Santa Rosa downtown businesses grapple with challenges to stay afloat

Santa Rosa's downtown merchants are struggling. Is it because of too many banks downtown, or not enough housing? What can keep Santa Rosa's downtown busting in the age of Amazon?

Barry


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Santa Rosa downtown businesses grapple with challenges to stay afloat
MARTIN ESPINOZA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT December 6, 2019, 9:07PM

Andrea and Jeff Ballus know how to turn an idea into a successful business. After they launched their first Sift gourmet cupcake shop in Cotati in 2008, the couple moved quickly to open the popular dessert bar in Napa, Santa Rosa, San Francisco and, most recently, in Petaluma.

After tasting that success, when the couple decided to launch a wine and oyster bar called the Jade Room Wine Bar & Oysterette on Fourth Street in Santa Rosa, a lot of people got behind it with financing and encouragement.

But a few months after they signed a commercial lease in 2017, a devastating wildfire burned sections of Santa Rosa and surrounding areas, destroying thousands of homes and turning the local economy upside down.

A planned six-week wine bar construction project turned into a 12-month slog, with the couple paying rent before finally opening in January 2019. The Jade Room, which cost them $500,000, was out of business by summer.

“We started out on fumes,” Andrea Ballus said. “That’s why we ran out of capital.”

Ballus said she remembers hearing a lot of local customers say something that portended the wine bar’s eventual closure: “I haven’t been to downtown Santa Rosa in years.”

In the past two years, a number of downtown restaurants and other businesses have closed despite the city’s $10.5 million Old Courthouse Square reunification, which was supposed to lead to a more vibrant downtown. Besides the Jade Room, the food and drink casualties have included Stout Brothers, Mercato, Tex Wasabi’s, La Vera Pizza and 2 Tread Brewing Co.

Gerard Nebesky was on the brink of shutting his Gerard’s Paella y Tapas restaurant on Fourth and D streets, but said last week he’s planning to do everything he can to overcome obstacles he and other downtown business owners cited: homeless people loitering, frustrating parking policies and a lack of foot traffic to lure new customers.

Nebesky said city officials and local developers are moving in the right direction to draw more people downtown, such as building mid-rise apartments. But he and other entrepreneurs say it will be years before those efforts pay off and something needs to be done now, before more small businesses close.

“There’s good stuff on the horizon. We just may not have the staying power,” Nebesky said. “There’s great shops downtown. We just need to get more.”

Downtown Santa Rosa operators wonder why smaller cities and towns like Healdsburg, Sonoma and Petaluma can enjoy far more vibrant downtowns than the county seat.

“For us to be upstaged by every other city and town in Sonoma County is wrong,” Nebesky said. “We should be on par with everybody else.”

The answer to that conundrum isn’t simple. Almost everyone interviewed cited similar challenges, but some decried the urban landscape which may be even harder to reconcile.

“We have too many banks downtown,” Nebesky said.

These include Exchange Bank, which had extended a business loan to the Balluses for the Jade Room, U.S. Bank and Bank of America around the square. Other banks close to the square are Wells Fargo and Luther Burbank Savings.

Lois Fisher, a local urban designer with Fisher Town Design, said Santa Rosa’s downtown was a victim of urban redevelopment in the 1960s and 1970s, particularly after the 1969 earthquake that destroyed a number of downtown buildings.

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Posted in reply to the post by Barry:

Santa Rosa's downtown merchants are struggling. Is it because of too many banks downtown, or not enough housing? What can keep Santa Rosa's downtown busting in the age of Amazon?

Barry

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I haven't been to downtown S.R. in many years. Why? Because of the inconvenience and the parking situation. I remember driving around a block, over and over again, and not finding a parking space. And then there are the garages. Why should I have to pay for the privilege of walking blocks to an establishment in order to spend money? Some merchants may be unique and all, but not worth the added expense and wasted time. I don't like waiting in lines and I don't like inconvenience.

Free parking, 2 hrs.which all those other towns have.
Get someone besides first graders w/crayons to design traffic flow.
encourage daily usage , commerce, of the dwtwn. plaza.
use stop signs and people to control traffic besides traffic lights
sanctioned camping for homeless. Hldsbg, pet. ,Sebastopol don't have homeless in their dwntwns?

