Signs of life for Healdsburg’s Saggio Hills project

Saggio Hills, the long-stalled luxury hotel and residential development on Healdsburg’s north end, is showing more signs of becoming reality.

Developer Robert S. Green Jr. told the City Council this week his company is preparing to submit the project for city design review and hopes to begin construction in 2016.

Green acknowledged that financing for the 130-room hotel and 70 high-end homes has not yet been finalized, but he said it is anticipated to be in hand late this year, or early next.

The climate for obtaining the loan is much more favorable than during the lingering recession that hit when the project was approved in late 2008 by the City Council.

“As we experienced the market change over the last several years - and obviously it’s improved significantly - we’ve had a lot of interaction with construction lenders,” he told the council Monday.

“We are now in full swing in designing the hotel,” he said, explaining that it will have the same number of rooms as planned before, but be smaller than the 400,000 square feet originally envisioned. He said the hotel will be “much lighter on the land,” with less tree loss and grading, as well as less water use than the project that received approval.

Saggio Hills, proposed on 259 acres of the former Passalacqua Ranch, was the topic of debate and scrutiny in more than two dozen public hearings before eventually winning approval.

Proponents touted the bed and sales taxes it would generate for the city and amenities such as a 38-acre community park, a firehouse and 14 acres donated for an affordable housing site.

Opponents decried its impact on Healdsburg’s small-town character and derided its “mega-mansions,” some as big as 6,000 square feet.

The project had its environmental impact report challenged in court before eventually being reapproved by the City Council.

Mayor Shaun McCaffery said, “It’s really good to hear we are finally going to have some work done up there.” He singled out the road improvements along the Healdsburg Avenue frontage that the developers will put in, as well as the affordable housing for which the city still needs to find financing.

Green told the City Council this week that a new team is producing a more creative design for the hotel, as well as exploring the use of recycled water for irrigation and minimal ornamental landscaping.

Asked if the well-heeled hotel guests would object to the use of graywater, he replied, “It doesn’t matter how much a person pays for a room. We’re kind of all on this earth together, so I think people really expect the owners of this property to shepherd the environment.”

“I’m really hoping Robert Green continues to be green in his practices,” Councilwoman Brigette Mansell said.

In a subsequent interview, Green said he has not yet identified a construction lender, but discussions are ongoing.

“We still have to put our whole package together. They want to see the design, see the construction costs. They want to know we’re a lot farther down the road than we are now,” he said.

Green, who is based in Encinitas, near San Diego, has developed several Four Seasons resorts in California and Wyoming. But he has declined to say which chain will be affiliated with Saggio Hills.

“We are negotiating a management agreement with an operator now. We haven’t signed it yet,” Green said. “We’ll announce it in due course.”

City Councilman Gary Plass said whatever hospitality group is under consideration, it is “the best-guarded secret. I’ve heard Four Seasons, Ritz, all that type of stuff,” he said.

A study commissioned by the city last year found the number of hotel rooms could more than double in Healdsburg, with as many as 450 rooms added to meet pent-up demand. Consultants said Saggio Hills represented one of the best hotel sites in Sonoma or Napa counties.

You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 521-5214 or clark.mason@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @clarkmas.