:36 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, January 26, 2012 at 7:36 p.m.

At a time when many retailers are struggling amid a sluggish economy, local car dealer Hansel Auto Group is embarking on a major construction project at the southern gateway to Santa Rosa.

The company broke ground this month on a $21.3 million expansion that will erect five new buildings and remodel an existing structure on a 9.5-acre site along Highway 101.

The investment comes as auto retailers slowly climb out of a pit.

Car dealers sold 1.2 million new cars and light trucks last year in California, up 10 percent from 2010 but still just half the volume they enjoyed before the recession.

But low construction costs and low interest rates, combined with a sense of optimism about car sales, convinced Hansel Auto Group that it was time to expand.

“I have significant confidence that our industry will return, so I'm investing in the future,” said Henry Hansel, president of Hansel Auto Group.

Once the Corby Avenue project is completed in 12 months, it is expected to generate an additional $3 million annually in city, county and state sales tax revenue, Hansel said.

If the estimates hold, Santa Rosa's chunk could be $495,000 in additional sales tax revenue, according to City Councilman Jake Ours.

“It's huge,” Ours said. “I'm sure glad it's in Santa Rosa. It adds jobs, it adds lots of tax money, all the things that we have fallen behind in. So we owe the Hansels a big ‘Thank you.'”

At a time when many retailers are struggling amid a sluggish economy, local car dealer Hansel Auto Group is embarking on a major construction project at the southern gateway to Santa Rosa.

The company broke ground this month on a $21.3 million expansion that will erect five new buildings and remodel an existing structure on a 9.5-acre site along Highway 101.

The investment comes as auto retailers slowly climb out of a pit.

Car dealers sold 1.2 million new cars and light trucks last year in California, up 10 percent from 2010 but still just half the volume they enjoyed before the recession.

But low construction costs and low interest rates, combined with a sense of optimism about car sales, convinced Hansel Auto Group that it was time to expand.

“I have significant confidence that our industry will return, so I'm investing in the future,” said Henry Hansel, president of Hansel Auto Group.

Once the Corby Avenue project is completed in 12 months, it is expected to generate an additional $3 million annually in city, county and state sales tax revenue, Hansel said.

If the estimates hold, Santa Rosa's chunk could be $495,000 in additional sales tax revenue, according to City Councilman Jake Ours.

“It's huge,” Ours said. “I'm sure glad it's in Santa Rosa. It adds jobs, it adds lots of tax money, all the things that we have fallen behind in. So we owe the Hansels a big ‘Thank you.'”

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120126/BUSINESS/120129574/1339/business?Title=Santa-Rosa-s-auto-row-getting-21-3-million-makeover-

Coddingtown submits plans to build new Target store

By CATHY BUSSEWITZ (http://www.pressdemocrat.com/personalia/cbussewitz) & KEVIN McCALLUM (http://www.pressdemocrat.com/personalia/KMcCallum)




A rumor that has been circulating through Coddingtown Mall for years finally may be coming to fruition.

The mall's owners, Simon Property Group and Codding Enterprises, have submitted a proposal to tear down the former Gottschalks building at Coddingtown and build a new single-story Target store on the south side of the shopping center.
The proposal was presented to the city on Jan. 31 and is scheduled to go before the city Design Review Board on Feb. 16. No formal decision on the proposal will be made at that time.
“It's just a chance for the Design Review Board to take a look at it and provide feedback,” said Bill Rose, senior planner for the city.
City officials welcomed news of the project.
“It's exactly the kind of new development that we were hoping to get in Santa Rosa,” said Chuck Regalia, the city's director of community development. “And I'm really optimistic that we'll be able to work out any design issues and help the Simon and Codding group move this forward.”
The proposal is the latest step in a transformation at the mall, which struggled during the recession and is still dotted with empty storefronts.
The changes began to accelerate in 2010, when Whole Foods opened a grocery store at the mall after a two-year delay. In April, the mall began a major renovation project that has updated its northern entrance and will add a new BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse later this year. In August, JCPenney completed its own $4 million, eight-month make-over project.. . .



Read more about this at: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120208/BUSINESS/120209569/1350?p=1&tc=pg

sounds like good news

sounds like good news

Yeah that will be nice for Black Friday! Wish they would speed up the downtown projects they have proposed. Atleast they broke ground for the smart project :banana:

Petaluma

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=SR&Date=20120213&Category=BUSINESS&ArtNo=120219820&Ref=AR&maxw=343&maxh=257&border=0


Friedman's signs agreement to open store in Petaluma
By JULIE JOHNSON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Monday, February 13, 2012 at 4:54 p.m.

Sixty-six years after getting its start in Petaluma, Friedman's Home Improvement announced Monday it plans to return to its hometown with a store in a proposed shopping center on the city's eastside.

David Proctor, Friedman's chief financial officer, said the three-store chain had been searching for a Petaluma site for about five years and signed a 35-year lease with developer Merlone Geier Partners to become the anchor tenant at the Deer Creek Village Shopping Center, proposed for Rainier Avenue at North McDowell Boulevard.

Petaluma has yet to approve the proposed shopping center, which earlier was to house a Lowe's home improvement store. But Proctor said Friedman's hoped to break ground on the site this summer and to open next year.

“There's plenty of time,” he said. “The city of Petaluma needs to evaluate the documents in front of them and make a decision. We certainly want to come back.”

Friedman's would be the main tenant of the 36.5-acre, shopping center, which would include 344,000 square feet of commercial space, mostly retail, as well as a gym, banks, offices and restaurants. Friedman's would occupy about 120,000 square feet, according to a drawing on the developer's website.

The new Friedman's store could create nearly 100 jobs and could generate $30 million to $35 million in annual sales, Proctor said.

The site would increase the company's size by about a third. The company currently employs 320 people, with stores in Santa Rosa, Ukiah and Sonoma.

Petaluma's City Council is scheduled to vote Feb. 27 on whether to certify an environmental impact report on Deer Creek and give the project city approval.