-also the unpopular, ugly, expensive mess made of Courthouse Square, which has made driving in downtown Santa Rosa more arduous.

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Posted in reply to the post by Barry:

Santa Rosa's downtown merchants are struggling. Is it because of too many banks downtown, or not enough housing? What can keep Santa Rosa's downtown busting in the age of Amazon?

Barry

http://www.waccobb.net/forums/waccob...4_15-56-29.png
Santa Rosa downtown businesses grapple with challenges to stay afloat
MARTIN ESPINOZA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT December 6, 2019, 9:07PM

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Because the businesses hated the homeless people who hung out in the park they got the council to destroy a treasured art work, took out trees that were long standing and turned a beautiful park space into a cold and sterile and unfriendly space all the while extolling how wonderful it would be.

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Posted in reply to the post by american dream:

-also the unpopular, ugly, expensive mess made of Courthouse Square, which has made driving in downtown Santa Rosa more arduous.

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That Courthouse Square nightmare took longer and cost more than projected. I went to three meetings about it (open to the public only after word had leaked out that they were planning this). Everyone who spoke up was against it. The developer posted three post-its on the blackboard, each with a different approach. Someone in the room then posted a fourth post-it, which read: 'none of the above;. That roomful of people lined up to each add her or his name to that fourth option. Made no difference.

I stopped shopping downtown Santa Rosa (5th Street area) when I got a parking ticket 5 years ago. I parked on the street, close to the business instead of the garage, because it was pouring down rain.
Also, I would love to go to my favorite Thai restaurant on 4th Street in Railroad Square more frequently, but haven't been in over a year. I often choose not to because of parking costs, if I can find parking at the time I am there. The plus side is that it saves me $: no meter cost, no need to splurge on that wonderful Thai food...

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Posted in reply to the post by cyberanvil:

I haven't been to downtown S.R. in many years. Why? Because of the inconvenience and the parking situation. ...

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Also, Santa Rosa treats it's own citizens poorly, unless they are members of Chamber of Commerce. I have experienced dishonesty from Parks and Rec., watched them neglect the Bennett Valley Senior Center building until it closed, just all around poor service to citizens.

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Posted in reply to the post by cyberanvil:

I haven't been to downtown S.R. in many years. Why? Because of the inconvenience and the parking situation. I remember driving around a block, over and over again, and not finding a parking space. And then there are the garages. Why should I have to pay for the privilege of walking blocks to an establishment in order to spend money? Some merchants may be unique and all, but not worth the added expense and wasted time. I don't like waiting in lines and I don't like inconvenience.

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I used to go downtown SR a bit more than now but not as frequent as others I know. I guess I am too Sebastopolian. I did notice though a huge wi fi "tower" though on top of one of the buildings which gives me even more pause to come down there. I know everyone wants wi fi (or most everyone), but that one seems a little excessive. Yes-we have a tower near the Sebastopol library and unfortunately I can't spend as much time in that area as I used to as well. Maybe I can move to Mars or somewhere but seriously though-the one in SR makes me think twice about going in that area. I wonder if there are alternatives for SR or townships, other than such towers to attract the minority like myself.

I'm sorry, I read these and got really sad.

- "why should I pay for the privilege of walking...in order to spend money?" Um, because you want something there? Now you order it online so no driving on your part is needed?

- driving around and around the same block - where's that quote (mis-attributed to Einstein) about the definition of insanity?

- someone won't walk a couple of blocks in the rain - no umbrella perhaps? Or related to the Wicked Witch of the West?

- got a ticket; did you a) put in a dime when a quarter was needed? b) not put anything into the meter because you were 'only going in for a moment'? c) paid for half an hour, but the one store you went to ("on the street, close to the business") entranced you for two hours and you forgot about the time? Or is it simply that the parking enforcement folks just have it in for all of us?

- you're not willing to pay $3 for *two hours* of parking to enjoy a great meal at Khoom Lanna? Order one slightly less expensive dish and it's pretty even.

