Hearing set for Wednesday for 87-unit Fort Bragg Apartments project

FORT BRAGG, CA., 3/11/25 – An 87-unit apartment complex proposed just south of the Noyo River Bridge would be Fort Bragg’s largest housing project of the century if approved.

In a town starved for rentals in all income categories, an unrelated 49-unit housing project for seniors is also now on the books adjacent to Moura Senior Housing near Adventist Health Mendocino Coast Hospital. And the city is also in the process of considering master developer agreements with the Skunk Train to develop the former lumber millsite that comprises most of the city’s oceanfront, with even more housing.

The Fort Bragg Apartments project is proposed by Kosh Petroleum of Roseville between the Emerald Dolphin Inn and Fort Bragg Outlets on the west side of State Route 1. The public will get its first chance to talk to the city about the plans at the Fort Bragg Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday, March 12.

Akoshdeep “Kosh” Grewal, who proposes developing and building the project, also owns the Emerald Dolphin Inn with his family. 

“I was on Zillow (Thursday). There’s literally two available apartments in all Fort Bragg,” Grewal said.

“I’m surprised what people are charging in Fort Bragg for the quality of housing that they’re providing.  Some of it’s old, and run down and still very expensive. If someone builds new housing, a lot of people want to move to the new housing, and then other housing will open up. “

The proposed project would include six studio apartments, 36 one-bedroom and 45 two-bedroom units.  A playground and two courtyards would be part of the package.  Environmental surveys found no serious issues on the 2.7 acre site. The property is mostly covered with non-native grasses and has a few pine trees. The developer has told the city many more trees would be planted, and he says the plan is to save some of the existing trees.

Public weighs in

The Fort Bragg Apartments proposal has created a sensation on social media in Fort Bragg, with many arguing passionately for any new housing and others expressing concerns about the height of the buildings or the percentage of low income housing units. More than 250 comments were made on Facebook alone after basic information was posted about the project.  Grewal said he welcomed the dialogue with the community and wanted to address concerns that Fort Bragg residents raised.

Grewal said eight units will be low income, with rents dictated by the city and the indexes it uses to determine those rents. Grewal said the rest would be market rate. No range of rents is provided. He said the rental price will depend on the ultimate cost of the project, the overall number of units and market conditions at the time of completion. Grewal, the company, is a general contractor and also manages the apartments it builds.

Many people on the Mendocino Coast believe the proliferation of vacation rentals is a big factor in the housing crunch and expressed that worry about the project on social media. Grewal said the apartments will come with one-year leases and anticipates only rentals for full-time residents.

“If I own the inn nearby, why would I want to offer vacation rentals?” he said.

Mendocino County Supervisor Bernie Norvell said the Fort Bragg City Council in 2019 set a goal of building 200 units by 2026 to address the ever worsening housing crunch. 

“This is a great step in the right direction. I support the project on the south end of the bridge,” Norvell said. (County supervisors have no role in housing proposals within city limits.)

The city, which had seen no major projects in years, helped create the Plateau, a 69-unit affordable housing project, as well as the conversion of the old Colombi Motel into 22 housing units.  

A common theme on social media has been to suggest the developer include a greater number of affordable and accessible units.

“The request from the developer to reduce the number of inclusionary housing is not a new concept,” said supervisor Norvell. “(But) it is an obstacle that prohibits them from being able to afford the development. These projects are not a gift to the city. A developer is looking to invest in our community through housing and yes, they are like any other for-profit expecting a return on their investment. There are plenty of obstacles that they will incur along the way without the city putting more in front of them, which it appears they will not be doing.”

Another issue is where the project will get its water.

Lack of water is what killed housing projects in Fort Bragg from the late 1990s through the first decade of the new century. During Norvell’s term as councilmember and mayor, Public Works Director John Smith led a continuing process of developing new city water sources, that is now being touted as the means to provide water. Three new reservoirs east of Fort Bragg are in the process of being built, although environmental and logistical challenges remain.

Smith recited a long list of all the water systems upgrades when locals asked how the city could consider major development at the old millsite with the city’s history of water shortages.

