Derelict Chanate Property Down to One Bidder, Demolition Moving Forward

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And then there was one.

On Tuesday, Sonoma County Supervisors received news that only one bidder remained for the 72 acre Chanate Campus in Santa Rosa, this after local developer Bill Gallaher pulled his offer for the property and blasted the Board in the process.

The county and city of Santa Rosa want to work with an outside organization to build market rate and affordable housing on the derelict property, which is filled with old, outdated structures built between 1936 and 1994, including the former Community Hospital.

Gallaher criticized the Supervisors for passing on an earlier offer of more than $10 million, after neighbors waged a successful court challenge to the plan.

Out of three initial offers, the final remaining bidder is now EAH Housing, and the Board said they will enter into negotiations with EAH over the eventual sale and transfer of the property.

In the meantime, supervisors voted to move forward with demolition of the abandoned buildings on the site, which have been vandalized and cost the county approximately three quarters of a million dollars a year to secure.

The county’s General Services director told supervisors that the buildings are a health and liability hazard, and expose the county, its employees and the public to unacceptable risks. It is known that many of the buildings contain asbestos and are not seismically secured, an important issue because the campus lies in close proximity to the Rogers Creek fault.

Work will now turn to negotiations between the county and EAH, while seismic and environmental work on the property gets underway with the goal of tearing down hazardous buildings and making the site more valuable, and more attractive to buyers.