An early conceptual map of the 28-acre downtown.
In what could cement Rohnert Park as the North Bay’s most up-and-coming city, the city council in August reached a significant milestone toward a decades-long dream: Building a downtown from scratch.
The council on Aug. 27 unanimously approved CenterCal Properties of El Segundo as the developer for the estimated $400 million project. The council had already purchased a location for the downtown—a vacant 28-acre site at Rohnert Park Expressway and State Farm Drive—for $12.5 million in 2022.
While it will take around two years to finalize the designs and get approval before ground can be broken, selecting a developer sets the final processes in motion.
The development plan includes a hotel, town square, public walkways, retail and housing. As detailed by CenterCal, the proposed hotel would be next to the SMART train station, next to the city public works lot.
Approximately 150,000 square feet of retail space, including a grocery store, would face Rohnert Park Expressway. The total number of residences is not yet hard and fast, with one estimate at around 300 homes along Enterprise Drive and State Farm Drive. At least 25% of the homes will be affordable housing—available for households making up to 80% of area median income.
One man with a front row seat to local development throughout the years is Rohnert Park’s first mayor and city manager Peter M. Callinan, 94. Callinan and his wife, Greta, moved to Rohnert Park in 1958 and bought one of the first homes in the A neighborhood where they raised their six children. Callinan served on the inaugural city council for a year and as the original city manager for 27 years. When asked why Rohnert Park is just now getting a downtown, Callinan replies: “Paul Golis, the original developer, never planned one,” referring to the local attorney sometimes credited as the “Father of Rohnert Park.”
“I’m happy that we’ll finally have a thriving, transit-oriented development with new restaurants and retail shops in the heart of Rohnert Park,” Callinan says.
The newest member of the city council echoes his sentiment.
“It’s beyond exciting to participate in the delivery of Rohnert Park’s community hub that is decades overdue,” says Emily Sanborn, who was elected to the council in 2022.
The council considered a number of developers for the job, but Sanborn says they settled on CenterCal Properties because of its unique portfolio, among other things.
“While most developers have experience building housing, CenterCal also has extensive experience in retail development,” the councilmember told NorthBay biz in an email.
CenterCal’s development portfolio matched the shopping list of wants and needs the council received from Rohnert Park residents and Sonoma State University students via community feedback surveys, Sanborn says.
The list included food and beverage establishments, retail stores and beautiful gathering spaces, she says.
Additionally, the councilmember says that CenterCal sites have what she described as a cohesive and positive vibe with attention paid to details. The team the council worked with was receptive to their ideas and did a good job on projects similar to the proposed Rohnert Park downtown, Sanborn says.
Though Sanborn didn’t mention a specific shopping center, CenterCal’s portfolio includes Emeryville’s Bay Street, a three-block stretch of the East Bay city remodeled as a walkable shopping, dining and community gathering place in 2022.
City Councilmember Jackie Elward says from what she’s seen of CenterCal’s work, she’s “excited to see it replicated here.”
Elward envisions the downtown eventually hosting such popular community events as the farmers market, as well as Fourth of July, Halloween and Christmas-lighting celebrations. “[It will be] a place where people can come to create forever memories.”
A clean slate
The benefit of building a downtown from the ground up is that it affords the developer greater flexibility in how they apply their creative expertise within the parameters of form-based code, the councilmember says.
Another benefit, according to City Manager Marcela Piedra: “We have a clean slate. It’s like an empty canvas we can fill in.”
Piedra adds, “We’re in a unique situation in that we can learn what works well from other cities that have established downtowns and put that to use.”
Other cities have found success with what is known as the mixed-use concept, the city manager says.
“You want to make sure you are creating a community space,” she says. “Not only a retail hub, but also restaurants and entertainment, so you are bringing people in—and you also have housing.”
Piedra notes that other North Bay cities—such as Santa Rosa, Novato and San Rafael—were built before the SMART train existed, so their design didn’t make the most of having a train station. It’s the other way around with Rohnert Park.
“We’re going to have a hotel there so people can take SMART to Rohnert Park and stay at the hotel,” another way to draw folks to the downtown and the city, she says.
However, the most important thing is the wants and needs of Rohnert Park residents, stresses Piedra. “And being able to start from scratch with their input will go a long way.
“At the end of the day, it’s what your community wants and what your community can support,” Piedra says.
As for the challenges, while none are insurmountable, the city manager mentions: “How are we going to address the parking needs? How will we address traffic conditions? How do we ensure that people will come in?”
Another challenge: The previous developer of the parcel removed healthy trees, and now the community is concerned that it could happen again, Piedra says.
“We want to make sure we preserve those trees—that they are part of the design of the site,” she says.
Financing is also a concern, the city manager says, something Sanborn had noted, saying, “Cost is the greatest challenge we face.”
Robert Eyler, a professor of economics at Sonoma State University, seems to agree. Like Sanborn, the economist gave the costs of construction as a challenge.
Destination Rohnert Park
The benefits of creating a downtown from scratch are that “you can shape it in the city’s image, or the way the city wants it to be nestled among the city’s other assets,” Eyler says. “It’s how it presents an augmented sense of Rohnert Park as a city and a destination.”
