Location
I-5 exit #536 and County Road 102
Developer's Website
https://www.petrovichdevelopment.com/2nd-project
Established
Spring 2008

Woodland Gateway is a retail center project from the Petrovich Development Company on the Eastern boundary of Woodland.

Tenants

History

Original concept and preliminary planing for the Woodland Gateway commenced in 2004 (or possibly earlier). On 23 May 2006, the Woodland City Council approved the Woodland Gateway project by unanimous vote. Construction officially began in a groundbreaking ceremony on 27 April 2007, and spaces were available for lease beginning in the Spring of 2008. Costco was the first business to be completed and opened February 22nd, 2008, with Target opening on July 24th, 2008.

Controversies

Like most major development projects, Woodland Gateway has been the subject of several controversies throughout the planning and construction phases. Some of these controversies include:

Decreased Development Fees

Environmental Impact Report

On 05 March 2005, Yolo County sued the city of Woodland for deficiencies in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR). A major portion of the lawsuit focused on the proposed auto mall. The lawsuit was settled in January 2006, which allowed the project to move forward, including annexation and construction.

Best Buy Signage

A controversy occurred over Best Buy in June of 2008, about whether they could use their signature tilting blue wedge logo. On May 15th, the Woodland Planning Commission voted 4-3 to deny the request, as they wanted the Gateway stores to reflect the architectural history of downtown Woodland. In accordance with the Gateway Shopping Center historical design requirements, the new Target store put their circular logo in a brick tower. According to the Woodland Journal and Petrovich Development, "Best Buy is the co-tenant needed to satisfy the conditions of other leases such as Old Navy, Sport’s Chalet, In-N-Out Burger, Red Robin, Bed Bath and Beyond, Michael’s, Texas Roadhouse and Johnny Carinos Italian Restaurant1." On June 10th, the Woodland City Council voted 5-0 to approve an exception to the city's historical standard.

Development Schedule

Phase I: Costco, target, anchors, pads, shops Phase II: Retail, Auto Mall, Hotels (Estimated Completion: 2009)

Woodland Gateway is a 55 acre retail center, including 525,000 square feet of shopping space, currently under construction in east Woodland at County Road 102 and Interstate 5 by Petrovich Development Co. Originally slated to include an auto mall, lack of local dealership interest in relocating and the allure of higher sales tax revenue from large retailers convinced the city council to re-assign the land to 100% retail and attract more big box stores. This includes Costco, Target (who will move from its current location at County Fair Mall), Old Navy, Shoe Pavilion, Michael's Arts and Crafts, In-N-Out Burger, and others.23

The Woodland City Council has received criticism for yielding so easily to Petrovich's demand for lower development fees (used by the city to build infrastructure). The fee was cut from $23/sq.ft. to $12/sq.ft after Petrovich stated that he could not continue the project at that price, which would mean that Costco would likely not build in Woodland. The fee was raised to $23 earlier from $11.42.4Yolo County has also expressed concerns with the tax revenue sharing - the county would receive 56.1% of property taxes and 0% of sales tax - and the lack of mitigation for the loss of 77 acres of prime farmland.5

A survey taken in January 2005 of 3,000 residents showed that 60% supported the Gateway project, with Costco topping the list of desired stores 3 to 1 over the next choice.6

On May 23, 2006, the Woodland city council unanimously approved the project. Infrastructure construction began around April 2007, and the official groundbreaking ceremony took place on April 27, 2007. Costco is expected to open February 22, 2008.7 Target is slated to open in March 8, 2008.8

Yolo County Lawsuit

On March 5, 2005, Yolo County sued the city over environmental concerns with the center. Frank Sieferman, Jr. of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors issued a statement regarding the lawsuit. Note that this lawsuit is over the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the original auto mall - a new one is being prepared for the retail center.

The lawsuit was settled in early January 2006, allowing annexation and construction to proceed. Any issues the county had with the original EIR are to be resolved in the new supplemental EIR. There was no financial deal involved in the settlement aside from splitting the litigation costs.9

View of site, looking toward the south east from I-5 overpass Sign on Road 102 Close-up of site from I-5 overpass; Sac skyline visible in distance

Comments:

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2007-04-11 20:24:50   Anyone know if construction actually began last month? —DavidGrundler

2007-07-12 10:15:06   Not 100% sure when they broke ground but driving by there looks like a lot of ground work being done. Have yet to see actual construction. —Vajeni

2007-07-29 17:29:15   Although country road 102 is one of the widest, including a designated bicycle lane, does anybody know if there will be any work done to it to provide for the extra traffic? I ride this road to school twice a week and it would be nice to have a separate bike path because of the high speed cars flying by. —MischaGushiken

2008-03-19 13:39:35   The Costco is done and it looks nice. There is another large structure that looks to be near completion and I assume it's the Target. Seems like nothing else has begun construction though —quadshock

Footnotes

1. Woodland Journal http://www.woodlandjournal.com/search?q=best+buy
2. Fok, Shawbong. Costco favored over autos by council. The Daily Democrat. 2005-07-07.
3. Wilkinson, David. Gateway: a blueprint for the future? The Davis Enterprise. 2005-01-30.
4. Panzich , Vicky and Hamilton, John P. Letter: Costco's good and bad news. The Daily Democrat. 2005-08-03.
5. Yolo County. Press Release: County Challenges Woodland's Environmental Impact Report. 2005-03-04.
6. Fok, Shawbong. Costco favored over autos by council. The Daily Democrat. 2005-07-07.
7. The Woodland Journal "Countdown to Costco" 2008-01-16
8. Lee, Crystal "New ground broken at ceremony for Woodland's Gateway project" 2007-04-28
9. Sherwin, Elisabeth. County ends objection to Gateway shopping center. The Davis Enterprise. 2006-01-03.

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