Downtown mixed-use project ready for review

<p>What could be Petaluma’s largest development since the completion of the Theatre District three years ago is expected to be the first project reviewed by the city’s new Planning Commission at a not-yet-scheduled hearing.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>North River Landing, a four-building collection of apartments, retail space and an assisted living facility, is proposed to be built between the Petaluma Boulevard North/Oak Street intersection and the Petaluma River.</p><p>In conjunction with the project, Oak Street would be extended east across Petaluma Boulevard to the river’s edge, to eventually connect to north Copeland Street via a bridge.</p><p>Water Street, along the Petaluma River, would also extend north to serve the project and another development proposal immediately south.</p><p>North River Landing’s backers say the high-density, mixed-use proposal fits with Petaluma’s vision for the downtown area, meeting goals of the 2003 Central Petaluma Specific Plan and the General Plan.</p><p>“Every aspect of this project benefits Petaluma,” said Chris McCarthy, general manager of the $75 million project’s investment partnership. McCarthy is the son-in-law of property owners Mel and Betty Silva, who created the project as an investment for their four daughters.</p><p>Project plans call for an 80-unit assisted-living facility along the Petaluma River across from the Dairymen’s Feed towers. Closer to the Boulevard, 114 apartments above 20,600 square feet of retail/office space would be built in three buildings.</p><p>A self-serve car wash, the former Silva’s Appliances building and the Baby Warehouse building on the east side of the Boulevard would be demolished to make way for the project.</p><p>The extensions of Oak and Water streets would intersect in the middle of the project, providing access to first-floor “podium parking” hidden behind street-level shops.</p><p>Similar to another Petaluma project, the Downtown River Apartments, the roofs of the first-floor garages would provide interior courtyards for open space and landscaping serving the surrounding apartments.</p><p>The retail and office spaces in the project could be filled with businesses that support the new residents, such as a hair salon, dry cleaners, a café and medical offices, project backers suggested.</p><p>The project’s location, within walking distance of the Boulevard Cinemas, downtown shops, transit mall and future SMART rail stop, make it a pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly development that will also create more river access, McCarthy said.</p><p>North River Landing has been reviewed by the city’s design board three times, McCarthy said. That board, called SPARC, was merged with the Planning Commission last month, and a meeting was initially scheduled for Tuesday. However, that meeting was canceled, and a new date has not been set.</p><p>McCarthy said he is working with the city on planning the reconstruction and extension of Water Street, which is needed to reach his project and will create a riverside trail and gathering area.</p><p>A bridge across the Petaluma River from Copeland Street to the extended Oak Street is called for in the city’s General Plan as a key link in a cross-town trail that will stretch from Prince Park on the east side to the downtown core.</p><p>North River Landing will meet green building guidelines, McCarthy said, and has registered for certification as a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) project.</p><p>He called the project a “win-win” that will help revitalize the downtown. Depending on when the street extensions can be completed by the city, the project, if approved, could begin construction next year, he said.</p><p>“Our goal is to be digging in the ground in the fall of 2010,” McCarthy said.</p><p>(Contact Corey Young at corey.young@arguscourier. com)</p>