Downtown denizens
Democrat Francine Passa is the first to buy a downtown live-work unit at Mendocino Place, where she has just opened her showroom for Passa Violins. SCOTT MANCHESTER / The Press Democrat Dane and Tara Jasper get their morning coffee at Flying Goat Coffee on Saturday morning. The Jaspers traded a four-bedroom home in Santa Rosa's Fountaingrove neighborhood for a one-bedroom townhouse built over a sushi restaurant in Railroad Square.
CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / The PressPublished: Monday, October 16, 2006 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, October 16, 2006 at 2:43 a.m.
Tara Jasper and her husband traded a four-bedroom home in Santa Rosa's Fountaingrove neighborhood for a one-bedroom townhouse over a Railroad Square sushi restaurant.
Their new, downtown abode is a half-block from the freeway, in a bustling historic neighborhood off Highway 101. And they love it.
Within about a block's radius of their two-story townhouse are eight restaurants, a nightclub, two coffeehouses, a wine bar and antique stores.
"I like to pretend I'm in Paris," she said of the brick buildings outside her picture window overlooking Fourth Street. "It's the old town. I love the historic part of Santa Rosa."
The Jaspers are becoming part of a growing demographic by selling their house and moving into one of the 29 "luxury" rental units in the Railroad Square Terrace. It is a trend that city planners are encouraging in Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Windsor and downtowns across the country.
Such housing, typically built above new shops and businesses, is seen as way to revitalize downtowns, cut sprawl and reduce reliance on cars.
In Santa Rosa, more than a half-dozen downtown projects totaling about 600 dwellings are planned or under construction.
City officials are so committed to the concept - which also reduces land costs for housing - that they eased Santa Rosa's 10-story height limit on buildings.
The proposals include a 12-story building with a public parking garage and 183 residential condominiums on the site of the old White House department store, now a city-owned parking lot sandwiched between Second and Third streets and west of E Street.
An adjacent proposed project calls for 96 condos on a site that formerly housed Kinko's copy shop.
And another developer has plans for a 150-foot tall building with 100 condominiums, office, retail and parking. It would be on the site of Roxy on the Square cinemas, next to Third Street Aleworks.
People drawn to the new "urban-centric" lifestyle tend to be upper income, younger professionals or older "empty nesters," seeking to trade down from single-family homes they no longer need, surveys show. The common denominator is having no children at home.
The Jaspers, who have no children, fit the profile, although they plan to stay downtown only temporarily.
Dane Jasper, 33, is the co-founder and president of Sonic.net, an Internet service provider.
Tara Jasper, 28, works part time in sales for Iron Horse Winery in Sebastopol and raises puppies for Canine Companions.
They plan to live downtown in their $1,300-a-month rental, a one-bedroom townhouse, for another year or two, until a house they are building in Forestville is completed and they can begin raising a family.
For all the buzz surrounding the new infill downtown housing, planners and developers acknowledge there is still more demand for conventional, detached housing in subdivisions and rural settings.
And questions remain about the strength of demand for downtown housing, particularly as the once red-hot housing market cools.
A $50,000 study commissioned by the city and issued last year found the market could support about 50 to 100 units a year of downtown housing.
"It can probably be quickly overbuilt," said Hugh Futrell, the developer of Railroad Square Terrace and the 26-unit project known as The Burbank that is under construction at Seventh and Beaver streets. "No one knows how deep the market is. Developers and the city will find out very quickly."
City Planner Lisa Kranz said the 600 or so units in the pipeline could be built over the next five to 10 years, roughly in line with the projected market absorption rate of 500 to 1,000 units over a decade.
But developers and real estate agents said sales are slower than they would like for the new downtown units coming on the market.
Stan Paule, marketing sales director for The Burbank, said the first phase of the project - 13 units - is sold out and in escrow. The luxury condos in the five-story building with a garage range from $269,000 for a small studio, to $499,000 for a two-bedroom, 2½ bath townhouse. Homeowner's fees, which include utilities and some insurance coverage, add another $300 to $400 a month.
Many of those willing to plunk down their money are excited to be living in the first new mid-rise building just off the city center, he said. But he also acknowledged the sluggish real estate market is having an effect on potential buyers.
"I do see some hesitancy," he said. "Everyone wants value for their money. As resale homes are more available on the market and prices drop, there are other affordable alternatives."
Dan Rumrill, a co-developer of two small downtown "live-work" projects that came on the market in May, said "it was just in time for the market to go bad on us."
Rumrill developed Mendocino Place and Museum Place, a total of 13 townhomes on each side of the Seventh Street parking garage.
Billed as "San Francisco loft-style living," with a gated and lighted European style courtyard, the 1,500-square-foot units are selling for $595,000, with about $150 more tacked on per month for homeowner's fees.
The units are designed to have a business or office on the ground floor and residence overhead. Or, the entire space can be used to live in.
So far, four units have sold, including the one townhouse Rumrill is buying for himself. Three others are in escrow.
As an inducement for buyers, the developer is offering to pay the first year's house payments, which amounts to about $20,000 off the sales price.
While there has been plenty of foot traffic and interest shown at open houses, many potential buyers are waiting for prices to go down even more.
"People think it's going to go lower. They're maybe waiting for a better deal," Rumrill said.
One of those who didn't hesitate to buy was Francine Passa, a Santa Rosa woman whose late father, Frank, ran a violin sales and repair shop in San Francisco for more than 40 years.
Passa intends to use the bottom floor as a showroom for instruments ranging from violins to special guitars and pianos. She envisions the upstairs living quarters as a place where trusted customers might stay after traveling from across the country to buy a rare violin.
"I had the idea people who come from far away might need to spend the night and come here to try out the instruments. It's one-stop. They can eat around here. It's wonderful. It's in the heart of Santa Rosa," she said.
Passa, a violinist herself, said Sonoma County is becoming more of a cultural arts mecca, especially with the planned construction of the Green Music Center at Sonoma State University. She hopes to tap into that emerging market with her downtown musical showroom.
But as a real estate agent who owns two other houses, including one she rents out in Fountaingrove, Passa doesn't intend to live downtown herself.
"I don't want a lived-in look," she said of the live/work unit. "I want it to look real pretty."
As a single mother with a 19-year-old daughter, she plans to keep living in her large house on more than an acre in northwest Santa Rosa. There, she said, she can be with her standard poodle, parrots and rabbits.
It was a bit of a gamble buying downtown, she said, but she has various options if her business doesn't pan out. She could move in herself, sell or rent out.
"I think we're in a good spot. It's such a desirable place to live," she said. "You can live and work in your own building."
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