Community Corner
Who Should Buy the Borreo?
The landmark stone building on the Napa River is up for sale by the city, and a variety of potential owners have indicated interest. What do you think should happen there?
Built in 1887, the Borreo Building is either the oldest or the second oldest commercial building in Napa: "There is a debate over the relative ages of the Borreo and the former laundry on Clinton St. that is now the Vintners Collective," wrote .
The landmark building, made of native stone quarried from the Soda Canyon area, represents "a melting pot of Napa’s mercantile history," Bors wrote: Its 9,000 square feet have housed a grocery and feed store, a shirt factory, a winery, an automobile agency and a drayage warehouse and even a second-story "dance hall and social center known as 'Egyptian Hall.'"
Owned by the city since 1966, designated a historical landmark in 1977 and retrofitted for seismic safety in 2006, the Borreo — now a handsome shell of a building — is up for sale.
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Among the possible buyers who have shown interest so far are a motorcycle designer with a TV show, local scuptor Gordon Huether and the , whose CEO told the city council his group had enough money to buy the building outright and use part of it for offices while renting the rest and potentially making a room available for community use.
Local arts advocates have longed for a community arts center on the site, which has limited parking and no windows on the river side.
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According to a December, 2011 report in the , the Borreo is valued at $400,000 as is, but if developers were guaranteed the right to add windows and offsite parking, it could be worth $1 million.
What do you think would be the best new use for the Borreo Building? Share your visions in our comments section.
