Sebastopol set for decision on $40 million boutique hotel project

Developers of a proposed 66-room boutique hotel in central Sebastopol are approaching what they hope will be the final round of approvals for the ?$40 million project.

Plans put forward by the Healdsburg-based Piazza Hospitality Group call for an upscale site mixing space for guests, including a pool and wellness center, roof-top deck, restaurant and bar, and a public courtyard with a fireplace, as well as room for retailers and artists.

The hotel is slated for the former Diamond Lumberyard - now Sebastopol Tractor Co. - and the proposal is scheduled to go before city planning commissioners next month for approval. If authorized, construction could be begin in a year and a half at the earliest.

Piazza, the same firm behind the luxury Hotel Healdsburg, h2hotel and Spoonbar restaurant, has conducted extensive outreach lately to the community, garnering input that developers said helped refine the project. It would offer a mix of adjoining two- and four-story buildings, and the hotel would include six hostel-style bunk rooms with a total of 24 beds, meeting rooms and 92 parking spaces on neighboring properties.

“There were a lot of comments that we could not satisfy,” said Paolo Petrone, managing partner with Piazza. “But overall I thought it was very productive, just to get a sense of what the community was interested in.... It’s an important piece of the town, so we wanted to make sure we did the right thing.”

Sebastopol businessman Ron Basso is selling the 1.25-acre site to developers, with a deal expected to close in the coming weeks, Petrone said.

The property is located just south of the Rialto Cinemas and across Petaluma Avenue from the town’s Central Park. City officials see it as a key link between the central business district and The Barlow marketplace at the eastern gateway to town. They have been eager to see it developed and to avoid the kind of public opposition that greeted plans for a downtown CVS store.

The project, which also includes several small buildings with plant-covered “living roofs,” was designed by San Francisco-based David Baker Architects, which also designed Piazza’s Healdsburg hotels.

“It seems like our projects get a lot of attention because we design them so well,” Petrone said. “They are very artistic, and they are not boiler-plate hotels.”

But Tasha Beauchamp, co-chairwoman of Cittaslow Sebastopol, said recent community surveys about development in the city have also brought to light some fears that the hotel could contribute to gentrification, rising prices and a downtown geared to serve tourists over residents.

Others “feel that the hotel, and a modest orientation around tourism, can contribute to Sebastopol creating a sustainable economy, and they see the hotel as an example of that,” she said.

Petrone said he hoped early investment in the planning process would pave the way for approval next month.

“We’ve never developed anything in Sebastopol, so I don’t know what comes out of it, but the indications are good,” he said. “But you never know who’s going to show up in those meetings and who’s going to rebel. I hope they recognize the value. I hope they recognize the improvement of what they have now.”

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.