‘Mill District’ developer proposes 58 room hotel, 182 residences in plan to ‘extend downtown’
A lumber mill just south of the heart of Healdsburg could be developed into a new neighborhood, called the Mill District, if a Canadian based developer’s plans are approved by the city.
Replay Resorts purchased the NuForest land in 2015 and submitted plans to the city last week to develop the property.
David Hill, Replay’s representative in Healdsburg, said his company worked on numerous ideas about how to develop the property before coming up with the version currently at the planning department.
“The city told us our first plan was not what they wanted to see,” Hill said on Monday.
Hill said city leaders referred him to the Central Healdsburg Area Plan (CHAP), which was developed by the city and a citizens committee in an effort to create a vision for the area just south of downtown.
“The city wanted a more urban feel and higher density housing,”said Hill, noting that the city’s Housing Action Plan also calls for more dense development, on the premise that smaller, denser units will be more affordable.
The plan is indeed dense, with about 19 units of housing per acre on most of the property.
All residences are envisioned to be attached (not freestanding) and Hill said they will range in size from 500 square foot studios to 2,800 square foot homes.
Of the 182 proposed units, about a quarter of them (42) would be designated as “below market” or “inclusionary” – units that are restricted to low to moderate income buyers or renters.
The residences would be clustered along the easterly and central portions of the 9.6 acres of land.
A 58-room hotel, comprised of two buildings, a spa and retail, would be at the north end of the property, adjacent to the five-way intersection and the roundabout.
A major feature of the development would be the preservation of a grove of redwood trees that surrounds the dilapidated former hotel at the south end of the property.
Known over the years as House of Sonoma, Tony’s Sports Bar and the Garden Cottage Inn, Replay envisions tearing down the building and creating a one-acre park that would be open to the public.
Hill said that his company is not asking for a development agreement or any special favors from the city.
“Our plan is consistent with the city framework; we are not asking for variances or exceptions to the land use codes, setbacks or height limits,” he said.
Hill acknowledged that, given Healdsburg’s 30-unit a year residential growth limits, his project will take years to build, in multiple phases. “It could take until 2024 to build out,” he said.
Hill said that if his company’s plans are approved, Replay would build the streets, hotel, commercial and 64 housing units (30 market rate and 34 affordable) in the first phase, with more housing units each year through a fifth phase.
Asked if Replay intends to acquire entitlements to build and then sell the project to another developer, Hill answered: “We’re interested in a long term position.”
Alan Cohen, a Healdsburg architect who is a consultant on the project, said the intent is to create, “a pedestrian focused neighborhood, with a somewhat industrial feel, that will extend the downtown. This will be one of the next steps in Healdsburg’s architectural evolution,” Cohen said.
In honor of the longtime lumber mill use, Hill said Replay wants to call the property the “Mill District” and use one of the tall sawdust extractors as a design element.
It is unknown when the city will schedule the first public hearing on the project.
Editor’s note: The author of this story, during a time when he was not employed by this newspaper, served on the volunteer citizen committee that helped develop the Central Healdsburg Area Plan. He is not involved financially with the Mill District or Replay Resorts.
