Revamp of Petaluma’s historic Steiger building proposed

One of Petaluma’s most prominent buildings may soon be undergoing upgrades that would add a riverfront restaurant and ritzy penthouse to the historic downtown district.

Lou Arnone, the current owner of the 149-year-old Steiger building, is crafting a mixed-use proposal that would include two apartments, a rooftop deck and several improvements to the structure located at 132 Petaluma Blvd. North.

On the rear side of the building, which overlooks Water Street and the Petaluma River, Arnone wants to add a restaurant with a small dining terrace to help “enliven the building with windows, nighttime lighting and a livelier street life,” he wrote in an email.

“Our proposed project is an incredible opportunity for the city of Petaluma to animate this first block of the Golden Concourse,” said Arnone, who purchased the property, which encompasses two buildings on a 3,770 square-foot parcel, in January 2018.

The Steiger building has most recently been home to a first-floor cooperative art gallery and photography studio on the second.

According to a letter from Arnone, due to substandard conditions - which included a sagging roof, deteriorated windows, carbon monoxide leaks and problematic access routes to the second floor - he asked well-known photographer Murray Rockowitz to move out last year in order to complete all the necessary work.

Rockowitz, who had been a tenant for 25 years, said it was a “graceful” exit from his longtime studio, and has enjoyed going back to his roots, shooting portraits out on location again.

The Riverfront Art Gallery, which has been in the building since 2007, intends to remain once construction is complete, Arnone said.

Naturally, rehabilitating historic buildings comes with greater scrutiny, and planning officials have identified several issues with the proposal - particularly with the rear building facing Water Street where some of the most dramatic changes will take place.

Arnone and city officials have disagreed on whether it’s subject to the same historic standards as the Steiger building since it was constructed as an addition decades later.

However, it was built between 1854 and 1945, and during those years some of the most distinctive buildings were constructed on the boulevard. That specific timeframe has been used to distinguish which structures are part of the downtown commercial district when its guidelines were adopted in 1999.

And while both sides dispute its status in different historic registers, the building has a gabled roof that corresponds with the district’s defining architectural features.

As a result, city officials suggested keeping the gabled roof to help retain its historical form, said Deputy Planning Manager Brittany Bendix.

The city has also proposed shifting the third-floor apartment back an additional 10 feet so it’s less obtrusive from Water Street, but still has a sizable deck. That recommendation would have the greatest impact, reducing the amount of total floor area in the apartments.

“We like the project and want to make it work. We think the concept is great,” Bendix said. “We just need to spend some time refining that one detail, or get direction from the (Historic and Cultural Preservation Committee).”

The project was initially scheduled to go in front of the HCPC last week before Arnone requested to continue the discussion to a later date. Both sides are swapping feedback to try and uncover a solution before the committee weighs in on the project on May 14.

“We love that they’re restoring the commercial storefront,” Bendix said. “That’s great. The terrace at the rear ground floor level would do a lot to restore Water Street in a positive manner.”

If the two sides fail to negotiate a compromise that could keep the vision for the restaurant and penthouse intact, Arnone said he “will be compelled to pull out of the project for economic as well as practical reasons.”

(Contact News Editor Yousef Baig at yousef.baig@arguscourier.com or 776-8461, and on Twitter @YousefBaig.)