Business park suits Sebastopol's terroir SEBASTOPOL

Paul Hinschberger works in Kosta Browne's new barrel room at the Barlow, a business park in Sebastopol. Paul Hinschberger works in Kosta Browne's new barrel room at the Barlow, a business park in Sebastopol. Photo: Alvin Jornada, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Alvin Jornada, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close Business park suits Sebastopol's terroir 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

In 2006, Barney Aldridge bought an old apple cannery in downtown Sebastopol for $12 million with grand plans to put in 300 condos. But residents of the Sonoma County town went ballistic over the idea.

"We weren't deluded to the point that nothing would be built," said Helen Shane, a former member of the Sebastopol planning commission and a leader of Sebastopol Tomorrow, a grassroots effort to ensure that the town protects its agricultural roots. "But we discouraged 300 homes, which would've brought traffic. We wanted something that would be beneficial to the town and also bring it revenue."

The opposition left Aldridge wondering if he had made the worst investment of his 18-year career as a developer. Eventually, though, he followed the old adage that if he couldn't beat the town, he'd join it.

The result was a business park - a home for artisan producers of food and crafts - that defied convention, but would still make Aldridge, CEO of Aldridge Management and Highway Partners, a profit - and the town happy.

"At first I was public enemy No. 1," said Aldridge, who grew up in Sonoma County and now lives in Ross. "From 2006 to 2010, I watched the mayor and a couple of members of the City Council fight it out with residents in favor of the project."

His political advocates were eventually voted out of office, and any hope Aldridge had of carrying out his condo plan was officially scotched. "So, for the next two years I took phone calls from residents who told me what they did want," he said.

Original character

What they wanted was for the cannery to be preserved and the decades-old apple processing plant, a corrugated metal building, to keep its original character. They wanted the 12.5-acre site with its eight buildings to be a hub, where people could gather, get a cup of coffee and shoot the breeze. And they wanted him to extend McKinley Street to Morris Street, to reduce congestion and create a more fluid road system.

Aldridge listened, worked up a laundry list and mapped out a plan in his head. He would take the largest of the eight buildings - 75,000 square feet - break it up into 10 new buildings and refurbish the remaining seven, with a portion dedicated to an events space. He would landscape the grounds with lots of open paths and enough room for a year-round farmers' market, a bocce ball court and a children's park.

And he would call the project the Barlow, the name of the former apple factory.

In response to the residents' desire to maintain the agricultural diversity of the area, Aldridge planned to lease out the buildings to artisanal food, wine, beer, coffee, tea and juice makers, bakers and distillers, including some who would incorporate cafes, restaurants, tasting rooms and retail areas as part of their spaces. Many were local manufacturers and merchants with national distribution networks, not dependent on foot traffic.

There would also be glass blowers, a bronze foundry and other crafts, and many of the suites would have glass roll-up doors so visitors could watch production.

Ambitious plan

It was an ambitious plan and one that would take lots of money, given that some of the buildings were uninhabitable. Initially Aldridge couldn't get financing. It wasn't that the bank didn't believe in the project. Sebastopol, after all, is one of the last remaining towns in Wine Country without a developed downtown, and 300,000 people live within a 10-mile radius.

But by the time the plans were finalized, the developer no longer looked good on paper. Aldridge had lost half his assets, which would have been required as collateral, in a divorce.

So Aldridge called his ex-wife, who had gotten ownership of their profitable Boulder, Colo., project - a retail and office complex - and said, "I need you to put it back the way it was before the divorce."

She agreed, and Wells Fargo in San Francisco gave him a loan for $23.5 million to complete the Sebastopol project, which officially opens in April. So far, Aldridge has leased 75 percent of the suites to tenants that include Kosta Browne Winery.

"We clicked with Barney in a big way," said Michael Browne, Kosta Browne founder and winemaker, who leased the largest space for the winery's operation, which includes barrel rooms, a hospitality suite and offices. "There is all kinds of cool stuff here, and I suspect we'll be spending a lot of time in the complex, eating at the restaurants and cafes, buying our bread from Village Bakery. There's even going to be a butcher shop."

Other tenants include Warped Brewery Company, MacPhail Family Wines, Lynn's Lavender, Whole Spice, SubZero Ice Cream and Yogurt, and Ben Kinmont Bookseller.

'Bang for our buck'

"The Barlow is going to bring revenue," said Shane, who is happy with the way the project turned out. "We'll get some bang for our buck."

For Aldridge, it looks as if the Barlow will be a profitable venture after all.

"This is the right plan," he said. "It's important that people get what they want. And I like the idea that the project showcases a time when towns had to make all their own stuff for the residents."