To compare, Holcomb and another partner, Joe Rossi, are also redeveloping the Food City shopping center, located about 1 mile away at the 1800 block of Old Sonoma Road.
Lease rates at the Food City project will be in the $3.50 per square foot range, said Holcomb.
Do the two projects compete with each other?
Not really, said Holcomb.
They are very different, he said. “The tenants we’re talking to at 1500 First St., they want to be by the downtown action.”
The tenants at Food City, which include a market, café, fitness studio, taqueria, and hair salon, “they don’t necessarily want to be downtown,” said Holcomb. “They want the convenience of parking and the traditional neighborhood shopping center.”
Holcomb acknowledged that the impact of COVID-19 restrictions and the rise of construction costs and materials such as lumber have affected the project on First Street.
“It’s gotten more expensive than our original pro-forma … but we’re still rolling.”
After initially buying different percentage amounts of ownership of the building, Holcomb and investors completed their purchase of the property from Napa Valley Development Corporation in 2019. In total, the Exertec building sold for $7 million.