But the city Planning Commission last month rejected the report, saying it didn't address issues related to the planned Rainier underpass for Highway 101.

Five of six planning commissioners said the report failed to look at traffic impacts in the area if the only improvement to Rainier Avenue is the underpass.

They also said the report didn't address whether it's “reasonably foreseeable” that a long-planned Rainier Avenue freeway interchange would be built.

Mayor David Glass said Monday that Petaluma long has needed a home improvement store and he welcomed Friedman's return to city.

But he said he was concerned about air quality issues the new development could create.

“We're still a long way short of opening up a retail site there and selling product,” Glass said.

Proctor said Friedman's wasn't ready to say how long it would be willing to wait if the city approval process drags on.

“As far as our tolerance for delay, we certainly hope it's sooner rather than later,” Proctor said.

Brothers Benny and Joe Friedman opened their first store in Petaluma on April 6, 1946, and sold only 75 cents worth of scrap metal that first day.

Despite that day's meager returns, the company thrived. The original store on East Washington Street at the Petaluma River was destroyed in a fire in the 1970s. Friedman's is the largest locally owned home improvement retailer on the North Coast.

Lowe's had been a proposed anchor tenant for Deer Creek since 2004. But the North Carolina-based retailer pulled out last October, blaming the slow pace of the city's permit review process.

The withdrawal came as Lowe's announced it would curb new development and close under-performing stores nationwide. Proctor said industry sources told him Lowe's pulled out of all projects nationwide that hadn't yet broken ground.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com

and this for Petaluma


http://www.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=SR&Date=20120213&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=120219823&Ref=AR&Profile=1033&MaxW=250&border=0



SMART to buy a (draw)bridge
By BOB NORBERG
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Monday, February 13, 2012 at 4:46 p.m.

SMART handout
Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit officials are planning to buy a used drawbridge in Galveston, Texas, to replace the district's swing bridge over the Petaluma River that, while historic and repairable, is badly in need of replacement.
Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit officials intend to buy a used drawbridge in Galveston, Texas, to replace the 109-year-old swing bridge over the Petaluma River.

Rather than launch a $20 million rehab of the aging structure at Haystack Landing, and then perhaps spending $30 million to replace it in 20 years, SMART says that for $20 million it can buy and install the used bridge and have it last 75 to 80 years.

“I was looking for a different solution than retrofitting it,” said Farhad Mansourian, SMART's general manager.

SMART says it will have daily commute rail service on the line within four years.

The Texas bridge is on the BSFN Railway line linking the Texas mainland to Galveston Island. It was built in 1985 and is being replaced by a new vertical lift bridge to increase the channel width.

“It is a really solid bridge,” said Bill Gamlen, SMART chief engineer. “We will have to do some mechanical upgrades, but it is a very stout bridge. The BNSF doesn't want to get rid of it, but the Coast Guard is driving the replacement.”

It is called a bascule drawbridge, meaning it uses a counterweight to lift the “leaf,” or rail bed, into an almost vertical position. It is on the historic vehicle causeway that was converted to a rail line.

Gamlen said the new bridge would open or close in about 90 seconds, instead of the 2½ to 3 minutes needed for the swing bridge.

It also is long enough to allow the Petaluma River channel to be widened from 56 feet to 87 feet, and allow SMART trains to cross at higher speeds.

The bridge over the Petaluma River was built in 1903. It uses a 5-horsepower electric motor, fabric belts and bevel gears to pivot slowly on a turntable that is 10 feet in diameter.

“One of the problems with the swing bridge is the reliability,” Gamlen said. “I have been out there and have seen it take three or four tries to get it closed.”

SMART's long-range plan was to rebuild the bridge knowing it would need to be replaced within 20 years.

The 26-year-old bridge in Galveston can be purchased for $4.2 million and shipped to Petaluma by rail, then refurbished and reassembled on new supports for an additional $14 million to $16 million.

That would create a crossing good for about 80 years, district officials said.

Parts of old swing could be used in other areas on the SMART line, primarily at creek crossings and to replace existing wooden trestles.

“We have a consultant looking at where it might fit and what opportunities we might have,” Gamlen said. “We would hate to spend money to dispose of it, and it is a historic element, we would like to keep it in the corridor.”

Mansourian said SMART needs to move quickly because the Galveston bridge is being dismantled this week. The SMART board is being asked to waive the competitive bidding process to buy the bridge, and then seek bids from BSNF Railway Co. and Union Pacific Railroad to transport it by rail to Petaluma.

The board is meeting at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at San Rafael City Hall.

You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or bob.norberg@

pressdemocrat.com.

^^ good news but it may be better to post those in the Sonoma County development forum
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1386334

^^ good news but it may be better to post those in the Sonoma County development forum
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1386334

Oh, my bad. I posted them in Sonoma County now.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=SR&Date=20120217&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=202171122&Ref=AR&Profile=1350&MaxW=445&border=0

Where's the hand?


Santa Rosa board OKs scaled-back Plaza plan
By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Friday, February 17, 2012 at 4:03 a.m.

Artist's rendering from ELS Architects of Santa Rosa Plaza's B Street entrance.
A more conservative remodeling of Santa Rosa Plaza won tentative approval from a city board Thursday but also criticism that it didn't do enough to help bridge the barrier the mall creates between the east and west sides of downtown.

Simon Property Group returned to the city's Design Review Board on Thursday for feedback on what it called a "completely fresh" approach to the facelift it wants to give the brick-covered mall, which opened in 1982.

Gone are the large, bright, square facades at the east and west entrances to the mall, which board members last year likened to "billboards."

They've been replaced with more modest updates. A three-foot cornice will be added to the existing archway off B Street, and the brick around the existing entry will be reclad with tan concrete tiles.

"It's not an aggressive counterpoint to the downtown and the historic district. It's more of a comfortable and traditional approach," Jamie Ruskin of ELS Architects said of the new design.

