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Downtown Petaluma infill project advances

NORTH RIVER LANDING INCLUDES 115 APARTMENTS, 80 ASSISTED-LIVING UNITS

PETALUMA – A Petaluma family is moving forward with a 195-unit mixed-use development at the northern edge of the city’s downtown. The project, North River Landing, will include 80 assisted-living units, 115 apartments and 15,000 square feet of commercial space.

The family of Mel and Betty Silva, owners of the former Silva’s Appliances, will contract with an operating company for the assisted-living facility and hold the property as an investment, according to Chris McCarthy, the Silvas’ son-in-law and the project’s general partner.

“Our longer-term plan is income property,” Mr. McCarthy said. “The rental income supports it at this point.”

The project’s assisted-living units will range from 600-square-foot studios to 1,100-square-foot two-bedroom apartments, according to Mr. McCarthy. The apartments will include one- and two-bedroom units between 800 and 1,150 square feet.

The rents have not been set, but Mr. McCarthy said they will be comparable with projects such as Azure and the Lofts at Basin Street Landing, where monthly rents range from $1,300 to $1,950 for one- and two-bedroom units.

North River Landing will include four buildings arranged around courtyards at the site of the former appliance store. It is the first of several potential infill projects along the western bank of the Petaluma River, including Fifth Resource Inc.’s 107-unit Water Street North, a condominium and mixed-use project approved more than a year ago.

The projects are part of what could be part of a second wave of downtown development following the build-out of the city’s Theater District further south.

North River Landing was tentatively endorsed last month by Petaluma’s Site Plan and Architectural Review Committee, and it is part of a city planning document calling for mixed-use development and an extension of the downtown to the north.

According to Mr. McCarthy the project could break ground this fall, although he is still closely watching economic conditions to determine its timing.

“What could really dampen it is as far as the economy is concerned is if construction prices keep rising,” Mr. McCarthy said.

The economics of North River Landing benefited from the recent adoption of the International Building Code, which increased the number of stories that could be built with wood framing instead of steel. With steel prices increasing as much as 50 percent this year, the project was redesigned from six stories to five, the new maximum permitted for less expensive wood framing.

“We lost about 20 units” with the redesign, he said, “but the cost reduction is so significant it came out to our advantage to do so.”

In addition to construction costs, the project has faced challenges in meeting the city’s demands for downtown development, which is spelled out in its Central Petaluma Specific Plan. The city carved out more than a third of the four-acre site for new road extensions, aimed at connecting Petaluma Boulevard North with an extended, pedestrian-friendly Water Street along the river.

According to Mr. McCarthy, the project is only possible because of a new method for calculating density limits that was incorporated into Petaluma’s newest general plan. The new method includes the entire property area rather than just the net buildable acreage in the calculation, resulting in a higher density.

“The definition of density changed from the old general plan to the new one,” Mr. McCarthy said.

Not including several new road extensions, the property will have 60 units per acre.

“It’s as high a density as you’re going to find in Sonoma County anywhere,” Mr. McCarthy said.

The project’s density and infill location will help it score points for the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED standard, which the developers intend to meet.

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