New townhouses in Sonoma snatched up

Property on West Spain complete|

The paint is only just dry on the walls of the new townhouses at 405 W. Spain St., at the corner of Fifth Street West, but according to the developer, all but one have already been snatched up by eager buyers.

The seven-unit development on a half-acre lot is located behind the Sonoma Market shopping center.

Sonoma’s Planning Commission approved the plans in early 2015. The older homes on the property were demolished in preparation for the construction of the new units.There are six two-bedroom, two-bath townhomes, and one one-bedroom, one-bath single story home in a row house style of development. The homes have private patios and single-car garages, as well as bicycle parking and common areas.

The seven units have entrances on West Spain, and one of the units is set aside as an affordable “medium income” housing unit – in compliance with the City’s general plan requirement for 20 percent of new housing be affordable. The two-story apartments range in size from 1,100 to 1,250 square feet; the single-story affordable housing unit comes in at 878 square feet.

According to Christy Brooks, of the Altus Equity Group of Santa Rosa, which owns the property, the units were priced “north of $600,000,” and only one is still available, and it is priced at $684,900. The affordable unit is in escrow now, according to Brooks.

Just down the street, another development has been in the planning stages since at least 2013, but at present it’s still a vacant lot. The address of record is 840 W. Napa, and its back yard extends a full block to West Spain, a yard currently filled with grass and butterflies.

The project planned for this acre-plus lot, owned by the Rabbitt family of San Francisco, involves developing the site with an 11-unit residential apartment development.

The apartments would take the form of 10 “duets” or duplexes, divided between five detached buildings, and one detached unit, stretching from West Napa to West Spain, with a driveway fronting them opening onto the city streets at either end.

The two affordable housing units would both be single story.

The project seems perpetually on the verge of breaking ground. When it does, it will add another nine market-rate houses available, and two more affordable housing units, in an increasingly difficult market for living affordably in Sonoma.

Additional reporting by Christian Kallen. Contact lorna.sheridan@sonomanews.com.

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