Full steam ahead in Railroad Square

<p>Rows of town homes will be going up near Railroad Square in Santa Rosa within a year if the development stays on track in an area where other housing projects have been stymied.</p><p>The 73-unit DeTurk Village -- taking its name from a pair of historic 1870s winery warehouses on the site -- had received initial city approvals after gaining neighborhood support. Odyssey Development officials are optimistic the first homes will be selling by fall 2008.</p><p>"It's a real urban development concept where you're building housing inside and outside the historic buildings. The challenge was to adapt it to the neighborhood. And it had to be unique enough that people want to live there," said Rick Deringer, Odyssey's development consultant.</p><p>DeTurk Village will feature three-story town homes and condominiums in four buildings, two of which incorporate the warehouse walls as prominent architectural elements. The wood-frame buildings will feature brick, stucco and wood siding to blend in with the surrounding West End Historic District.</p><p>"He's incorporating elements of our neighborhood into his project. It's a wonderful mix," said Carol Dean, president of the West End Neighborhood Association, which has endorsed the project. "It's very dense. But because of the way it's designed, I think it's great."</p><p>The city is allowing the developer to put 73 units on just three acres because six units will be affordable. The dense design also meets planning goals to put more homes on less land in Santa Rosa's urban core, where developable land within the city's growth boundaries is becoming increasingly scarce.</p><p>At least 10 urban infill projects have been built or proposed in the Railroad Square area, where old warehouses and small vacant lots have become prime development sites. The projects propose a mix of housing and office and retail space to create a residential hub where people can live and work.</p><p>Most prominent is the food and wine center and transit village proposed for five acres across the tracks from the shops and restaurants that make up the heart of historic Railroad Square. But the developer, Creative Housing Associates, is revising the plan in response to financing problems and still must get approval from the site's owner, the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District.</p><p>Surrounding projects count on the SMART site development to help spur demand for housing in the area. But some are still going forward, even in the face of the region's continuing home sales slump.</p><p>"The housing market might be soft now, but by the time things get built, who knows where the market will be?" said Allen Thomas, a DeTurk Village consultant. "We're going forward without the SMART site, but we still think the area could be a walkable community. We're hoping that it's going to happen."</p><p>Odyssey Development began planning DeTurk Village after purchasing the site from the owners of the Western Farm Center in 2005. Odyssey is based in Sonoma and Rhonda Deringer, Rick Deringer's wife, is managing partner for its investors.</p><p>The narrow lot fills the block along Donahue Street and the railroad tracks between Eighth and Ninth streets.</p><p>The four walls of a 90,000-square-foot warehouse will form rear garden walls for town homes built in rows in the middle of the site. A 10,000-square-foot warehouse will contain condominiums.</p><p>Units will range from 1,200 to 2,400 square feet and sell from more than $400,000 up to $850,000, Deringer said.</p><p>Some area home builders question whether there is enough demand for such urban housing in Santa Rosa. But Deringer is confident his units will sell because they are large enough to attract plenty of potential buyers to a downtown setting.</p><p>"Look at your buyers. They're not going out to a suburban environment. They want to live downtown and walk to restaurants and walk to shopping," he said.</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Michael Coit at 521-5470 or mike.coit@pressdemocrat.com.</p>