Grewal said the name Kosh Petroleum stems from one of his first projects, a gas station. Kosh Petroleum has developed and built four apartment and hotel projects in the greater Sacramento area and has four more that have been proposed. One currently in the development process is quite similar to Kosh Petroleum’s proposed Fort Bragg Apartments. It is also very close to a junior college, in that case, Consumnes River College. The current project is about 100 yards from Mendocino College’s Fort Bragg campus. It is also adjacent to the upscale Todd Point subdivision.  HRGA architect’s drawing of that  Sacramento project that seems nearly identical to the drawings submitted to the city of Fort Bragg.

“We use the same architect and engineer in all of our projects,” Grewal said. 

Laura Tulle, Associate Planner with the City of Sacramento, said on Friday the Kosh Petroleum project near Consumnes River College is proceeding through the development process as expected.

Developer asks city to raise allowable heights

The developer is asking the city to raise its maximum allowable height by 10 feet to 38 feet, a point that has touched off considerable debate on social media. Grewal pointed out the highway is 5 to 10 feet above the elevation of the property. There is a flash of ocean view across the property at the moment. That could make the project eligible to appeal to the California Coastal Commission. The city administers the Coastal Commission through the rules of a Local Coastal Program within its limits. The city’s initial look found the project, as infill and zoning appropriate, and raises no red flags. 

Although 38 feet would be the maximum for the seven buildings to be constructed to hold the 87 units, much of the height over thirty feet is pitched roofs.

“We’re really going to maybe go up to 33 feet. It’s not like any views will really get obstructed, because the parcel itself is so much lower, and you can’t really even see the ocean (from the highway),” Grewal said. A drive-by revealed a quick glimpse of blue water.

“The three-story is something new (in Fort Bragg), but it allows the developer to get more units in, thus increasing their profit and their affordability to do the project,” Norvell said.

Despite the grand ocean and limited harbor views such a project would offer from the third and perhaps second floor apartments, Grewal said there will be no penthouse rentals on the top. He said all the apartments would be the same, other than some having two bedrooms and some one. One concern expressed on social media is that the project at Fort Bragg’s entrance is a bad idea because apartments tend to become run down.

“I’d simply say that if someone’s gonna put that big of an investment in Fort, Bragg, it’s not gonna be run down any time,” Grewal said. He pointed out that the family has put much effort into renovating the Emerald Dolphin Inn, a unique business in Fort Bragg in that it offers a miniature golf course and caters more to families than the getaway and retired tourist audience of most other inns.

The property backs up to the Todd Point subdivision, Fort Bragg’s most upscale subdivision, more like Surfwood in Mendocino or Caspar South than anything else in Fort Bragg. More than 50 large, single-family homes on spacious lots sprawling down to the ocean front and around the college.  When this area was originally proposed for annexation to the city in the 1970s and 1980s, the city council was mostly opposed to any new housing and was seeking retail development. A Kmart proposed nearby caused a huge controversy and Todd Point itself never became part of the city, although the areas on the highway such as this project, are in the city limits. 

With million dollar houses to the west, next door to the project are machine shops with a variety of large equipment outside and then the Fort Bragg Outlet Store. Before the bridge there is a large trailer court and finally the Noyo River Grill, providing spectacular views of the harbor.

The area currently has mixed uses. Directly across State Route 1 (South Main Street) is the McDonald’s restaurant and a drive-in coffee business. 

The city itself has sought to develop workforce housing in the immediate vicinity of Mendocino College, which is located across Ocean View from the project. A small condo project next to the college is one of the few housing projects that has gone forward in recent years.

The proposed project may also help solve an existing problem for pedestrians. Currently, a person who wishes to walk across the north side of the Noyo Bridge cannot safely enter the city on foot, due to lack of a crosswalk or sidewalks between there and downtown. Caltrans and the city are working on sidewalks that will stretch from Pudding Creek Bridge on the north end of Fort Bragg, through all the way past the Noyo River Bridge. Kosh Petroleum has agreed to completely renovate the frontage road that runs in front of the project, including sidewalks as part of the proposal.