My wife and I have a saying between us: "We have legs". While I understand there are any number of people who have limitations that might prevent it (and if these posters are among them, my sympathies and apologies), we are continually amazed at the desire of people to spend large amounts of energy and frustration trying to get their vehicle as close as possible to avoid walking. This plays out in places like the Costco shopping mall, or Montgomery Village, just like downtown SR. "If I have to walk XX yards for something I want, it's not worth it"; "I'd rather sit in my car for 5 minutes waiting for a parking spot nearer the store than parking across the lot and going on foot"; "I won't go somewhere if I don't have the privilege of parking really, really near where I want to go".

And this must be the case for hundreds of people, otherwise a) there would be available parking all the time, or b) the city wouldn't think about charging in congested parts of the city. And it's true even in places like Sebastopol, where no meters exist (at least, I don't *think* so). People spend inordinate amounts of time and energy trying to park close to something.

All part of the car-centric culture of America, certainly. I enjoy the irony of parking and walking into a coffee/fast food place and getting what I want faster than the people waiting in a line of cars for the drive-through.

If life is so pressured that waiting a bit in line and enjoying some conversation with others is bad, or feeling that walking a little is an inconvenience, well... I'm sad.

Last questions: If the parking was free, would that really draw you back to the downtown? And wouldn't there still be no parking because people would park and stay longer in those spaces?

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Posted in reply to the post by cw707:

I stopped shopping downtown Santa Rosa (5th Street area) when I got a parking ticket 5 years ago. I parked on the street, close to the business instead of the garage, because it was pouring down rain.
Also, I would love to go to my favorite Thai restaurant on 4th Street in Railroad Square more frequently, but haven't been in over a year. I often choose not to because of parking costs, if I can find parking at the time I am there. The plus side is that it saves me $: no meter cost, no need to splurge on that wonderful Thai food...

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Posted in reply to the post by cyberanvil:

I haven't been to downtown S.R. in many years. Why? Because of the inconvenience and the parking situation. I remember driving around a block, over and over again, and not finding a parking space. And then there are the garages. Why should I have to pay for the privilege of walking blocks to an establishment in order to spend money? Some merchants may be unique and all, but not worth the added expense and wasted time. I don't like waiting in lines and I don't like inconvenience.

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True. I was one of the ones against the park proposals.
They wanted more meters for more money....the area is now a tree graveyard,,,looks like a landing for aircraft. If it did not involve increasing money, they could care less about your opinion.
The beautiful Ruth Asawa fountain is in storage somewhere. It needs to be in a beautiful surrounding....perhaps one of the other parks would be a better fit. (Definitely not courthouse square....cold and greedy looking.)

Karma rises to all who wanted the cold park.

Juna

It is hard to understand what the planners were thinking. The difference between Petaluma (or Windsor, or Healdsburg, etc) and Santa Rosa is that Courthouse Square is just not that visually enticing in comparison. I read this letter in the PD yesterday and it struck a nerve:

Sad Downtown Scene
At 9:30 p.m. Saturday, my wife and I drove around Old Courthouse Square and Fourth Street. How embarrassing. One lit tree and darkness everywhere. Fourth Street west of the plaza was so dark that it was scary. We would never walk there. Contrast our visit to the Windsor Town Green a half-hour earlier: many lit trees and an atmosphere of holiday cheer not seen at Santa Rosa’s town square.
Sunday’s paper had another article about what should be done to attract folks to come downtown (“Up and downtown”). Show some pride, and decorate for the holidays. I am embarrassed to bring out-of-town family to our square after dark.

MARK EVENSON
Santa Rosa

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Posted in reply to the post by carpet crawler:

I'm sorry, I read these and got really sad.

- "why should I pay for the privilege of walking...in order to spend money?" Um, because you want something there? Now you order it online so no driving on your part is needed?...

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Virtue shame people all you want, but people are voting with their legs. Those legs are choosing not to enjoy the wonders of downtown S.R.

One way to get people to Downtown Santa Rosa is to have them living and/or working there. I worked on 5th street for 15 years. Rode my bike from Sebastopol. Got coffee at From Susan at Sawyers had lunch at Macs. The County is looking for office space. The Mall is losing many retailers. Why not put County offices in the Mall? Plenty of parking.

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Posted in reply to the post by cyberanvil:

Virtue shame people all you want, but people are voting with their legs. Those legs are choosing not to enjoy the wonders of downtown S.R.

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