photo credit: City of Rohnert Park
Digital concept rendering of a commercial area of Rohnert Park's new downtown.

Next exit Downtown Rohnert Park?

It's looking like a reality after a critical vote this week.

Rohnert Park's city council unanimously signed off on an agreement with CenterCal Properties.

That's the same developer behind Emeryville's Bay Street, and the company will be tasked with creating Rohnert Park's new downtown at 6400 State Farm Drive.

The location is a 28-acre parcel of vacant land next to the SMART train station, along State Farm Drive and Rohnert Park Expressway.

The initial plans call for 300 new units of housing, concentrated in four multi-story buildings.

That could rise to 450 overall with a quarter of them designated "affordable".

CenterCal is also proposing to include 147,000 square feet of commercial space, with 60 studio apartments built above the retail shops, said Rohnert Park city manager Marcela Piedra.

"Now, in terms of affordable housing, what is the type of income level that is required?" Piedra said. "When you're looking at an 80% area median income for Sonoma County, we're looking at for one person, [an] income about $84,650. If it's two people, about $96,000. So those are the income levels that we're targeting."

Preliminary terms also include a downtown plaza at least an acre in size, a hotel, and a one-and-a-half acres set aside to enlarge the city's corporation yard.

Rohnert Park currently plans to sell the property to CenterCal for $11.2 million.

The project has been a big priority for the city's current mayor, Gerard Giudice.

"Well, Rohnert Park, first of all, has always had a lot of heart," Giudice said. "We just have never had a physical manifestation of that heart, and that is going to be what this project gives us."

Rohnert Park has made $7 million in city funds available for off-site improvements, but developer CenterCal will pay to relocate a municipal water line running through the site.

Labor representatives and unionized trade workers urge the developer to contract with local firms on construction. The city outlines that in a draft development agreement.

Rohnert Park's new downtown could be fully built as soon as September 2029.