[SAguy]

SA Express News- 11/27/19
Essex Modern City and boutique hotel

California investment firm Harris Bay is planning two projects around downtown: a $150 million mixed-use project at Essex and South Cherry, dubbed Essex Modern City, and a 112-room hotel on Travis.

Essex Modern City could include office space, retail, apartments, condominiums, townhomes and a food hall, but progress has been held up by efforts to have the area designated as a quiet zone, Harris Bay co-founder Jake Harris said previously. Local developer Efraim Varga ended his involvement in the project earlier this year.

In the meantime, Harris Bay has been hosting events at the property, which is decorated with colorful murals.

The firm has also proposed building a boutique hotel on a 0.2-acre lot it bought this spring and will likely benefit from the property’s location within a federal opportunity zone. Harris previously said the firm was in talks with companies to manage and operate the hotel.

He didn’t respond to inquiries about both projects.