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Rohnert Park council authorizes exclusive negotiations with CenterCal for downtown project
Summary
Rohnert Park authorized a 150–300 day exclusive negotiating agreement with CenterCal Properties to begin work on a proposed downtown at 6400 State Farm Drive. Residents and labor groups urged lease options, community benefits and 25% affordable housing as council directed staff to negotiate protections and term-sheet details.
Rohnert ParkCity Council voted Oct. 22 to authorize the city manager to execute an exclusive negotiating agreement (ENA) with CenterCal Properties LLC to begin formal negotiations over a proposed downtown development at 6400 State Farm Drive.
The ENA starts the clock on a 150-day negotiating period (extendable to 300 days) and sets deadlines for a conceptual design and term-sheet work. Kevin King, the city's senior analyst, told the council CenterCal must deliver a draft conceptual design by Dec. 6, 2024, followed by meet-and-confer and council review periods before a disposition and development agreement would be drafted.
The vote followed extensive public comment by labor and community groups pressing the council to secure written guarantees. "We want to make sure that there are guarantees of good labor conditions," said Ron Lopez, a Sonoma State professor and community member, urging living-wage jobs and a preference for leasing rather than an outright sale. Several speakers pressed for 25% high-density affordable housing, robust community outreach and terms preserving local hiring and prevailing wages.
Union representatives framed a lease option as a way for the city to retain long-term control and revenue. "Keeping ownership or leasing gives people who live here the opportunity to work in their hometown and make a living wage," said Stephanie Hall of IBEW Local 551.
CenterCal leasing vice president Grace Yang and company representative Scott Bour responded that the firm has engaged community and labor groups and is eager to proceed. "We are so excited to make a change here at Rohnert Park," Grace Yang said, while Scott Bour told the council the project is gaining momentum and that CenterCal has met with several labor groups.
Council members emphasized that the ENA itself does not commit the city to sell the land. City staff and the city attorney said the ENA merely creates an exclusive negotiation window during which financing plans, conceptual designs and a term sheet would be negotiated; any sale or lease would require later council action and, typically, closed-session real-estate negotiations. City Manager Marcela Pedra and City Attorney Michelle Kenyan noted the DDA (disposition and development agreement) stage would be where enforceable community benefits, milestones and lease/sale terms would be specified.
Councilmembers repeatedly told the developer and staff that community values and local workforce protections must be incorporated into negotiated terms. After discussion the council adopted the ENA in a roll-call vote with all five councilmembers voting in favor.
What happens next: CenterCal has the initial 150-day window to complete due diligence and submit required deliverables; the city and developer will then negotiate a term sheet and the DDA, which would return to the council for approval. The ENA does not itself approve or authorize construction or conveyance of property.
