About Cornerstone Downtown

Creating our future, together.

Cornerstone is a team of innovative and collaborative individuals who are invested in the future of the North Bay. We work to inspire an elevated experience in downtown Santa Rosa from young professionals to families, our workforce and the senior community. We work toward a new way of leading, meeting diverse needs and demands, and truly becoming a cornerstone in the community. Paving the future while keeping centered on our three main principles of sustainability, community and innovation. Join us in realizing this vision.

OUR IMPACT POTENTIAL

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Housing Units
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People Can Be Housed

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economic vitality, increased quality of life + housing efficiency

Our Projects

Right Now

Cornerstone’s first two projects consist of an 8-story building on Ross street in Courthouse Square and a 6-story building on W 6th Street in Railroad Square. Both buildings utilize affordable-by-design units, well-designed and innovative floor plans, and a focus on usable common spaces within the buildings. Check out more of each of these projects below.

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Downtown Station Phase I

6-story residential development with 114 units, community room, playground, and walking pathways.

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556 Ross Street

8-story mixed-use development with 118 units, a public childcare center, a small café and shared electric fleet of vehicles for building residents.

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1Mendocino + B Street Development
27th Street Lots
3707 Fifth Street
4Downtown Station Phase I
5Downtown Station Phase II
6556 Ross Street

Local Jobs

The unemployment rate as of August 2022 in Sonoma County is 2.6%, which is the lowest in modern history, and lower than the California unemployment rate of 4.1% for the same month.

Santa Rosa is the Seat for the County of Sonoma, with its city and county offices located in the downtown core, as well as the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber. Santa Rosa is home to four large medical centers (Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital, Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and Santa Rosa Community Health), all located less than 5 miles from the city center. Santa Rosa Junior College is adjacent to the city center and serves 7,044 students, while Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park (about 10 minutes south of Santa Rosa) serves 8,600 students. As of January 2022, 9 of the top 10 largest private employers in Sonoma County are headquartered in Santa Rosa. In February 2022, the County of Sonoma was named one of America’s best midsize employers by Forbes magazine. The County employs over 4,100 full-time employees and was the only government agency in California to make the list. In 2021, the County of Sonoma ranked 79th on Forbes’ List of the 100 best employers in California.

More Housing

With six substantial sites owned in the downtown core, Cornerstone looks to provide housing for all. An inclusive vision includes units that are affordable-by-design to house the ‘missing middle’ and our critical workforce employees to building high-end condo projects which would cater to an aging population looking to downsize their spaces and be in a walkable neighborhood.

The city center is desirable not only for being a vibrant and walkable community, but it also has significantly less risk for fire danger and utility and service disruptions.

Community Space

Along with housing, the projects will provide desperately needed services to the city center including childcare, health clinics, grocery markets, community centers, music and art venues and outdoor public space.

It is imperative that Cornerstone work collaboratively with other organizations for this vision to come to life. Some of the partnerships already created include working with the City of Santa Rosa, Santa Rosa Metro Chamber, North Bay Leadership Council, Generation Housing (Gen H), major employers in the region, First 5 Sonoma County, Santa Rosa Planning + Economic Development, and Renewable Enterprise District (RED), just to name a few.