Several board members praised the plan as welcome improvements. But two were sharply critical of the failure of the plan to do more to improve "connectivity" through the mall, including the board's former chairman, who was demoted over the issue.

"I'm disappointed," Ken MacNab said after the meeting. "If people can't get to their employment on the other side of the mall, I don't know what incentive there is to get on that train."

Passengers using the future SMART train station in Railroad Square will need to walk through the mall to get from one side of downtown to the other or, if the mall is closed, will have to walk around it.

MacNab was chairman of the design board when it required a connectivity study as a condition of approval of a portion of the project the mall hoped to complete before Christmas.

The mall objected to that requirement, and later withdrew its application, claiming it wouldn't make the exterior improvements at all if it had to go through the design review board. Mayor Ernesto Olivares demoted MacNab in October over the decision. The City Council overturned the decision in December, sharply rebuking the board for overstepping its authority and failing to work collaboratively with the mall.

Councilman Jake Ours said he was pleased Simon Property Group had decided to submit a new application.

"They must have heard what we said because we did say we screwed up pretty badly," Ours said Thursday.

Asked about the mall's change of heart, Kelly Hartsell, a Simon regional vice president, said "because of our relationship with the city, we didn't want to walk away."

She acknowledged the mall was frustrated with the previous process. Much of what the 700,000-square-foot mall is trying to do, such as improving lighting and accentuating the entrances, should help draw people into and through the mall, she said.

"We really feel like we are adding connectivity as part of the redesign," Hartsell said. You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com.

In everyone's opinion, when the economy has picked back up, how tall do you think is appropriate for downtown SR? I say 18 then tapering off as you leave the square. Thoughts?

In everyone's opinion, when the economy has picked back up, how tall do you think is appropriate for downtown SR? I say 18 then tapering off as you leave the square. Thoughts?

18-20 stories sounds good, but don't get your hopes up. Lets see if anyone can actually get something built to the current 150ft limit before talking about raising that number.

Here is a shot of the new Sutter Hospital from January. There are several more good shots in the link below.

http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/5408/13642791.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/812/13642791.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

http://www.flickr.com//photos/smfnb/sets/72157628853967917/show/

In everyone's opinion, when the economy has picked back up, how tall do you think is appropriate for downtown SR? I say 18 then tapering off as you leave the square. Thoughts?

I think 18-20 stories is appropriate but i dont think it is very tangible for Santa Rosa. I agree i think we will have a hard time seeing it tampering off at 150ft first.

Do you think there is interest from developers and companies to have high-rises in Santa Rosa?
I would love to see it, after the museum project is done it should have a neat mini skyline :)

Santa Rosa considers bold plan to remake Coddingtown area

By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A bold plan to encourage higher density housing near the future commuter rail station near Coddingtown mall is winning praise for its embrace of sustainable development principles but also criticism from some worried about its impact on their private property rights.

The city is putting the finishing touches on its North Santa Rosa Station Area Specific Plan, a $500,000 guide for the development of the half-mile around the future SMART station on Guerneville Road.

The plan calls for sweeping changes to the 987-acre area that by 2035 would make it almost unrecognizable from its current automobile-centric suburban landscape.

“It's going to be a great transformation for that part of Santa Rosa,” Gary Helfrich, executive director of the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, told the commission.

The plan envisions 2,941 new housing units, more than a million square feet of office, retail and industrial space, and the creation of nearly 6,000 new jobs in the area around the mall, extending south to West College Avenue and east of Highway 101 to include the Santa Rosa Junior College.

The plan would rezone 1,300 parcels to allow higher density housing, including apartment buildings of up to five-stories with 40 units per acre. A similar “transit village” environment has been proposed for the area around the SMART station planned for Railroad Square.

The idea is to get more people living in an around the train stations to support ridership, and also to build the infrastructure that will make it easy for people to get to the station by bicycle, foot and car.

Several bicycle and pedestrian paths are proposed, including a bridge to span Highway 101. SMART also is proposing 350 parking spaces at the station...

full article: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120524/ARTICLES/120529716/1350?Title=Santa-Rosa-considers-bold-plan-to-remake-Coddingtown-area

Santa Rosa's 'Museum on the Square' facing another setback

By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The plan to turn a city-owned eyesore into a mixed-use downtown tower faces yet another setback.

The Museum on the Square project proposed for the long-vacant former AT&T building on Old Courthouse Square will need another six-month extension from the city to give the much-anticipated deal more time to close escrow.

If approved by the City Council, it would be the third extension granted for the $1.9 million sale agreement between the city and the project's developer, The Hugh Futrell Corp.

The sale had been on track to close in April, but questions raised by the title company have held up financing for the project, David Gouin, the city's director of economic development and housing, told the City Council on Thursday.

The city's redevelopment agency purchased the five-story concrete structure in 2007 for $3 million with an eye toward finding a developer to revitalize the space.

The board in 2010 selected a development team headed by Futrell, which proposed transforming the windowless bunker into a 10-story glass-clad tower with space for the Sonoma County Museum and a restaurant on the first floor, four stories for offices, and five new floors of luxury apartments...

full article: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120517/ARTICLES/120519528/-1/archive?Title=Santa-Rosa-museum-project-delayed-again-

Steel work complete at future Sutter hospital in Santa Rosa

By ROBERT DIGITALE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Thursday, August 2, 2012 at 3:56 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, August 2, 2012 at 3:56 p.m.

A crowd of health care employees, construction workers and county officials watched Thursday as a 70-ton crane lifted a white 12-foot-long steel beam into place at the future Sutter Medical Center in Santa Rosa.

Two construction workers soon bolted down the 400-pound beam, completing the steel frame for the $284 million facility.

Mike Cohill, president of Sutter Health’s West Bay region, called the completion of the steel work a “significant milestone” for the future hospital.

Cohill recalled that in 1996 Sutter made a commitment to provide health care as part of its lease and takeover of the old county-run Community Hospital.

“This new hospital really memorializes that commitment,” he said.

