No one can accuse the folks at Sausalito Chamber of Commerce of not knowing we’re in an economic slump. And nobody can say the organization isn’t willing to work on behalf of its members. What they can say is, the effort to lure residents downtown to shop lacks imagination and is rich in chutzpah.
The theme of its campaign, “Stay Local, Buy Local, Think Local” is a tired rip-off of the iconic “Think Globally, Shop Locally.” And while it’s unlikely locals will stay away from the shops, boutiques and eateries that populate the main drags of Bridgeway and Caledonia just because the Chamber lifted its slogan, the theme doesn’t sing.
The really interesting part of the “get the locals to spend some money in town to bail us out” campaign is that the Chamber remembered there are locals. Because of Sausalito’s proximity to San Francisco, it’s become a tourist destination of magnitude. Certainly geography isn’t the Chamber’s fault, and shopkeepers, the city government and the Chamber have done everything to exploit the location and take advantage of the millions of tourists who visit San Francisco each year. Business is business. But the strategy has come with a cost.
While it isn’t unusual to hear three or four different languages being spoken on the sidewalks downtown, what is unusual is to actually run into a local. As a former resident who managed a hotel in town, I say this with a fair degree of authority. Locals long ago ceded any claim to downtown as visitors kept shops hopping, ate up all the parking and slowed traffic.
It isn’t that locals were unwelcome in the stores and restaurants; it’s that they were uncomfortable. So residents retreated to Caledonia Street for dry cleaning and headed north toward Highway 101 for the rest.
But now, restaurants tell the Chamber that business is off 10 to 15 percent, and so the business advocacy organization is reaching out to an audience it’s previously largely ignored, in the hopes that locals will open their hearts, and more important, their wallets.
To be fair, the Chamber is doing more than asking Sausalito denizens to think locally. It’s put the Red Elephant Resident Rewards program in place. The program gives locals a reward for spending cash in town (the Chamber logo is an elephant similar to the statue in the park downtown). The rewards range from free gifts to discounts of 5 percent to 25 percent on goods and services.
Brother, can you spare $62 million?
Marin Commons sits astride southbound Highway 101, just past the Smith Ranch Road exit. The 455,000-square-foot complex is one of the largest commercial buildings in the county, and a high-profile property that’s home to Lucas subsidiary THX, Genworth Life Insurance Company and Kaiser Permanente.
It was also foreclosed on by Connecticut General Life Company after Hines and General Electric Capital failed to make its loan payments. The joint venture bought the buildings in 2005 when they were a little over half occupied, with plans to build housing on the site. But as the market softened, and the vacancy rate climbed to almost 70 percent, Hines and GE turned the keys back to their lender.
While commercial foreclosures are becoming more commonplace across the country, this one was unusual. Hines is a Houston-based real estate investment trust with holdings all over the world and no real cash flow problems. But its joint venture partner, GE Capital, has been under fire from stock analysts and Wall Street types over its investments and the company’s scaled back on many of its activities.
Fortunately, the fate of Marin Commons isn’t being repeated across the county. The Novato Faire Shopping Center, a 133,000-square-foot retail property anchored by a Safeway, recently picked up a $13.6 million refinance via Wells Fargo. (Incidently, the center, which is owned by New York real estate investment trust Kimco, is on the sales block despite the new loan.) Further south in San Rafael, the Jackson National Life Insurance Company originated two refinancings worth a combined $21.8 million for the San Rafael Town Center and the Montgomery Tech Center. The financings are particularly notable since credit in commercial real estate is frozen to the point where commercial loan officers answer to the name “Frosty.”
Asphalt expansion fails to stick
The San Rafael-based Dutra Group’s bid to build a new asphalt production facility in unincorporated Petaluma has been dealt a serious blow, as the majority of the Sonoma County Supervisors have come out against the controversial project. The plant would have to comply with 144 different conditions dealing with issues ranging from noise levels to air quality. The project would require the county to change its general plan, urban growth boundaries and butt up against the city of Petaluma, which opposes the project.
Dutra, which has separate dredging, marine construction and materials businesses, operates a rock quarry in San Rafael that’s been a lightning rod for controversy for years. The proposed Petaluma asphalt plant was to replace a Sonoma County site that Dutra sold to developers planning to build homes. The company operated a different facility until the county shuttered the site for operating without a current use permit.
Niggling details like government certifications and construction permits have been Dutra’s downfall in the past. Its quarry was the subject of a scathing Marin County Grand Jury report that, among many conclusions, revealed the company had done construction work without pulling permits. The quarry has come under fire from neighbors and critics for everything from dust pollution on neighborhood streets to operating beyond permitted hours to allegedly causing property damage because of explosives at the quarry.
To its credit, in recent years, the company has taken up an aggressive community and media relations program, trying to mend fences and polish its corporate image.
Dutra vows to bring an improved version of the project forward, one that address the public health concerns in a more substantial manner.
