North Bay Business Journal

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.

Construction: SMART railcar designer leases office; Whole Foods sets October opening

LTK Engineering Services (www.ltk.com), which recently won the contract with Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit District (www.sonomamarintrain.org) to design specifications for commuter cars on the forthcoming line from Cloverdale to Larkspur, leased office space in the same Santa Rosa building as the district’s planned project office. … Santa Rosa-based engineering and environmental consulting firm Winzler & Kelly acquired Norris-Repke, a municipal and civil engineering and construction management firm with offices in Santa Ana and Moreno Valley. … Whole Foods Market plans to solicit bids in January for interior improvements of its store in Coddingtown mall in Santa Rosa, according to Glen Moon, vice president of store development for the Austin-based grocery chain. … Associated General Contractors of America asserts that the data collected starting earlier this year under the mandatory reporting of nitrogen oxide (NOX) and soot (PM) emissions from off-road diesel equipment shows that the California Air Resources Board’s original 2000 estimate overstated emissions projections for 2009 by nearly 40 percent. … Clendenen Vineyard Management obtained an SBA loan through Wells Fargo Bank to build a 7,000-square-foot shop and offices at 555 Westside Road near Healdsburg, the site of a future animal shelter as well as a wine warehouse and tasting room. … Melvin and Karen Hahn decided to wind down their Hahn’s Window Center business at 365 Blodgett St. in Cotati after 23 years in business as home construction ebbed and retire to Oregon. San Rafael-based Conservation Corps North Bay, formerly Marin Conservation Corps (www.conservationcorpsnorthbay.org), purchased the 12,100-square-foot building for $1.69 million, backed by state bond money. … The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors postponed until Jan. 12 its deliberation on The Dutra Group’s proposed asphalt plant along the Petaluma River just south of the city to give the U.S. Coast Guard time to look into commercial and recreational traffic on the river. … Principal architects Colin Russell and Larry Davis, who started Russell & Davis Architects of San Rafael in 1998, are parting ways “amicably.”

SMART to open project office in Santa Rosa

SANTA ROSA — Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit District plans to open a project office, located in downtown Santa Rosa, as initial work on the $590 million project progresses toward targets for construction in 2011 and the start of commuter rail service in 2014.

SMART signs contracts; local firms included

NORTH BAY — Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit has signed off on two of the requests for qualification at its board of directors meeting Oct. 21.

Sonoma Mountain Village, labor environmental group reach pact

ROHNERT PARK — The developer of Sonoma Mountain Village and a coalition of labor, housing and environmental groups have reached an agreement to cooperate on labor standards, housing, regional impact of development and green building standards for the innovative project on the 200-acre former Agilent Technologies site.

SMART out seeking proposals to start rail project

NORTH BAY – Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit has requested proposals for three major contracts for the $590 million rail project and is about to put out requests for the remaining three.
“We are confident that we are going to get a great deal of interest from the engineering communities,” said John Lackey, SMART’s capital projects director who is leading a team that is overseeing the pending contracts.

Yardbirds founders envision transit-tied project for RP site

ROHNERT PARK – The family that started the Yardbirds chain of home-improvement stores wants to redevelop the shuttered Rohnert Park store as a transit-oriented, mixed-use development associated with a planned train station nearby.

Backers of $200 million development on Railroad Square ‘just ecstatic’

NORTH BAY – Funding, the primary obstacle of the mixed-use Railroad Square project in Santa Rosa, no longer stands in the way.

The project was approved to receive $15 million in state bond and federal stimulus funds.

Public input meetings set for Cloverdale plan

CLOVERDALE – The city of Cloverdale completed the purchase of 5.32 acres of the Thyme Square commercial development site using $3.1 million in funds for low-moderate income housing projects. It also conducted the first of three workshops to gather public input on the Station Area Plan, which will guide the development of a connection between downtown and the SMART station and provide a design for a gateway to downtown as well as proposed uses for the Thyme Square site.

Seven cities, county share economic development plans

In an attempt to foster mutual cooperation and enhance awareness of economic development activities throughout Sonoma County, eight government agencies came together at a Sonoma County Alliance meeting June 3 at the Santa Rosa Golf and Country Club to talk about retaining existing businesses, attracting new ones, creating jobs and leveraging private/public partnerships to stimulate growth.

Officials seek Railroad Square funds

SANTA ROSA – Funding was the primary obstacle left in the way of the mixed-use Railroad Square project in Santa Rosa getting under way, and it looked to be closer than ever, but a new wrinkle has appeared: the federal economic stimulus bill.