Developer slams Santa Rosa over maintenance of Old Courthouse Square

A Santa Rosa developer is taking the city to task for what he says is its failure to maintain Old Courthouse Square, saying the “grotesque” condition of the space is jeopardizing his ability to find tenants for his downtown projects.

Hugh Futrell fired off a letter to the City Council last week lambasting the city for the weeds, dead grass, cigarette butts and dirty fountains he says make the square seem “semi-abandoned by the city.”

“No economic development strategy focusing on the downtown has any real meaning if the city cannot or will not maintain its key public space infrastructure to at least a baseline of adequacy,” Futrell wrote.

After years of delays, Futrell is in the middle of constructing the Museum on the Square project on the southwest corner of the square. The $16 million renovation promises to breathe new life into the former AT&T building, transforming the concrete eyesore into a modern, light-filled office building.

Three floors of the five-story building have been leased, two to Luther Burbank Savings and one to TLCD Architecture, which designed the project. Backers of the California Wine Museum have plans to locate in the basement of the building. First floor and other tenants have yet to be identified.

“The grotesque condition of this space jeopardizes our ability to lease the ground floor of Museum on the Square,” Futrell wrote. “It jeopardizes the California Wine Museum.”

He added that it makes the idea that the city could reunify the square seem “ludicrous” if it can’t maintain what’s there now. The city has been laying the groundwork for years to one day reunify the square, but lacks the $14 million to complete the project.

City Hall was closed on Friday. Mayor Scott Bartley agreed maintenance is an issue, but stressed the city has financial limitations.

“I think we would do all kinds of wonderful things if we had the money to do all kinds of wonderful things,” Bartley said.

He said he disagreed strongly that the city isn’t doing the bare minimum of maintenance. He said the city is open to suggestions for improving its services, and he doesn’t know if Futrell had done anything to raise his concerns with city staff first.

Bartley said he recently had an hourlong meeting with Futrell on an unrelated issue and he didn’t once bring up his Old Courthouse Square concerns. The mayor called it “a stretch” to think that a potential tenant wouldn’t locate downtown because of some weeds.

“I can’t believe that some weeds growing in between the cracks of the concrete in the square are going to cause that,” Bartley said.

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @srcitybeat.