North Bay Business Journal

AmCan project turns waste heat to power

AMERICAN CANYON — In addition to a large solar electricity plant planned to cover much of the closed 80-acre American Canyon landfill and an existing power plant there that uses captured methane from decomposing garbage, a new project will harness heat normally lost during combustion of landfill gas to generate up to an additional 1.5 megawatts of electricity.

Millions in solar installations going in at area schools

NORTH BAY — While the schoolchildren are away on summer break, solar energy system installers have been busy installing millions of dollars worth of equipment at school campuses around the North Bay.

Vintage Wine Estates acquires Cartlidge & Browne

AMERICAN CANYON — Vintage Wine Estates, a Santa Rosa-based portfolio of wine brands, on Tuesday acquired the 100,000-case-a-year Cartlidge & Browne brand and inventory.

Sonoma Wine Co. expands in American Canyon

AMERICAN CANYON — Custom vintner Sonoma Wine Co. is undertaking major upgrades of its south Napa Valley winemaking facility to accommodate more larger-scale clients.

Green Business: Santa Rosa to start GHG workshops April 6

The city of Santa Rosa will host a series of facilitated workshops implementation of a citywide Greenhouse Gas Reduction (GHG) Program, which includes a climate action plan.

Commercial Real Estate and Construction: Leading commercial real estate broker sees ‘growth seeds’

Sonoma County job growth is leading that of other counties in the state, observed Al Coppin, president of commercial real estate brokerage Keegan & Coppin Co. Inc. He pointed to major leases in the Highway 101 corridor in Sonoma and Marin counties in the past several months: Cyan Optics, Calix, Métier, Central Payment Corp., BioMarin Pharmaceutical, ProSight Specialty Insurance and Amy’s Kitchen.

Napa-Solano industrial: Year-end activity bodes well for the rest of the year

Industrial markets in Napa and Solano counties overall continued to be sluggish throughout 2010 because of poor economic conditions. While several significant lease transactions were completed during the year, a number of large new vacancies nullified any real traction.

Top Projects: Green: American Canyon High School

AMERICAN CANYON — American Canyon High School opened its doors in the fall of 2010 to welcome students to an energy-efficient campus unlike anything seen in the area.

Top Projects: Warehouse: Biagi Bros. and Jackson Family Wines distribution center

AMERICAN CANYON — Eleven football fields or 10 Boeing 747 jetliners parked wingtip to wingtip could fit under the massive 15-acre roof of the new distribution center for Santa Rosa-based vintner Jackson Family Wines and Napa-based trucker and warehouser Biagi Bros.

Gaia Hotel to become Doubletree franchise

AMERICAN CANYON – Gaia Napa Valley Hotel and Spa, known for its environmental features and LEED Gold certification, will become a franchise of Doubletree Hotel, a Hilton Hotels Corp. brand, by year end.

Projects to be honored for excellence, contributions to North Bay

NORTH BAY — The Business Journal will honor 12 North Bay real estate projects and the key industry players who made them possible at its fifth-annual 2010 Top Projects Awards reception on Dec. 8. Continue reading to see the list of winning projects.

Napa’s FRG lands 450-site AT&T recycling contract

NAPA — FRG Waste Resources Inc., which helps companies recycle or reuse more of their refuse to meet internal and regulatory targets, added 450 more Southeast corporate locations to the landfill-diversion contract for AT&T.

American Canyon chamber names new CEO

AMERICAN CANYON — The American Canyon Chamber of Commerce board of directors named Susan Lane of Napa as the new president and chief executive officer of the 300-plus-member business group.

The chamber had been considering more than two dozen candidates from across the U.S. to replace Pam Wilkinson, who left recently to take another position.

Commercial Real Estate: South Napa wine warehouse deals push down vacancy

About 265,000 square feet in wine warehouse deals were inked recently in the south Napa area, with 164,000 square feet of that being net market absorption. … Hundreds of thousands of square feet of big-box retail space has gone dark in the North Bay in the past two years, but a number of the spaces are getting scooped up by retailers looking to reduce the cost of expanding into the market. … Four agents and brokers affiliated with Orion Partners, which closed earlier this year, have landed new associations. … As the city of Healdsburg narrows its list of consultants that will prepare long-range land-use plans for the central part of the city, longtime lumber vendor Nu Forest Products is vying to be considered as a transit-friendly mixed-use redevelopment site about a block south of the Plaza. …

American Canyon dedicates green high school

NAPA – After more than five years of environmentally sensitive planning, design and construction, American Canyon High School, set to open this fall, was dedicated Friday by the Napa Valley Unified School District.

Crushpad partners with IBG

NAPA – Custom winemaking service Crushpad moved all its shipping and fulfillment operations to IBG Fulfillment in Napa.

Napa tourism program on path to launch

NAPA — Long-standing efforts to establish a regional destination marketing fund in Napa Valley cleared yet another procedural milestone as the county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously last week to adopt a resolution supporting the Napa Valley Tourism Improvement District.

Warehouse goes green

AMERICAN CANYON — The 650,000-square-foot Kendall Jackson Family Wines Distribution Center earned LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, making it one of the largest LEED projects in the state.

Construction: Mi Pueblo opens in Marin; Santa Rosa store plans second location

Mi Pueblo Foods opened its San Rafael store, renovated from a 36,000-square-foot shuttered Circuit City store, on Wednesday. … Rancho Mendoza Super Mercado is reworking 14,000 square feet of former high-technology development and furniture store space at 1201 Piner Road in northwest Santa Rosa to create a second location. … The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service last week expanded the critical habitat for the threatened California red-legged frog into six counties not covered by the 2006 ruling on habitat, including 21,814 acres along Mill Creek on the Mendocino Coast and two locations in Sonoma County, encompassing 1,564 acres in and around Annadel State Park east of Santa Rosa and 4,932 acres on Sonoma Mountain. … Ken Lafranchi of Santa Rosa-based Lafranchi Architecture and Development said the bulk of interest for the forthcoming remodel of the 2,400-square-foot Geyserville Post Office is coming from a group of boutique vintners interested in setting up a collective tasting room. … The Dutra Group’s proposal for an asphalt plant and aggregate distribution facility along the Petaluma River was postponed from March 16 to the May 11 Sonoma County Board of Supervisors meeting.

American Canyon’s Amcor screw-cap sees surging demand

AMERICAN CANYON — The North Coast impact of a recent multibillion-dollar divestiture of various divisions of Alcan Packaging, which makes the Stelvin line of aluminum screw cap wine closures, is expected to be more production capacity soon at the southern Napa Valley plant.