What are they building there? Former Christmas tree lot sprouts housing

Thirty new rental apartments will be open for tenants mid-spring 2020 on the former site of the Nyberg Christmas tree lot on West Spain Street in Sonoma.

The project has been in the works for nearly two years; the Oliva Apartments, at 655 W. Spain St., was approved by the Planning Commission on Nov. 9, 2017. Of the 30 units, 24 will be market rate and six will meet affordable housing criteria.

The development – on a 1.5-acre lot that is zoned mixed use – was originally owned by the Norrbom family. The property is adjacent to both Valley Mart shopping center that houses Sonoma Market and a recently-completed development at the corner of West Spain Street and Fifth Street West.

DeNova Homes has begun construction on four 2-story buildings which will include two 5-unit buildings toward West Spain Street, one 10-unit building in the middle of the site and one 10-unit building at the rear of the site.

The apartments consist of six 1-bedroom/1-bath units (from 704-712 square feet), 16 2-bedroom/2-bath units (from 956 to 1,153 square feet), and eight 2-bedroom/2.5-bath units (from 1,349-1,477 square feet), with an average unit size of 1,057 square feet.

DeNova planning documents describe the buildings as having a Spanish architectural style with stucco finish and tile roofing.

Cars will enter the development via a 30-foot-wide driveway off West Spain Street at the center of the project and a T-shaped intersection will serve as the required fire truck turn around. The project includes 56 parking spaces: eight garage spaces, 37 covered carport spaces and 11 uncovered spaces.

DeNova paid $2 million for the 1.5 acre parcel in August 2017. The land was previously owned by the family of Paul Norrbom and it was formerly a 2.04 acre lot that ran from West Napa Street all the way through to West Spain Street, with a small, white homestead on the street at 590 West Napa Street. The 655 W. Spain St. parcel sold to DeNova was created through a two-lot subdivision recorded in July 2017.

The Norrbom family retained the half an acre on the south side of the property with the existing home, leaving 1.52 acres to be used for the apartment community to be accessed from West Spain Street.

“We tried to buy the entire parcel,” said Trent Sanson, DeNova's VP of land acquisition and entitlements. “But the Norrboms wanted to keep some of it.”

Oh, Christmas trees

The lot at 655 W. Spain St. has a rich Christmas tree history.

Former Christmas tree mogul Jack Bruggi was the first to sell trees on the site, moving there after Taco Bell was built on his previous location in the Springs.

When Bruggi retired his Merry Christmas Trees business the lot was taken over by the Pronzini family, who were there a few years before briefly moving to Broadway at Watmaugh.

Eric Nyberg formerly sold Christmas trees on Eighth Street East and Napa Road, but he took over the West Spain lot in 2011, and operated his Christmas tree business there until 2017. He now sets up his trees at 21095 Broadway each Thanksgiving.

Construction delays

Sanson said he expects DeNova builders to start vertical construction in October and to begin leasing and move-ins April of 2020. Leases will be available online at denovarents.com. DeNova has its own in-house leasing and property management company that will oversee the process.

DeNova also expects to begin construction shortly on another development seven blocks away on land previously owned by Sonoma Valley Hospital. Its “Mockingbird Lane” project on Fourth Street West and Andrieux Street will begin grading this week, according to Sanson. More information about that project is available on the DeNova website (see video here).

“We had been hoping to get started with construction on Oliva sooner but were delayed by the very wet winter,” said Sanson. “But it has worked out as we can work on both this project and our Mockingbird Lane development at the same time.”

The Oliva project was the last project approved in Sonoma by the city Planning Commission in 2017 before a City Council shake-up that changed the composition of the commission. The week after Oliva was approved, the City Council initiated a new method of appointing commission members – effectively ending the terms of the seven-member board and appointing new planning commissioners from a fresh set of applications collected by city staff.

“I do think it notable that in our penultimate meeting we approved 73 new units of housing for this community,” said Cribb, the chair of the outgoing Planning Commission at that time, speaking on Oct. 16, 2017, of the DeNova project and the Altamira housing project on lower Broadway. “And of those, 50-some will be at some level of affordability. I'm not sure that's ever happened before in any planning commission. I think it was a nice way for us as a group to finish.”

The Altamira project was stalled soon after it was approved by the city. The Satellite Affordable Housing Agency (SAHA) found that it did not have the funding it needed to proceed with its planned 48 low-income residences on a 1.98-acre vacant lot at 20269 Broadway. The project is currently in limbo.

Email Lorna at lorna.sheridan@sonomanews.com.