Since the signing of the agreement 16 years ago, Sutter has provided $250 million in charity care to county residents, Cohill told an audience sitting beneath a white pavilion.

Much work remains for the two-story 184,000-square-foot hospital. The facility isn’t slated to open until October 2014.

The steel workers began construction in January and soon will be departing the job site, said Matt McEuen, project manager for the steel installer, California Erectors of Benecia.

When completed, the hospital will include 82 beds, all in private rooms, plus 24 more beds in an outpatient, universal care unit.

It will be among the top 1 percent of California hospitals in terms of green construction, Sutter officials said.

The project’s general contractor, Unger Construction of Sacramento, provided the following facts about the materials already in place:

— Workers have poured 16,500 cubic yards of concrete, enough for a sidewalk extending from Santa Rosa to the San Francisco International Airport.

— The hospital contains 1,850 tons of structural steel, equal to 1.8 billion paper clips, enough to chain together and wrap around the equator.

— Workers have used 820 tons of reinforcing steel, or rebar, which if laid end to end would stretch from Santa Rosa to Bakersfield.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120802/BUSINESS/120809881/1350?Title=Steel-work-complete-at-future-Sutter-hospital-in-Santa-Rosa

From the construction Cam
http://www.suttersantarosa.org/newhospital/index.html

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/5517/sutterb.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/441/sutterb.jpg/)

http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/9058/sutter2.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/831/sutter2.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120802/BUSINESS/120809881/1350?Title=Steel-work-complete-at-future-Sutter-hospital-in-Santa-Rosa

From the construction Cam
http://www.suttersantarosa.org/newhospital/index.html

[/URL]

[URL="http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/831/sutter2.jpg/"] (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/441/sutterb.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

Passed by their yesterday and they sure have got quite a bit to go but looks great! It will compliment the area very much!

Passed by their yesterday and they sure have got quite a bit to go but looks great! It will compliment the area very much!

Yeah. Hopefully the finishings look nice.

Santa Rosa gets $2 million donation for Finley Center expansion

Kent Porter / PD, 2011
By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Thursday, August 2, 2012 at 5:41 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, August 2, 2012 at 5:41 p.m.

The seniors wing of Santa Rosa’s Finley Community Center got another big boost Thursday with the announcement of a $2 million donation, enough to ensure nearly all features of the new building can be completed.

The commitment from the Ernest L. and Ruth W. Finley Foundation allows the third and final phase of the $8 million project to move forward with the installation of an elevator and construction of second-story rooms for art, reading, computers and meetings.

The donation is on top of the $1.5 million gift from the foundation last year. The foundation is named in honor of former Press Democrat owner and publisher Ernest L. Finley and his wife, whose heirs, including former publisher Evert Person, sold the paper in 1985.

“Because of the Finley Foundation’s generosity, Santa Rosa seniors will soon have a new home away from home,” said Carolina Spence, executive director of Seniors, Inc., the nonprofit group that has been raising money for the center since 2002.

The new center is a public-private partnership between the city and Seniors Inc. The city donated the land for the project and has spent about $3.5 million in park development fees on it. Seniors Inc. has coordinated the private sector donations, including chili cook-offs, in-kind donations from architecture firm Simons & Woodard, and gifts from wealthy individuals and foundations.

The 25,000-square-foot wing is being added to the southern side of the Finley Community Center on West College Avenue. The construction of the multi-use center, park and aquatics center were also made possible by a $7 million gift from the foundation...

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120802/ARTICLES/120809874/1350?Title=Santa-Rosa-gets-2-million-donation-for-Finley-Center-expansion

New funding propels downtown Santa Rosa affordable housing
52-unit, five-story project to cost $12.8 million
By Eric Gneckow, Business Journal Staff Reporter
Monday, August 6, 2012, 6:55 am

http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/4466/670humboldtrendering.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/822/670humboldtrendering.jpg/)

SANTA ROSA — Construction of a 52-unit, $12.8 million affordable housing and commercial project in Downtown Santa Rosa is expected to go forward this September, funded by new financing after project developers were unable to obtain highly sought-after affordable housing funds to begin construction shortly after the project’s approval in 2010.

On the corner of Seventh and Humboldt Streets, the five-story project, a partnership between Santa Rosa’s Hugh Futrell Corp. and Community Housing Sonoma County NPR, LLC, will feature commercial space on its ground floor and offer 51 one-, two- and three-bedroom units to low-income tenants, according to Hugh Futrell. The final unit will be for the building manager.

Funding for the project includes $3.1 million from the city of Santa Rosa, a $6.4 million tax-exempt bond authorized by the city and held by Citibank, and $3.3 million in tax credit equity investment dollars from an affiliate of PNC Bank. The owner of the development is Humboldt Apartments L.P., whose general partner is an affiliate of Hugh Futrell, said the company’s CEO of the same name.

“Throughout this onerous process, the city of Santa Rosa has been extremely helpful,” said Mr. Futrell, noting the unsuccessful effort to obtain Multifamily Housing and other funding from the state.

The project, which is expected to begin taking applications in June of 2013, will be open to individuals making between 50-60 percent of the area median income, with rent ranging from $700 to $1,100 after utilities, Mr. Futrell said.

The affordability of the project will be maintained for 55 years and available to tenants of all ages, said Marjorie Jackson, affordable housing program specialist for the city of Santa Rosa.

“The more households you have within walking distance of the downtown, the more of an economic impact you’ll have in the downtown area,” she said.

The Santa Rosa City Council approved the tax-exempt bond to fund the project last week.

Burbank Housing Development Corporation was originally announced as co-general contractor and co-developer of the project in 2010, but discontinued its involvement after the unsuccessful attempt to obtain a deferred payment loan through the state’s Multifamily Housing Program. While the project still serves low-income families, the lack of funds required that tenants be admitted with income levels higher than Burbank Housing targets in its developments, said Pascal Sisich, director of housing development.

Burbank housing remains a strong supporter of the project, said Mr. Sisich.

“It’s definitely something to celebrate,” he said.

