Around this time of year, it’s nice to look back and see how far we’ve come—or how often we’ve stumbled. Real estate is always a hotbed topic, and Napa County is not precluded. Lower prices, inventory and interest rates attracted more absentee owners to Napa County than in years past. As reported by DataQuick real estate service, 28.6 percent of the homes sold in the first and second quarter were purchased by absentee owners—a figure that nearly doubles what the county saw three years back.
In other news, the Napa 9/11 Memorial Coalition held a fundraiser at Gordon Huether’s Hay Barn Gallery on September 10 to unveil three glass panels weighing more than two tons, etched with the victims’ names. The group is committed to raising an additional $50,000 to commence with construction and completion of the memorial garden in downtown Napa for 2013.
COPIA’s next act
One of the quickest ways to ignite a crowd is to turn talks to the butt of many jokes, otherwise known as COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts. This year’s chronicles included a two-day auctionwith grandiose dreams of liquidating assets. While the April auction scored a whopping $350,000, Jim Cantrell, manager of the COPIA liquidation trust, called returns from the event “disappointing.” I’ll say, especially given the hyped-up perceived value of the 1,000 auction lots up for grabs. Attendees benefited more than anything with steal-a-deal sales like artist Mitch LaPlante’s glass grape cluster, valued at $30,000, which sold for a paltry $3,500. Regardless of how successful the auction was or wasn’t, it’s going take a lot more than an auction to hack away at the $75 million in debt declared at the time of bankruptcy filing in 2008.
Yet rumors still swill over would-be uses for the COPIA campus, from corporate headquarters and medical spaces to pop-up restaurants, art galleries and museums. With 79,000 square feet of space, Cushman & Wakefield Developers (among others) squabble over the best path to peace: Finding a single tenant to occupy the space (is this even possible or realistic given the population and size of Napa County?) or divvying it up between multiple tenants. Settling for any kind of movement seems appropriate at this point, given how long the space has been defunct.
Ever since winding up in bankruptcy court in 2009, the site has, for the most part, been sitting idle.So, will the COPIA heart beat a little longer? The title-holding insurance firm charged local developer Keith Rogal with the assignment of drumming up ways to leverage the grounds while the rest of us sit back and wait for this Holy Grail of a space to be scooped up. Not exactly. Ken Frank of La Toque spearheaded a resuscitation of three acres of gardens on the premises. Rogal enlisted the First Street Garden Co-op along with local chefs to orchestrate the first-ever Harvest Table dinner, held in August. The event included an all-star culinary cast with the likes of Todd Humphries, Brad Farmerie, Ken Frank, Curtis DiFede and Tyler Rodde along with folks from Hog Island, ZuZu and Ca’ Momi. Margrit Mondavi was also in attendance, which was fitting, considering she and her late husband Robert donated millions to the original COPIA cause.
So could it be that COPIA isn’t destined for desolation after all? Putting aside the $78 million in debt that’s haunting the joint, one could argue that COPIA succeeded in its mission to cultivate an interest in downtown Napa. Others would go as far as crediting COPIA for playing a heavy-handed role in said revitalization—which, by the way, is no longer a relevant moniker. Downtown Napa should be referred to as “boomtown” in my book, with the bevy of new restaurants and bars. The bigger question that lingers for me is: Will the sale of COPIA be any further along this time next year? This is one wager I’m not willing to make quite yet.
Winding up and closing down
While harvest is well on the wind down, the film and cinema scene is revving up. If predictions are correct (as I write this column in August), Napa will be sporting a spanking new Century cineplex equipped with 12 auditorium-style theaters and 2,051 stadium seats. The exterior of the theater will be glammed up with artwork by Gordon Huether, fueled up with an onsite Starbucks and paired up with a wine bar, lounge and self-serve candy stalls. The neighboring Cinedome 8, with a mere 1,411 seats, is expected to close.
If all that screen talk isn’t scintillating enough, this month brings round two of the Napa Valley Film Festival, November 7-11. Last year’s rendition made more than a noticeable dent in the hospitality scene with wine, food and celebrity-studded events from Napa to Calistoga. As reported earlier this year, 2011’s inaugural event drew total attendance of 25,000 (5,000 unique visitors), with more than 600 cases of wine poured. This was good news for local businesses, according to Sara Brooks, general manager of the Napa River Inn. “There was a noticeable increase in foot traffic along the Riverfront and at the Historic Napa Mill. Business owners were happy and enthusiastic about the spike.”
True to Hollywood form, this year’s fest is primed for super-size status, with more celebrities, more events and more wine. Film fiend and critic Leonard Maltin will serve as president of the film jury charged with picking this year’s winning flicks. The five-day fest kicks off with the world premiere screening of the documentary feature film “SOMM,” which trails four wannabe sommeliers as they tackle the master sommelier exam.
The fest’s tagline, “Film. Food. Wine,” sums it up best. Not a bad way to wind down and rev up for the year ahead.
