1st Napa Pipe housing subdivision to go before city planners
The first phase of residential development at the Napa Pipe property, representing 79 homes across three blocks, is moving into the city of Napa's public approval process.
The city's Planning Commission on Thursday evening is set to decide whether to recommend approving the subdivision — proposed by Brookfield Bay Area Holdings LLC — to the Napa City Council, which is scheduled to consider the project later this month. Should that approval process move forward, construction on the Napa Pipe subdivision is scheduled to begin this year, according to previous Register reporting.
With council approval, the subdivision would launch the first phase of developing the 154-acre Napa Pipe site, which is slated to eventually include 945 housing units, retail stores, a hotel, parks, trails, a Napa Valley Vine Trail connection and a Costco — which Keith Rogal of Napa Redevelopment Partners, owner of the Napa Pipe property, said in 2021 would likely open this year — among much else.
Napa Pipe is a former industrial site that sits along the Napa River immediately south of Kennedy Park and north of the George F. Butler Memorial Bridge. Long used for industrial purposes, it was purchased by Napa Redevelopment partners in 2005 after Napa Pipe, which manufactured steel there for 17 years, closed down.
The plan to build housing on the site went through several iterations in succeeding years, with the current master plan mostly coming together in late 2014 and 2015, with some changes in 2018. Overall, the project is expected to play a major role in meeting the city of Napa's state-required housing allocation over the next eight years of 2,669 new units. That number is about 700 units higher than the city's original allotment; Napa County allowed the city to annex the property in exchange for taking up 80% of its housing mandate for unincorporated areas.
Phase one of development, covering 91 acres east of the railroad tracks, is set to include up to 420 housing units, including 70 affordable units, along with the Costco and office and warehouse spaces.
The second phase west of the railroad will include up to 525 housing units — 70 of them affordable — plus retail space and a hotel, according to a city staff report.
The initial 79 single-family homes would be two-story houses — with a three-story bonus room option — and range from 2,342 to 2,910 square feet, adding about 200 more square feet with a third floor.
The Planning Commission meeting will start at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Napa City Hall, 955 School St., and can be viewed online at cityofnapa.org.