The project will include a community room, second-story courtyard and private parking, and is a short walk from Santa Rosa’s downtown core, transit hub and the passenger rail station planned for railroad square . The architect is Healdsburg’s Jon Worden.

Construction is expected to last one year, Mr. Futrell said. A former county building on the site will be demolished.
http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/58720/new-funding-propels-downtown-santa-rosa-affordable-housing/
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Santa Rosa council gives boost to southeast greenway
By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Tuesday, August 7, 2012 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, August 7, 2012 at 9:13 p.m.

Supporters of plans to acquire a 2-mile swath of vacant land once eyed for a highway and transform into an urban park cheered a move by the Santa Rosa City Council supporting their efforts Tuesday.

The city will ask that 50 acres of land once eyed for the extension of Highway 12 over what is now Spring Lake Regional Park instead be set aside for bicycles, pedestrians, parks, gardens, public places, environmental restoration, and limited development.

The council agreed to send a letter to Caltrans requesting the state agency consider “alternative non-motorized uses” for the 300-feet wide strip of unused right-of-way running from Farmers Lane to Summerfield Road in its upcoming review of Highway 12 between Napa and Sonoma counties.

That would set the stage for the agency to declare the property surplus, which would allow it to sell or transfer the land to another agency or non-profit.

The council's action, while a modest one, was nevertheless historic, said Steve Rabinowitsh, a member of the Southeast Greenway Committee.

“For the first time residents of Santa Rosa are going to begin to take back a property that was going to be a highway and make it a piece of land that we can all appreciate and use,” Rabinowitsh said.

Dozens of supporters wearing green outfits to the council meeting applauded the decision.

Some noted that the greenway could prove a vital east-west link for bicyclists, while others stressed it could connect neighborhoods to nature, especially the trio of parks - Howarth Park, Spring Lake park and Annadel State Park — just to the east...

full article: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120807/ARTICLES/120809614/1350?Title=Santa-Rosa-City-Council-boosts-greenway-proposal-

^^

Here is the area that article is discussing

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/1381/greenway.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/256/greenway.jpg/)

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Downtown Santa Rosa building demolished for low-cost housing

By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Saturday, September 8, 2012 at 4:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, September 8, 2012 at 8:52 a.m.

Workers using heavy machinery began demolishing an aging Humboldt Street office building this week to make way for a five-story structure with low-income apartments above commercial space.

Construction on what will be one of the largest new buildings in Santa Rosa in several years is expected to get under way later this month and be ready for occupancy about a year later, developer Hugh Futrell said.

The brown wooden structure at 499 Humboldt St. had housed county offices and a landscape architecture firm. It's being razed to make way for a 52-unit apartment building for low-income and very-low-income residents.

There will also be 2,500 square feet of retail space on the first floor and 41 parking spaces for residents. The project is expected to cost $12.9 million.

It's located in a part of the city Futrell knows well. The site at the intersection of Humboldt and Seventh streets is just one block away from two other Futrell projects: The Burbank, a five-story condominium building that opened in 2008, and Beaver Street Apartments, 34 low-income apartments over commercial space that opened in 1996.

A smaller market-rate apartment building was once planned for an adjoining site on Seventh Street that houses a single-story building and until recently was home to a hair salon. The status of that project is unclear.

The site is on the edge of the Cherry Street Historic District, home to some of the city's most notable Victorian-era residences.

Units in what is being called Humboldt Apartments will range from $749 per month for one-bedroom units to up to $1,249 for three-bedroom units, according to city reports.

The project is being financed through a $3.1 million loan from the Santa Rosa Housing Authority, up to $6.4 million in city-issued tax exempt revenue bonds and $4.3 million from investors who will receive tax credits.

Forty-three of the units will be dedicated to people who are low-income, defined as earning less than 60 percent of the median household income for the area. Eight units will be for very-low-income residents, or those earning less than 50 percent of the median.

The federal government considers the median income for a family of four in Sonoma County in 2012 to be $82,600.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120908/ARTICLES/209081047/1350?Title=Downtown-Santa-Rosa-building-demolished-for-low-cost-housing

Santa Rosa celebrates Sixth Street undercrossing
By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Monday, September 10, 2012 at 6:24 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, September 10, 2012 at 6:24 p.m.

Santa Rosa leaders, city staff and neighbors gathered Monday at the site of the new Sixth Street undercrossing to celebrate the completion of a project designed to help reconnect a city long divided by Highway 101.

The project was finished over the summer at a cost of about $1.3 million, more than half of which came from federal and state transportation grants.

It was a rare opportunity to improve the connections for cars, bicycles and pedestrians between the downtown and Railroad Square neighborhoods, said Rick Moshier, the city director of transportation and public works.

Mayor Ernesto Olivares noted that the short new stretch of roadway, including sideways, bike lanes and pedestrian-scale lamp posts, connects the West End neighborhood, Chops Teen Center, future SMART train station and miles of trails with the St. Rose neighborhood, Sonoma County Museum and downtown.

“That’s what the highway underpass behind me represents — connectivity; the connection between two vibrant business districts and unique neighborhoods on either side of the freeway,” Olivares said shortly before cutting an orange ribbon with an oversized pair of scissors.

Olivares thanked numerous people, including Councilman Gary Wysocky, who represents the city on the Sonoma County Transportation Authority and pushed for redirecting funds left over from the Highway 101 widening project to the undercrossing.

One of the engineering challenges was that the roadbed had to be dug down 3½-feet to provide the required 15 feet of vertical clearance. That created some drainage issues that had to be resolved, Moshier said.

“Projects like this get so complicated, you wouldn’t believe it,” he said.

The work was completed by Ghilotti Construction Co. of Santa Rosa.

Allan Thomas, a director of the West End Neighborhood Association, said Sixth Street was cut off when the freeway was elevated decades ago, something he said was poor planning.

“It has taken us years and years — probably 20 years — to undo what we did 50 years ago by blocking off that street,” Thomas said.