The downtown will have a significant effect on the Rohnert Park business community and the North Bay in general, the professor says.
“For Rohnert Park, the hope is that it will provide more foot traffic for merchants in the city, and a destination—another defined space like the golf course,” Eyler says.
“The living spaces downtown are a big deal, expanding the indigenous market,” Eyler says. It’s only natural that people will walk from their homes to the various shops, restaurants and other venues in the downtown, he says.
As for the overall area, “For Sonoma County, it’s another place to talk about that people can visit,” he says.
With that in mind, choosing the businesses to inhabit the mixed-use buildings will be important, Eyler says.
“Calistoga is known for its spas, Sonoma for its wine tasting. One of the things downtown will need is some differentiator that suggests, ‘This is why someone should come to Rohnert Park rather than some other place,’” he says.
Regarding Eyler’s comment about Rohnert Park finding a unique draw, Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Lisa Orloff immediately ticked off a series of the city’s venues for families and children.
“There’s Scandia with its mini-golf, arcade games and go-cart track, Rebounderz with indoor trampolines, Double Decker Lanes bowling alley, Cal Skate skating rink, Fundemonium, a hub for children’s activities like radio-controlled cars, Nitro City Racing and the Reed Between the Lines escape room,” she says.
Rather than spas or wine, Rohnert Park is a family destination, the chief executive says.
Rohnert Park City Councilmember Samantha Rodriguez envisions the downtown serving as a “focal point” for the entire community—a space to build upon such popular community events as the annual Party on the Plaza and the Fourth of July Jubilee.
“Economically, a vibrant downtown will attract businesses, tourism and investments, with the SMART train right next door it will provide access and traffic to the heart of the city,” says Rodriguez in an email. “[Located] right between our neighbors at Sonoma State University, Green Music Center and Graton casino, making it a more attractive destination for both residents and visitors from the larger North Bay Area.”
Location, location, location
Orloff, Callinan and the council members all agree that the downtown has been a long time—too long a time—coming.
The first developer to work on Rohnert Park’s downtown was SunCal, one of the largest U.S. real estate development companies specializing in large-scale, mixed-use, master-planned communities.
SunCal acquired the property in 2014 with plans for a project called Rohnert Crossing. The project was never realized, and SunCal sold to Laulima Development.
Laulima was set to build the new downtown until unexpected setbacks cropped up, caused by the 2017 North Bay wildfires and the pandemic, Orloff says. Laulima backed out of the deal and sold the site to the city in 2022.
While this might have seemed like a setback, it actually worked out well for the city, Orloff says.
“When Laulima was the developer, the plan was to open the downtown in 2020,” Orloff says. Given the advent of the pandemic, the timing would have been disastrous. Then the city was able to buy the land, “which gave us control over our own destiny,” she says.
Another piece of luck was being able to build the downtown in this location, she says.
“It’s not in a residential area, so it won’t route traffic through neighborhoods,” she says. “It’s right near the SMART train; someone in San Francisco could jump on the ferry to Larkspur, jump on SMART and visit our downtown. We really got lucky to have a piece of property in a prime location.”
“You want to make sure you are creating a community space. Not only a retail hub, but also restaurants and entertainment—so you are bringing people in.”—Marcela Piedra, city manager
Councilmember Elward describes having a centralized community hub near public transportation as “essential.”
“Having the SMART station within walking distance will naturally attract more outsiders who will come here to spend money, which will be huge for our local businesses and city revenue,” Elward says. “It will also create jobs for our constituents, students and those in the area.”
While a significant milestone has been reached, there’s still a lot of work to be done—and decisions to be made.
The project’s concept became even more concrete in October after the city and developer signed an exclusive negotiation agreement. The agreement requires the two parties to work out significant terms, including whether the city will sell or lease the land to CenterCal Properties.
Asked via e-mail about the potential sale of the property, Sanborn said, “Whether the land will be sold to the developer is to be determined during the negotiation phase happening over the next couple months.”
Another area of concern came up during the August meeting when representatives from labor groups asked both the city council and CenterCal Properties to ensure that local residents in the building trades have a fair chance to work on the job.
Scott Bohrer, vice president of development for CenterCal Properties, represented the company at the meeting. Bohrer encouraged labor groups to connect with his company.
“It’s exciting to see the engagement with all of the local unions and trades,” Bohrer told the city council. He added, “Our door is open,” and he said labor groups will “have the opportunity to bid the project.”
Ultimately, city leaders and residents are hopeful the downtown project will provide the crucial component Rohnert Park has been missing all these years.
“Rohnert Park has always had a heart,” says Vice Mayor Gerard Giudice. “When our downtown is a thriving center of Sonoma County commerce, we will have physical manifestation of that heart.”
As Orloff puts it, with all the amenities Rohnert Park already boasts, the downtown will be the icing on the cake:
“When you add in Sonoma State University, the Green Music Center, plans for a pickleball arena, Spreckels Performing Arts Center and gaming at nearby Graton Resort and Casino—we have a lot to offer!”
