Construction on Santa Rosa’s very first In-N-Out Burger has started.
King Buffet the restaurant that used to occupy the lot has been demolished. Today construction workers wearing Arntz Builders vests were busy doing earth work etc. The foundation pad for the store looks so familiar as In-N-Out always uses the same store layout.
Read all of our Santa Rosa In-N-Out coverage.
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The Napa Pipe project wants to build 2,580 townhomes on the outskirts of Napa.
Oregon Steel’s massive pipe manufacturing plant called Napa Pipe used to occupy the project site. You can still see the hulking skeletons of Oregon Steel’s plant including the five-to-seven story buildings and massive cranes. The site is brownfield industrial blight.
In 2005, Napa Redevelopment Partners and Farallon Capital Management, LLC, one of the larger hedge funds in the US, purchased Oregon Steel’s failing operation for roughly $42 million. Napa Redevelopment Partners (NRP) consists of three partners: project lead Keith Rogal, Richard Walsh, and Caspar Mol.
Project page on developers’ site: http://www.rogalwalshmol.com/projects_napa.htm
Slick PR site for the project: http://www.ahomefornapans.com
Project page on City of Napa’s site: http://www.cityofnapa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=572&Itemid=38
News links on Napa Pipe project (chronological order):
2/28/06 – Developers start showing project site to county planning staff (Napa Valley Register)
12/26/07 – Political groups make strong moves for and against the project (Bohemian)
3/3/08 – Project lead Keith Rogal provides thoughts and commentary on project (Napa Valley Register)
6/26/09 – Study says future residents of project’s 2,580 townhomes would add traffic to area. Duh. (Napa Valley Register)
7/18/09 – Project site has plenty of groundwater to serve future residents’ water needs (Napa Valley Register)
9/18/09 – California state law has specific affordable housing requirements. Napa County and the City of Napa fall below requirements. County approves a housing plan that includes Napa Pipe because project plays role in meeting affordable housing requirements. (Napa Valley Register)
9/23/2009 – Affordable housing advocate David Grabill files lawsuit against City of Napa for not providing adequate affordable housing. Lawsuit favors Pipe project. (Napa Valley Register)
11/2/09 – Draft environmental impact report released for public review. Traffic biggest issue. Plants and animals not a big issue since site used to be heavy industrial. (North Bay Biz Journal)
1/1/10 – Assemblywoman Noreen Evans’ political opponent accuses her of strong ties with project developers (The American Canyon Eagle)
1/4/10 – Developers announce tweaks to original project plan. Fewer homes (3,200 to 2,580). Add 150-unit retirement center. Add 150-room hotel. Etc. (Napa Valley Register)
2/6/10 – City of Napa critical of draft environmental impact report (Napa Valley Register)
More info on the developer’s hedge fund partner Farallon Capital:
-Farallon was founded by Richard Steyer, a former Goldman Sachs risk-arbitrager.
-Farallon is a hedge fund that sometimes invests in real estate. Their real estate investments are overseen by managing members Stephen Millham and Richard Fried.
-In 2008, Farallon was recognized as the the 2nd largest hedge fund as measured by “assets under management”.
-SF Business Times (2/29/08) – Farallon has history of picking fantastic investments. Find more SF Business Times’ articles on Farallon here.
- WSJ (3/12/08): “Farallon Regroups After Knockdown” – (click 1st google result)
Others rumored to have small stakes in project:
(Updated with info from source involved with the project)
-Getty oil heir Gordon Getty does not have a stake in the project. He is an investor in the PlumpJack Group which is the management company for Napa Redevelopment Partners’ luxury resort The Carneros Inn.
-San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom does not have a stake. He is the founder of the PlumpJack Group.
-Ed Henderson, former Napa mayor and Napa County supervisor, does have a stake.
-Steve Orndorf, former executive at Kaiser Steel and Napa Pipe Corporation, does have a stake.
My personal suggestion for Napa Pipe developers:
Put greater focus on the existing industrial blight. It is ugly. The site used to house an enormous pipe manufacturing plant. If you view the site on Google Maps all you can see is mammoth industrial buildings and dirt. Why keep industrial blight when you can turn it into townhomes, landscaping, and open spaces, right?! Plus, meeting county housing demands by converting industrial blight instead of developing vineyards and ag land saves vineyards and ag land.
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Photo credit: Mark Aronoff
Burbank Housing is a breaking ground on a 65-unit apartment project in Windsor off Old Redwood Highway. The site used to be the home of First Class Kennel. The Press Democrat has a meaty article on the project.
Windsor Redwoods’ site before clearing and grading:
If you want to go view the property, find it on Google Maps here:
Burbank has a number of projects in predevelopment.
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We wrote about Foss Creek Court back in July 2009 when all we knew was it was a rental housing project located at 40-62 West Grant. Now we know a bit more about the project, but first photos:
Jan 2010:
Oct 2009:
As you can see, Eden Housing is building the whole project at once with no phasing. The buildings in the above photos consist of town homes and flats. Foss Creek Court’s project page says they are going to rent the units to households making 30-50% of area median income, which is roughly $23k-$39k in Sonoma County.
Project details:
(14) one-bed units
(30) two-bed units
(20) three-bed units
(64) total units
Located at 40-62 West Grant in Healdsburg, CA:
Who is Eden Housing? They develop and manage affordable housing communities all over the Bay Area, plus one in Lodi, CA. Foss Creek Court is their fifth project in Sonoma County. They have all the projects they’re currently working on listed here.
Know of a project in Sonoma County we should be following? Shoot us an email.
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We have been busy working on two projects.
We are done remodeling this Windsor property originally built in 1947.
Photos (click to enlarge):
Our second project will be done in a couple weeks and we will be sure to blog about it here.
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The countdown clock on h2 Hotel’s site says 193 days until opening. As you can see above, the third floor is up. Next up: The floor above the green wavy roof as seen in the sketch below.
Sketch by DB+P
Layout for standard rooms:
Sketch by DB+P
Find all our h2 Hotel coverage here.
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Grant Street Village is a new housing development by Sonoma Family Homes in Healdsburg off West Grant Street. When finished it will consist of two, three, and four bedroom homes. You can find drawings, floorplans, and details for the different models here.
Here are some quick details on the different models pulled from their site:
Two bedroom models
Over 1500sf, 9ft ceilings, 2 ½ baths, and single car garages.
Lower level floorplan (click to enlarge):
Upper level floorplan:
Three bedroom models
Over 1500sf, 9ft ceilings, 2 ½ baths, and single car garages.
Lower level floorplan:
Upper level floorplan:
Four bedroom models
Over 1500sf, 9ft ceilings, 2 ½ baths, and single car garages.
Lower level floorplan:
Upper level floorplan:
Sonoma Family Homes was founded by Sarah O’Neel and her father Bob O’Neel a developer who has built over 10,000 homes in Sonoma County. Bob is also the father of Robert O’Neel a businessman hit hard by the housing downturn.
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