North Bay Business Journal

Office building owners and their tenants have long understood the value of depreciation expense in relation to cash flow.

Depreciation expense is a deduction that reduces taxable income and thereby increases after-tax cash flow.

UKIAH — New life for the former Masonite plant in north Ukiah as a home for multiple manufacturers began early this month as a growing local maker of exhaust systems for personal watercraft and snowmobiles begins a $6 million project this year to triple the size of its production plant.

PETALUMA — Novato-based genetic research components maker Biosearch Technologies Inc. needed to double the size of its headquarters and labs to accommodate growth over the next decade, and they found the perfect fit in a mostly vacant 120,000-square-foot former high-tech manufacturing plant in south Petaluma that could be retrofitted quickly and relatively inexpensively.

In a decision that could impact the tax planning and accounting practices of real property owners, developers and tenants, the Internal Revenue Service has issued a new set of regulations that seek to clarify the manner by which the cost of certain building improvements qualify for a federal tax deduction.

While the guidance helps brings clarity to a long-contentious issue that has reached as far as the U.S. Supreme Court, accounting leaders in the North Bay and beyond stress that those involved in property improvements should familiarize themselves with the regulations and anticipate a potential change to the flow of tax deductions to their federal tax bill.

North Bay manufacturers EO Products, Biosearch Technologies and Anette’s Chocolates are expanding their production plants this summer and fall.

NAPA — DFV Wines plans to open a sizable bottling plant in south Napa this fall for its growing stable of North Coast brands.

EO Products’ proud “Made in Marin” line on the labels of its line of personal care products almost had to be rewritten as the company considered whether growing locally still made economic sense for a consumer products maker.

But now the September target is looming for an expansion move to a higher-capacity plant twice as large in San Rafael, thanks to active help from a commercial property owner, city and regional economic developers and public officials.

SANTA ROSA — More than 100 representatives from many of the 149 nonprofit and faith-based agencies served by the Redwood Empire Food Bank were given an advance preview of the new headquarters building and food distribution hub on April 17.

SANTA ROSA — As part of a wide-ranging review of zoning and permitting policies to spur business growth, the city of Santa Rosa plans to try same-day permitting for simple commercial tenant improvements, possibly shortening a process that can take weeks.

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.

Denver-based Apartment Investment and Management Co. (NYSE: AIV) is betting about $65 million on the renovation of the 126-unit vacant apartment complex in Corte Madera, amounting to $516,000 a unit. Also: Rowland Plaza to be refi’ed not sold; San Rafael Corporate Center gets medical office rezoning; Deer Creek Village courts Friedman’s, Home Depot; Santa Rosa office short-sale lands big tenant.

PETALUMA — A Novato serial high-tech entrepreneur is expanding a complementary foray into high-style by opening a Paul Mitchell salon trade school in Petaluma.

Potential for significant projects on the horizon is limited to a few “bright spots,” or business sectors that are moving forward with construction, according to poll of North Bay architecture firms to be presented at the Business Journal’s Construction Conference 2011 on Tuesday.

Major areas of opportunity for construction in the North Bay are commercial tenant improvements, multifamily housing, health care facilities and energy-efficiency retrofits, according to a panel of experts set to speak at the Business Journal’s Construction Conference 2011 on Tuesday.

PETALUMA — Perhaps the most complex building project of the year in the North Bay took place in Petaluma, where Devcon Construction turned a 185,000-square-foot shell into a plastic injection molding manufacturing facility for Thermo Fisher.

Also: Windsor project sees vegetable gardens, olive trees, electric cars