On May 2, 2023, the Napa City Council voted in favor of the Crescent Housing Project, to be developed by Heritage Housing Partners, located at the Napa County’s vacant Health and Human Services campus, which dates to 1912. Restoration and reuse of the three historic Mission-style buildings and a similarly historic crescent-shaped driveway (hence the project’s name!) is a tremendous save for preservation, as many former proposals advocated for full demolition of the buildings.
While saving the three key buildings of the crescent for community purposes, the development will bring 160 for-sale housing units, with a minimum of 23 low-income and 23 moderate-income units. The unique model is based on providing low cost and forgivable funding to the new homeowners.
Many Napa organizations in support of the project consider the City approval to be a big win and potential model for similar future developments. It’s the culmination of 6 1/2 years of grassroots efforts, from Preservation Advocacy to the local Housing Coalition in favor of more affordable housing, to local businesses whose employees commute from outside the city because they can’t afford housing in Napa, to the community neighborhoods who will benefit from infrastructure improvements including green initiatives. This site, once dedicated to public service as an infirmary, is now being repurposed to serve the evolving needs of the community.
“This development is a winner, not only because of its versatile housing potential, but also because of the specific care of its history, the outstanding design in mixed use, and the determination to complete this project by its developer,” Ernie Schlobohm, a board member for Napa County Landmarks, said at the approval meeting.
In addition to being a voice in the community, 3DVDT also supported the project by providing the as-built documentation of the site using 3D laser scanning to create the 2D site plan, which was used to pitch to potential developers in 2017 with the goal of saving the site and historic buildings from potential demolition by neglect.
