A planned 297,500-square-foot wine- and food-oriented industrial park for the busy intersection of Highway 121 and wine industry row along Eighth Street East south of Sonoma is moving closer to reality.
The Sonoma County Planning Commission on March 5 unanimously approved a tentative map for the second half of the 20.5-acre Sonoma Valley Business Park project. A final map for the whole development, delayed because of Caltrans design of a left-turn lane on Highway 121, is set to be completed in May.
Because of interest from food processors and wineries, Sonoma Valley Business Park LLC, a joint venture of Odyssey Development Co. and JL Holdings, wants to start construction later this year for completion of the first space in 2010, according to Odyssey consultant Richard Deringer. Laura Chenel?s Chevre was interested in relocating its plant to the project, but without a final map, the goat dairy producer recently decided to go down Eighth Street East to the fully entitled Carneros Business Park, according to Mr. Deringer.
The planned industrial park, located on land originally authorized in 1981 for a 250,000-case-a-year Sebastiani Vineyards winery, is approved for eight buildings ranging in size from 26,300 to 55,400 square feet. Half the space would be for processing, about a third for warehousing and the rest for a office or retail uses that could allow occupants of the park to showcase their products to passing motorists, particularly those queued up to access Infineon Raceway during major events.
The developers plan to apply for a winery use permit for the property. The property could also be served by the rail line passing by the property. Freight service is anticipated to resume this fall. Jim Sartain, Rhonda Deringer and Mike Flitner of Keegan & Coppin are marketing the project.
***
Sky Park Properties LLC of San Jose has landed its first tenant in its nearly 34,000-square-foot Skylane Business Park industrial incubator development near the Sonoma County airport. This month Microlux of Santa Rosa, which makes reflective materials, will occupy 3,000 square feet in one of the three recently completed buildings in the complex at the southwest corner of Skylane and Aviation boulevards.
To save money on tenant improvements, Sky Park is adding basic enhancements to the rest of Microlux?s building. The developer also is aggressively marketing the remaining space, which can be divided as small as 1,038 square feet, at 88 cents a square foot. Financing assistance to purchase space as commercial condominiums may be available, according to Sky Park principal Doug Stricker.
***
Losk Commercial Real Estate of Novato and Nexus Realty Group of Petaluma at the beginning of this year started more actively collaborating on brokerage with North Bay Commercial Real Estate/TCN Worldwide of Santa Rosa.
North Bay Commercial General Manager Dennis Park described the arrangement as a ?federation? under the North Bay Commercial name in Petaluma and Novato. Bryant Moynihan of Nexus and David Losk of Losk Commercial now attend staff meetings, have access the brokerage?s marketing staff and can request in-house mortgage broker Kevin Klein to run financing scenarios.
North Bay Commercial?s affiliation with other brokerages via the TCN Worldwide network isn?t included in the arrangement, according to Mr. Park. At the same time, Losk Commercial, Nexus Realty and North Bay Commercial will continue to manage properties as they have been. Losk Commercial has four property managers, led by Mr. Losk?s brother Jason Losk, who is also an agent. Nexus Realty also has four property managers.
In addition to a few property managers in Santa Rosa, North Bay Commercial has a small property management office in Phoenix for the Arizona and Texas markets.
That greater reach appealed to Mr. Losk and Mr. Moynihan. ?Nexus Realty Group Inc. is marketing our available space through North Bay Commercial Real Estate to provide better exposure to our listings and better results for our valued property management clients,? Mr. Moynihan said. The increased exposure also can lead to acquisition opportunities for investor clients.
***
LRG Capital Real Estate Ventures, part of the Larkspur-based merchant bank LRG Capital Group, has started a debt fund to originate or acquire first mortgages for stabilized office, light-industrial and multifamily properties in Northern California.
Chief Executive Officer Larry Goldfarb said community banks have been doing well on loan needs of up to several million dollars and have funded deals for his investment group. Yet he saw a need to supply financing with an average minimum of $10 million until financial markets recover.
That need spawned LRG Capital Real Estate Debt Fund I.
***
Ratel Investments of Tiburon added its third property to its 7-month-old Ratel Value Fund I. The firm invested $3.3 million in San Mar Plaza, a 185,000-square-foot shopping center in San Marcos, Texas, in a partnership with Dunhill Partners of Dallas. The center is fully leased.
?Even in tough times, consumers, out of necessity, must still buy essential goods and services and, historically, they do so by trading down to the kind of discount retailers that occupy San Mar Plaza,? Ratel principal Joe Gillach said. The first two fund acquisitions were apartment complexes in Fairfax and San Jose.
?
Submit items for this column to Jeff Quackenbush at jquackenbush@busjrnl.com, 707-521-4256 or fax 707-521-5292.
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: