North Bay Business Journal

Santa Rosa Utilities Field Office: A model of sustainability

SANTA ROSA – New administrative and operations offices, a training center and seven maintenance shops are among new 2011 additions to the Santa Rosa Utilities Field Office located at 35 Stony Point Road and West College Avenue, across from the Finley Community Center.

Ross School: Rising above flood waters for students, community

ROSS – Construction officially wraps up today in the renovation of Ross School, a project that included elevating portions of the school by four feet to avoid flooding and the construction of a new “multipurpose room.”

Morimoto Napa: Sixth signature restaurant with Wine Country touches

NAPA — When “Iron Chef” Masaharu Morimoto opened his sixth signature restaurant at 610 Main St. in Napa’s Riverfront complex, he was greeted by a long list of fans with advance reservations.

Trinchero Napa Valley: ‘A legacy to my grandparents’

The Trinchero family has been producing wine in Napa Valley since acquiring Sutter Home Winery in 1947, but they waited until just the past several years to find the right home for their luxury brand, Trinchero Napa Valley.

BoDean Co. Mark West Rock Quarry achieves a first in solar

SANTA ROSA — With the largest solar powered rock quarry in the western United States, and the first all solar facility of its kind in the industry, the BoDean Company has taken the use of photovoltaic cells and sustainability to the next level at its Mark West quarry.

Other notable projects from around the North Bay

In addition to the winners, the following projects stood out among those nominated and the Business Journal thought were worth noting (alphabetically by county): Edgehill Mansion renovation, San Rafael; Pacheco Plaza shopping center rehabilitation, Novato; Chateau Montelena renovation, Calistoga; Napa Valley Vintners offices, St. Helena; 845 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg; Inman Family Winery, Russian River Valley; and O’Neill PassivHaus retrofit, Sonoma.

$50 million Marin Commons renovation set for 2012 start

SAN RAFAEL — As the county of Marin prepares to take ownership of a 328,000-square-foot office building in north San Rafael in December, preparations are under way to start the estimated $53.1 million transformation of a large portion into the county’s Emergency Operations Facility in mid-2012.

Q&A: Mike Purvis, Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa

Mike Purvis is the chief administrative officer for Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa, which will soon be relocated from the aging Chanate facility, the former county-run Community Hospital, to a brand new, $284 million medical campus next to the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts.

Mr. Purvis will be a panelist at the Business Journal’s health care conference on Nov. 30, where he will discuss the new hospital and how it will impact Sonoma County.

Napa County planning $76 million health and human services project

NAPA –Napa County is moving along its plan to renovate the aging Health and Human Services Agency Department, a $76 million project that will rebuild the Old Sonoma Road campus with phased development over a span of 20 years.

County to spend $82 million on Marin Commons building

SAN RAFAEL — The Marin County Board of Supervisors today approved an $81.9 million plan to purchase a 328,000-square-foot mostly vacant office building and renovate up to 110,000 square feet over the next three years to accommodate a new county Emergency Operations Facility.

Deadline approaches for Napa’s $38 million downtown plan

Napa residents have until Friday to send in their comments on the city’s draft Downtown Napa Specific Plan, a comprehensive document that will coordinate development in the area over the course of two decades.

Leaders in commercial real estate development

Developers are listed by county and in alphabetical order by the firm.

A Dominican ‘Venture Greenhouse’ first: A startup is acquired

SAN RAFAEL, NOVATO — Novato-based green energy contractor Evolvelectric has acquired the LED lighting consultant Illumalighting, making it the first company to “graduate” from Dominican University’s Venture Greenhouse.

Napa’s Vino Bello completes $10 million expansion

NAPA — Vino Bello Resort in Napa has completed a $10.1 million, 66-room expansion, bringing the total amount of rooms to 182 across three buildings.

November completion expected for highway widening in Rohnert Park

NORTH BAY — A round of Sonoma County freeway improvements are on track for completion in November, starting with the opening of a new five-mile, high-occupancy vehicle lane in each direction between Pepper Road in Cotati and Rohnert Park Expressway.

Bedrosians to remodel ex-lumber yard into showplace

SANTA ROSA — Bedrosians Tile & Stone plans to refurbish a former lumber yard in southwest Santa Rosa into a high-end design center and showroom that will be a model for the company’s locations nationwide.

Railroad Square project boosted by grant

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, a major boost to the project even though it has lost a health club as a potential tenant.

Lowe’s backs out of Petaluma project

PETALUMA — Lowe’s Home Improvement has opted not to build a store that was set to anchor a planned 346,000-square-foot mixed-use project on along the east side of Highway 101 in Petaluma because of project delays, the developer announced today.

Winzler & Kelly, Australian company merge

SANTA ROSA — Winzler & Kelly, the largest consulting engineering firm in the North Bay, today announced it merged with large Australia-based engineering, architecture and environmental consulting company GHD.

One steel-frame factory shuts; others expand

ROHNERT PARK — Codding Enterprises LP shut down a 5-year-old Rohnert Park factory for making light-gauge steel framing panels for rapid construction, but panelized construction ventures in Napa and Vallejo are expanding.