North Bay Business Journal

Residential Real Estate: William Lyon Homes opens 100-home Enclave in Fairfield

“The Solano County housing market is on the road to recovery,” said a recent study by the California Building Industry Association. The report shows that Solano County is among the top six counties in California for new home construction, growing 20 percent over the last 12 months.

NorthBay Healthcare preparing for Fairfield hospital trauma center

FAIRFIELD – NorthBay Heathcare is developing a plan to open Solano County’s first trauma center, which could be operational by early 2012 and would lessen the need to send seriously wounded patients to neighboring counties.

From linens to insurance, companies expand

La Tavola, ProSight, Central Payment add space, markets; Frank-Lin, Kiewit to move to the North Bay: From linen rentals to financial transaction processing to insurance underwriting to alcoholic beverage production to heavy construction, several companies in various industries have relocated or expanded in the North Bay this year.

Target will repurpose garden centers; impacts 5 of 9 North Bay stores

NORTH BAY – Target Corp.’s decision to close all its gardening departments will include five of the nine stores in the North Bay.

Bond offerings help Fairfield attract bottling company

NORTH BAY – Frank-Lin, the family-owned bottling company with 160 employees, 2,000 brands and currently located in San Jose, lost rail access and needed to move.

Meyer warehouse, Kiewit construction among projects

SOLANO – Solano County has a flurry of construction projects under way.

Wells Fargo Financial closes doors

NORTH BAY — Wells Fargo & Company announced the restructuring of the Wells Fargo Financial division, which will close 638 Wells Fargo Financial stores in the U.S. including an office in Santa Rosa and Fairfield.

The company expects to see 2,800 positions eliminated in the next two months and another 1,000 in the next year.

There are currently 14,000 positions at Wells Fargo Financial, and the remaining people will be moved to other Wells Fargo businesses.

Unions battle for Kaiser representation

NORTH BAY — The National Union of Healthcare Workers has petitioned for elections that would determine whether thousands of employees at Kaiser Permanente facilities could vote to join the upstart union or remain with the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West.

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. …

Driven Raceway prepares second venue in Fairfield

FAIRFIELD – Less than a year after two former Telecom Valley executives turned a vacant “big box” store in Rohnert Park into an entertainment center focused on indoor European electric kart racing, they are planning to do it again in Solano County this fall.

California Rice Oil, seeing growth, exits Novato for Fairfield

FAIRFIELD – Small-staff, high-volume importer California Rice Oil Co. leaves Novato today for Fairfield.

Conference speakers to address economy, permit best practices

NORTH BAY — The good news is that the worst part of the recession generally is over for the local construction industry, according to conference panelist Rob Eyler, chair of the Sonoma State University Economics Department and director of the institution’s Center for Regional Economic Analysis.

Dr. Eyler will be one of the panelists at the Business Journal’s annual Construction Conference on Wednesday, offering opportunities for the North Bay economy and its significant construction industry to prepare for the next business cycle.

Farmer-vet program sees interest in wine

NORTH BAY – John McGlaughlin grew up on a 1,200-acre family farm in Merced County before entering the Army. He suffered the effects of a roadside bomb explosion in Iraq and received a Purple Heart.

Napa-Solano county industrial: Some new demand in 2010 as tenants see excellent terms

The industrial markets of Napa and Solano counties are seeing a modest amount of demand as we head into 2010.

Napa-Solano retail: Celebrity chefs, other notable deals

The Napa County retail shopping centers market ended 2009 with a vacancy of 3.9 percent, a slim decrease compared with 4.0 percent in 2008. The Solano County retail shopping centers market vacancy pushed into double-digits as it closed 2009 at 12.3 percent, compared with 7.2 percent at year-end 2008.

Napa-Solano apartments: Rent incentives common as cap rates show improvement

Assuming that historical indicators hold true, the recession is over, we are told, and the economy is starting to rebound at some level.

Electronic health record system implemented

FAIRFIELD — Sutter Regional Medical Foundation in Solano County announced the rollout of electronic health records at its care centers. The first were implemented at two centers last week, and new systems will be activated every three weeks with the final center scheduled to go live on March 16.

New project profile: Solano County’s Meyer Corp. automated storage and retrieval system

With steel racking 11 stories tall and weighing 11 million pounds, the automated warehouse Vallejo-based Meyer Corp. U.S. is completing at its Fairfield distribution facilities is one of the tallest buildings in Solano County.

Crystal Geyser expands presence in Solano County

CALISTOGA, FAIRFIELD – Napa County-based sparkling water maker Crystal Geyser has leased warehouse facilities in Fairfield. Crystal Geyser signed a three-year lease on just over 70,000 square feet in the Solano County city. The company has had warehouse space in American Canyon. The company is also planning a sprawling new sparkling water bottling facility near [...]

Construction: Santa Rosa rejects Lowe’s, Vallejo OKs one; Smart & Final puts land up for sale

The Santa Rosa City Council voted 5-2 against a proposed Lowe’s Home Improvement store at an industrial site on Yolanda Avenue amid questions about the environmental impact of the project and the potential to hurt local business. At the Sept. 1 council hearing, several leaders of major businesses in the city advocated opposition to the proposal.