Several other public works projects are planned for the area, including a SMART multi-use path between West Eight Street and College Avenue, sewer and water improvements at Sixth Street, storm drain improvement at Fourth Street and the construction of the SMART station, Moshier said.

“There a lot of public investment going on in this part of town,” Moshier said.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120910/ARTICLES/120919951/1350?Title=Santa-Rosa-celebrates-Sixth-Street-undercrossing

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120908/ARTICLES/209081047/1350?Title=Downtown-Santa-Rosa-building-demolished-for-low-cost-housing

This is will be an awesome addition to downtown. I thought the location was interesting as well! It is nice to see Santa rosa continuing its growth. Let's see some high rises!!!

Santa Rosa transit mall gets new mural
John Burgess / PD
By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Tuesday, September 11, 2012 at 4:24 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, September 11, 2012 at 4:24 p.m.

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/8448/bildebf.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/405/bildebf.jpg/)

There isn't much room for landscaping in the city's new transit mall, but an oak tree is nevertheless taking root in the midst of the downtown construction site.

Tile contractor Nick Tucker and Artstart artists have taken advantage of a lull in the renovation of the city's bus depot to install a large tile mural depicting the twisted limbs of a mature oak tree.

“It definitely changes the look of the whole place,” Tucker said Monday as he stepped back to regard the hundreds of hand-painted tiles he has set in mortar so far.

The mural, which will cost about $50,000, was designed by local artist Mario Uribe. Its tiles were painted, glazed and fired by the young artists at Artstart, the nonprofit art program for teens.

The transit mall is undergoing a $3.1 million renovation to make it more inviting and easier to navigate.

The project got under way in June with the relocation of bus stops to First Street. The work was expected to be done by September, but fabrication delays have pushed that back to the end of October, said Jason Parrish, project manager.

The idea behind the mural and another art installation, a sheet-metal sculpture of a rose, was to bring a sense of the natural world into the urban hardscape, Parrish said.

“We still wanted to be able to provide that sense of the natural surroundings and the quality of the environment we live in,” he said.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120911/ARTICLES/120919908/1033/news?Title=Santa-Rosa-transit-mall-getting-makeover-mural&tc=ar
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I've been to the "temporary" Santa Rosa Transit Mall across from City Hall, and I took quite a lot of pictures of the CityBus, Sonoma County Transit, and Mendocino Transit Authority. Yet, I still need to see what kinds of improvements will eventually be added to the Transit Mall: will it have attractive art pieces? Will it have better toilets? Will it have better access for the handicapped? Too many questions still linger over my head on that one.

Design board OKs revised plans for Montgomery Village Boudin SF bakery

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=SR&Date=20120925&Category=BUSINESS&ArtNo=120929694&Ref=AR&Profile=1036&MaxW=445&border=0 (http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120925/BUSINESS/120929694/1036/business?Title=Montgomery-Village-Boudin-SF-design-OK)

An artist's rendering of the proposed Boudin SF bakery site at Montgomery Village.


By KEVIN McCALLUM (http://www.pressdemocrat.com/personalia/KMcCallum)
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 at 4:09 p.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 at 4:09 p.m.


A revised plan to build a Boudin SF bakery at Montgomery Village Shopping Center in Santa Rosa has won final approval from the city's Design Review Board.

The board voted 5-0 last week to approve David Codding's plans for the new 7,000-square-foot building, which will be leased by the restaurant chain known for its chowder-filled bread-bowls.
The new plan includes more trees, wider building overhangs and additional outdoor seating, Codding said.
The building will be 36 percent smaller than the former home of Copperfield's Books, which Codding demolished earlier this year to make way for Boudin and additional parking.
About 1,800 square feet of the building has yet to be leased, and would be appropriate for a coffee or juice shop, Codding said
A previous version of the project modeled after the chain's popular bakery at Fisherman's Wharf was rejected by the board as "corporate," "hokey" and a poor fit for Santa Rosa. Codding Construction broke ground on the project Tuesday. It expects to have the shell completed by January and the bakery open by April, Codding said.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120925/BUSINESS/120929694/1036/business?Title=Montgomery-Village-Boudin-SF-design-OK

Woohoo! Boudin at last in Sonoma County! That would be a fun addition to Montgomery Village indeed, making it a better place to shop and dine. I just hope though that La Boulange will also head to Santa Rosa too.

Woohoo! Boudin at last in Sonoma County! That would be a fun addition to Montgomery Village indeed, making it a better place to shop and dine. I just hope though that La Boulange will also head to Santa Rosa too.

I agree La Boulange would be nice. I think Santa Rosa also needs a Elephant bar or Cheese Cake Factory. Something big like that needs to go in by the coddingtown mall where the los robles was demolished. There would be ample parking and plenty off room. Plus right off the freeway!

^^ Sounds good for a location. And by the way, what shops could be heading to Coddingtown because when I went there the last time, it seemed like it's still "dead"? I mean, Gottschalks was gone, so were Life Uniform and other good shops, and what's left: discount stores, something that Simon Malls may not be satisfied to have.

Target is planned to open in the Gottschalks building, and BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse recently opened up. Along with Whole Foods, which opened in 2010, these stores should bring many more people to the mall which should in turn attract new retail. Codding town is going for the 30 to 60 crowd and plans high end retail stores.

Target is planned to open in the Gottschalks building, and BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse recently opened up. Along with Whole Foods, which opened in 2010, these stores should bring many more people to the mall which should in turn attract new retail. Codding town is going for the 30 to 60 crowd and plans high end retail stores.

Ah awesome. It will be a contrast to Santa Rosa Plaza where the target demographic seems to be the younger crowd... a good mix indeed. I think the Target at Coddingtown would be a good location since it has a lot of gross leasable space, but there are still a lot of empty stores that need to be filled.

They have officially demolished the gottshauks building to prepare for the new Target coming to Coddingtown.

What are your thoughts on Target coming to this part of Santa Rosa?

