North Bay Business Journal

Area subs selected for SMART contract

SANTA ROSA — A number of local companies have been selected for first part of the recently awarded $103 million design-build contract for underlying construction in the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit commuter rail system.

SMART expects ‘at least’ two more contracts by summer

Planners expect to award at least two more contracts for the construction of a commuter rail line between Sonoma and Marin counties by this summer, following the failure of an effort that could have repealed the 2008 sales tax measure that supports the project.

SMART tax repeal effort fails

NORTH BAY — An effort to allow voters to repeal the 2008 sales tax measure that funds a proposed commuter rail system in the North Bay has failed after election officials in Sonoma and Marin counties collected fewer than the minimum signatures required to advance the matter to the ballot.

Repealing SMART will have expensive consequences

Four years into the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression, everyone’s looking to boost the economy and invest wisely. In the North Bay, voters have provided the opportunity to do both: the SMART Train & Pathway.

RepealSMART campaign submits ballot signatures

NORTH BAY — Election officials in Sonoma County have completed an initial count of 5,471 signatures submitted today in support of a ballot measure to overturn the quarter-cent sales tax voters approved in 2008 to fund construction of a North Bay commuter rail project. Staff at the Marin County Registrar of Voters office will conduct an informal count on Monday. RepealSMART, the group spearheading the repeal, submitted the signatures hours before an end-of-the-day deadline and six months after their efforts officially began in August.

SMART board approves first construction contract

SANTA ROSA — Construction of a commuter rail line between Sonoma and Marin Counties could begin as soon as tomorrow after the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit board of directors today voted unanimously to approve a $103 million design-build contract with the joint venture of Alameda-based Stacy and Witbeck Inc. and Herzog Contracting Corp.

SMART announces contract winners for Phase I

SANTA ROSA — Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit officials today announced the winners of the construction contract for the commuter rail line’s first phase. The work will include two stations not previously part of the initial phase.

SMART sells $191 million in bonds to fund construction

SAN RAFAEL — updated at 3 p.m. — Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit today announced the sale of $191 million in multimodal rate bonds to fund construction of a train linking Marin and Sonoma counties. The proceeds of the bonds will be put in an escrow account while the group RepealSMART works to collect signatures to repeal Measure Q, which put in place voter-approved sales tax to pay for the commuter line.

Survey shows enduring voter support for SMART

A majority of voters in Marin and Sonoma counties said they would oppose the repeal of Measure Q, the sales tax measure funding the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit project, according to poll results released today by the North Bay Leadership Council. Critics say that the level of support has fallen since 2008.

SMART will be a jobs engine for the North Bay

When voters of Marin and Sonoma approved SMART in 2008 to fund a passenger rail line between Sonoma and Marin Counties, they did so with substantial support from the business community. Why? Because business leaders in the North Bay recognized that SMART is good for the economy of the North Bay.

SMART secures first-segment funding with $33.1 million

MARIN COUNTY – Funding is now complete for the first operating segment of the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit system, after a $33.1 million allocation from the Bay Area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission on Wednesday.

Is an excursion train possible for Sonoma County?

Could an excursion train start rolling through Sonoma and Marin counties in the near future, bringing wine country tourists from Napa Valley and San Francisco via the Larkspur ferry terminal? … This summer, the footprint of the TastingRoom’s wine bottle transfer facility in Airport Gateway Center near Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport north of Santa Rosa expanded to 25,000 square feet from 16,000 square feet to accommodate the dozens of wineries that now use the service. … The owners of Russian River Vineyards and its Corks restaurant filed for U.S. Bankruptcy Court reorganization, and recently the amount owed was disclosed as nearly $3 million. … Bill Reading, founder of and portmaker for Petaluma-based Sonoma Valley Portworks, purchased the company from American Beverage Group Inc.

Novato remains the final step before freight can roll

NORTH BAY – The board of the North Coast Railroad Authority approved everything it needed to to run freight and is just waiting for the final vote from Novato on the consent agreements.

Freight trains could be running by middle of June

NORTH BAY — The North Bay could have freight running as soon as June 16, according to the North Coast Rail Authority, which will have a significant impact on local businesses, particularly manufacturers.

SMART fleet in contract

NORTH BAY – The board of the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit approved a contract with Sumitomo Corp. of America to build the SMART passenger rail vehicles.

Private capital, public goods

Predictably, a column like last week’s about a developer’s proposal for a health club and senior housing project in Railroad Square elicited an attack on the potential for profit and a question about what would happen to the “public benefits.”

A chance to jumpstart SMART project at Railroad Square

Imagine this proposal coming to your city’s leaders in today’s awful economic environment: Build a privately financed, state-of-the-art health club near downtown and adjacent to a rising heritage neighborhood with three stories of affordable senior housing on top.

Impossible?

Well, there is such a proposal surrounding Santa Rosa’s long-delayed Railroad Square SMART project. And it should be warmly and emphatically welcomed.

SMART opens Santa Rosa office as it looks to 2014

SANTA ROSA – The Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit has opened the doors to its SMART Santa Rosa project office.

Santa Rosa office: As markets find stability, ‘now is the time’ to act

Santa Rosa office vacancy remained flat throughout the second half of 2009, recording 16.1 percent for both the third and fourth quarters. The year-over-year increase in vacancy was less than 1.0 percent above the 15.3 percent vacancy factor in the fourth quarter of 2008.

2009 year of economy, energy

It was a year dominated by a struggling economy that touched virtually everyone.