As far as milestones go — and Santa Rosa’s long-envisioned Tierra de Rosas development has had many — the groundbreaking Friday felt a little different.
Conceived more than a decade ago as a mix-use community hub in one of Santa Rosa’s most heavily Latino neighborhoods, the latest version of the Roseland redevelopment project calls for affordable housing, a community plaza, a teen center and open mercado.
It has been limping along for years, buoyed by occasional building demolitions to make way for actual construction.
But the ceremony Friday, which drew numerous city, county and state elected officials, marked the outset of infrastructure work that’s expected to begin later this month or early June.
“It’s a milestone that’s been way too long in the making,” said Sonoma County Supervisor Chris Coursey, whose district includes Roseland and much of southwest Santa Rosa.
The housing component, which includes 75 units of affordable housing and 100 units of market rate dwellings, last year ran into an $18 million funding gap needed to start infrastructure work at the 7.4-acre site on Sebastopol Road and West Avenue. The county provided $7.7 million from the general fund, while the state Legislature allocated $3 million.