Any fun memories from Coddingtown you have?

I always enjoyed Christmas Shopping there but i think Target will be a great fit and will bring in a bunch of traffic for that mall and hopefully new development for the area.


http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac221/kyle_n_24/gottshauksbuilding.jpg

The Target is great for the mall and that area. The Coddingtown Area certainly isn't upscale, so the Target is a perfect fit for the Demographic. I was in Rosa for Thanksgiving and took a drive to Coddingtown. It's great to see how much it's changed. The Whole Foods, BJ's, and the remodel of the exterior of the mall are really changing the feel of Coddingtown. Things are looking up. Now if only we could get a Nordstrom and some upscale stores to either Coddingtown or the Plaza....

Speaking of the Santa Rosa Plaza...the remodel of that mall looks great too.

While cruzing downtown I saw that a new headquarters for the Luther Burbank Savings was nearly completed at the old Traverso's site, and the five story low-income housing project on Riley being built by Futrell (same developer as the hopefully soon to be built Museum on the square) was up to the first floor.

More development in the works for Coddingtown

Dick's Sporting Goods eyes Los Robles site at Coddingtown

By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 4:17 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, December 20, 2012 at 7:10 p.m.
Dick's Sporting Goods, the nation's largest sports and outdoor-gear chain, is planning to open a store in Santa Rosa just south of Coddingtown Mall, on the site of the former Los Robles Lodge.

The company recently signed a lease to occupy a 50,000-square-foot building to be constructed at the intersection of Cleveland and Edwards avenues, Kirstie Moore, development director at Codding Enterprises, confirmed Thursday.

Codding Enterprises' desire to construct a new retail building at the site is no surprise. The company submitted preliminary plans for a retail project to the city earlier this year, but didn't name a tenant.

Moore said the project was "consistent with the neighborhood." The property just south of the mall fronts Highway 101 and backs up to a small apartment complex.

Dick's, a publicly-traded company based in Pittsburgh, has more than 500 stores around the United States. Next year, it plans to open its first Sonoma County store in the East Washington Place shopping center in Petaluma.

The Coddingtown location is expected to open in the first quarter of 2014, Moore said. It will be built by Codding Construction, which is also removing the former Gottschalks building nearby to make way for a Target.

The venerable Los Robles Lodge was an 85-unit hotel and restaurant built in 1962. Long a hot-spot in the city's social scene, it closed in 2006.

Oakland-based developer BayRock Residential first proposed building 80 units of housing, then 102 on the 3.5-acre site. But in the midst of the recession, the city rejected the project with an eye toward preserving the site for a retail project that would someday bring in sales tax revenue.

Codding Enterprises purchased the site in 2010, demolished the vacant building, and began planning to develop it.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20121220/BUSINESS/121229935/1036/business?Title=Dick-s-Sporting-Goods-coming-to-Santa-Rosa-

^^ Very interesting. I didn't know that Dick's is opening up shops in Petaluma and Santa Rosa... I saw one being constructed right now in Daly City at Serramonte Mall. Perhaps this will ramp up the competition for sports stores even more, with Sports Authority and Big 5 already doing well in that category.

First some really upsetting news...then some not so upsetting, but not that exciting news. Both are on the Hugh Futrell front. Futrell really is a weasel of a developer. He has no problem screwing over Santa Rosa and its residents, so long as it benefits his bank account.

Residential component dropped from proposal for Santa Rosa's former AT&T building

http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/1337/bildedh.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/713/bildedh.jpg/)

By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, May 3, 2013 at 7:08 a.m.

A downtown developer is downsizing his plans for the former AT&T building in Santa Rosa because he's under the gun to get the long-delayed project moving this summer.

Hugh Futrell is asking the city to let him chop five stories off what had been a 10-story mixed-use tower dubbed Museum on the Square, eliminating entirely the project's residential component.

The change is needed to simplify the financing and speed up construction of the project to prevent tenants for the office space from pulling out of the deal, Futrell said.

"We still believe this is a critically transformative project for downtown Santa Rosa," Futrell said.

The city's former redevelopment agency purchased the long-vacant AT&T building in 2007 for $3 million. The plan was to find a developer to revitalize the windowless concrete structure, which many viewed as an eyesore in the heart of downtown.

Futrell partnered with TLCD Architecture to design a glass-clad building housing the Sonoma County Museum and a restaurant on the first floor, with four stories of offices above. On top of that, they proposed five stories with 43 apartments.

But the challenging financing environment and demise of the redevelopment agency conspired to repeatedly stall the project. The 2010 contract to sell the building to Futrell for $2.1 million has been extended three times, most recently through the end of this year...

Full article: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20130502/ARTICLES/130509881/1350?Title=Residential-component-dropped-from-proposal-for-Santa-Rosa-s-former-AT-T-building

Six-story apartment building for seniors proposed for Santa Rosa

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/6358/bildewa.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/41/bildewa.jpg/)

By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Saturday, May 4, 2013 at 4:46 p.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, May 4, 2013 at 4:46 p.m.

Santa Rosa developer Hugh Futrell is planning a six-story downtown apartment building for 140 low-income seniors.

The $30 million project on Fourth Street near Brookwood Avenue will include a medical center and other services for seniors on the first floor, features Futrell says are crucial for an aging population.

“The exploding demographic of low- and very-low income elderly has created an urgent need for affordable housing linked to affordable preventive medical care and supportive services,” Futrell in a statement.

The project is another example of how developers are rethinking what they can build in response to a real estate market still recovering from a historic collapse and a tight lending environment heavily reliant on tax credit financing for low income housing.

Futrell is currently building a five-story low-income project on Humboldt Street. He also recently scaled back his Museum on the Square project at the former AT&T building, eliminating five stories of apartments in an effort to close the deal and begin construction in August.

Futrell has owned the vacant three-quarters-acre lot at 888 Fourth Street for about five years. In 2008 he won approval for build a seven-story building with 52-market rate condominiums. The recession killed that deal, so Futrell later tried to resurrect it as 116 units of rental housing. That also went nowhere.

Then last year, he began talking to two potential partners to take the project in a new direction...
Full article: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20130504/ARTICLES/130509762/1350?Title=Six-story-apartment-building-for-seniors-proposed-for-Santa-Rosa
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Santa Rosa council approves scaled back Museum on the Square project

By KEVIN McCALLUM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Published: Tuesday, May 7, 2013 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, May 7, 2013 at 9:39 p.m.
Though disappointed to see the top five stories disappear, Santa Rosa City Council members unanimously supported a scaled back version of the Museum on the Square project Tuesday.

The council agreed to sell the windowless former AT&T building downtown to developer Hugh Futrell even though he is no longer proposing to turn it into a 10-story tower topped by 43 apartments.

Instead, Futrell says he'll turn the concrete structure into a glass-clad building with museum and restaurant space on the first floor and four stories of office space above.

Councilwoman Julie Combs said she was “experiencing a tremendous sense of loss” from the elimination of the residential units, which she said could have brought “excitement and vibrancy” to the downtown. Nevertheless she said the smaller project would go a long way toward improving that area of Courthouse Square.

“I think this is one of those instances when we don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” Combs said.

Futrell explained that he needed to simplify the project to get it financed, purchased and under construction by August to ensure his anchor tenants can occupy the building by next year.

Council members praised Futrell for his commitment to downtown and his tenacity for the sticking with the project despite many hurdles. The building was purchased by the city's redevelopment agency in 2007 and was in the process of being sold to Futrell and his partners when the state eliminated its 425 redevelopment agencies. The resulting bureaucratic morass has bogged down the project ever since.

“To have the state turn around and kick him in the butt the way it did, it amazing that he's still involved,” Councilman Jake Ours said.

The financing for the residential component of the project was complex and was also impacted by the federal sequestration affecting the timing of special tax credits for such infill projects, Futrell said.

The amended agreement calls for Futrell to close escrow by the end of August. The new sale price will be based on a new appraisal that is underway. The proceeds will not go directly to the city, but will instead be distributed among various taxing agencies in the area, including schools and other districts.

Even though it won't build housing, the project will spur demand for housing downtown, Futrell said.

“We need both jobs and housing. But jobs are the fundamental determinant of housing demand,” Futrell said.

The long vacant building is considered by many to be an eyesore and a major impediment to energizing the downtown. “We need to make that corner vibrant. That corner has been hamstringing our ability to revitalize Courthouse Square for how many years?” Councilman Gary Wysocky said.

City staff estimate the revised project could create 600 jobs and generate $60 million of annual economic activity for the city. Instead of $26 million, the new project will cost $16.5 million.

Mayor Scott Bartley praised Futrell for his personal investment in the project and supported the goal of keeping good-paying jobs downtown. But he said he worried that time was running out for the project.

“I hate to say it, this is sort of a hail Mary attempt to save this,” Bartley said.

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20130507/ARTICLES/130509622/1350?Title=Santa-Rosa-approves-scaled-back-Museum-on-the-Square

Question then: for the former AT&T Building, what kinds of offices and/or shops will be placed in there? It is located next to the Transit Mall and across from Santa Rosa Plaza, so I can see a lot of commercial activity that the building can be used in the future... Plus, I wonder who are the most influential developers in Santa Rosa because it is pretty close to Novato, has more people than San Rafael and Novato combined, and I like the commercial vibe it offers.

Question then: for the former AT&T Building, what kinds of offices and/or shops will be placed in there? It is located next to the Transit Mall and across from Santa Rosa Plaza, so I can see a lot of commercial activity that the building can be used in the future... Plus, I wonder who are the most influential developers in Santa Rosa because it is pretty close to Novato, has more people than San Rafael and Novato combined, and I like the commercial vibe it offers.

A large chuck of the office space is going to be leased by TLCD architecture, which designed the building. The bottom floor is planned as an art gallery for the Sonoma County Museum, as well as a yet unnamed restaurant space.

Recently Hugh Futrell has been the most active developer in the downtown area. He has recently built the The Burbank condo building, the Downtown Apartments, 201 3rd St office building, 123 4th st condo/retail, 200 4th st office building, and under contruction is the 499 Humboldt st affordable apartments. However, he has fallen through on many of the larger projects.

I guess I can't complain too much about the downsized museum project. It will certainly improve the windowless eyesore that is the AT&T building. I am just frustrated and disappointed that all the large scale, high density projects have gone by the wayside. We just have to hold out hope that with the improving economy a developer will actually move forward with a tall, mixed-use project that the city has been looking for.

A large chuck of the office space is going to be leased by TLCD architecture, which designed the building. The bottom floor is planned as an art gallery for the Sonoma County Museum, as well as a yet unnamed restaurant space.

Recently Hugh Futrell has been the most active developer in the downtown area. He has recently built the The Burbank condo building, the Downtown Apartments, 201 3rd St office building, 123 4th st condo/retail, 200 4th st office building, and under contruction is the 499 Humboldt st affordable apartments. However, he has fallen through on many of the larger projects.

I guess I can't complain too much about the downsized museum project. It will certainly improve the windowless eyesore that is the AT&T building. I am just frustrated and disappointed that all the large scale, high density projects have gone by the wayside. We just have to hold out hope that with the improving economy a developer will actually move forward with a tall, mixed-use project that the city has been looking for.

I hope they do something someday with the rest of the at&t building right next to the burbank bank, is there any plans or does it have anything going on inside it? But this is a great start.

I hope they do something someday with the rest of the at&t building right next to the burbank bank, is there any plans or does it have anything going on inside it? But this is a great start.

I believe that building is actually still occupied by AT&T. There are no plans to renovate it to my knowledge. Despite the giant robot looking thing on top, that building looks much better than the current 'museum on the square' building. It has windows, and the west side has been dressed up a bit with the the large art scupture that moves with the wind. But yeah, it would be nice to get a complete overhaul.