Business Briefing: Amid roadwork impacts, Guerneville readies for summer season

Once completed, the pedestrian upgrades Caltrans is making along State Route 116 will be transformative for downtown Guerneville. The main drag of the LGBTQ tourist haven in Sonoma County will see expanded sidewalks, additional Pride flags, new murals, and native plant landscaping.

But the yearlong project has had detrimental impacts for many of the businesses located along the highway, as access to their storefronts has been made difficult at times. The work has taken place in sections along River Road between Brookside Lane near the Safeway and the Gravenstein Highway bridge over the Russian River.

“Caltrans, honestly, has been good at helping to adjust the plan so it really minimized the time businesses had to be closed and in getting ramps for people so there was access all the time. We still saw a huge decrease in foot traffic and that meant lost dollars,” said Nick Schwanz, president of the local chamber of commerce since January.

To provide some fiscal assistance, the business association launched a GoFundMe to raise $30,000 to be shared with the affected merchants. It also held a block party last Saturday to raise additional funds, paid for via a $6,000 grant the chamber received from the county.

While the link for the online fundraising page was still live as of Wednesday morning, Schwanz told the Bay Area Reporter that the chamber had netted just shy of $20,000 as of the weekend and decided to end the online appeal for donations.

Anyone still interested in supporting the local businesses should plan a visit to the North Bay region, said Schwanz.

“The best thing you can do is get your butt up to Guerneville,” he said.

Schwanz and his husband, Spencer Scott, own Solar Punk Farms. The queer couple relocated from San Francisco in July five years ago to launch their community-run farm at 15015 Armstrong Woods Road in Guerneville. For the past two years, they have been members of the Russian River Chamber of Commerce.

“While we have bounced back, I would say many of the businesses are still on a year-by-year basis,” Schwanz said about the impacts wrought from the COVID pandemic that began in March 2020. “They make hay of the summer and hold on for dear life to make it through the winter. It is just kind of the vibe of the businesses up here.”

Heavy rains over the winter caused some flooding in town that impacted a number of resorts and other businesses located along the river. The wet weather also pushed back the timeline for the roadway project, which the merchants had hoped would have wrapped up in April.

“It definitely is not easy times for businesses here. Everybody’s been feeling the pinch for sure,” Schwanz said. “To have all of this happen this year has just gotten everybody incredibly frustrated.”

The uncertainty over the project’s completion date has led to further frustration for merchants, said Schwanz. Based on the latest information he has, Schwanz told the B.A.R. it could now be July before the Caltrans crews depart.

“We are never able to get a date. Stuff changes every week,” he said.

Caltrans’ webpage for the project hasn’t been updated since January. It only says it expects to finish work “by summer 2025.”

Caltrans spokesperson Jeffrey Weiss told the B.A.R. this week that the bulk of the roadway work is now expected to be done by the end of June, though some work such as constructing pedestrian beacons at the Church and Mill Street intersections will be ongoing into July. He noted due to it being a “really old highway,” crews encountered complications once they began digging up the ground and finding expected infrastructure components that hadn’t been mapped.

“Caltrans will finish replacing, widening, and adding curb ramps to sidewalks by the end of June, which is important for merchants because summer is their busy season,” stated Weiss. “Caltrans has strived to complete the sidewalk work as quickly as possible, but Route 116 through Guerneville is a very old highway and many of the underground utilities and drainage pipes were not charted on the plans, creating many slow-downs.”

Another issue, added Weiss, crews have encountered are “old redwood stumps –Guerneville used to be nicknamed ‘Stumptown’ – that we've needed to remove or work around. But we are getting closer to finishing, with about three-quarters of the new sidewalks poured.”

According to the state agency’s website for the project, “Being a pedestrian in Guerneville will be a safer, and more pleasant experience by the addition of ADA compliant curb ramps, wider sidewalks, upgraded traffic signals and, curb extensions and pedestrian beacons to accommodate pedestrians at busy intersections on SR-116.”

One element not part of the project is a rainbow crosswalk. While local community leaders had been pushing Caltrans to approve such an installation, it wasn’t deemed doable along the busy highway, said Schwanz.

“We were a little disappointed in not being able to get that, but we got some other concessions where we get a chance to show our pride in different ways,” he said, such as the 64 flagpole sleeves being installed in groups of three between each streetlight along the main drag that will sport rainbow flags.

Jeff Bridges, a gay man who is the resort manager for the R3 Hotel, told the B.A.R. he is among those ready to see the redesigned roadway have its grand unveiling. What already has been completed “is absolutely beautiful,” said Bridges, adding that the project is going to “transform” the town’s entire downtown area.

“When they are done, it is going to be absolutely gorgeous. I can hardly wait until it is completed,” said Bridges.

The resort just off the highway at 16390 Fourth Street was put up for sale last June, as the B.A.R. had reported. It has yet to sell, and the price was slightly reduced from $4.564 million to $4.385 million.

The owners want to see it continue to cater to the LGBTQ community. San Francisco-based real estate agent Steven "Stu" Gerry with Compass is handling the sale along with veteran Russian River Realtor Bob Young.

They have had interested buyers recently tour the property. Gerry told the B.A.R. this month that he expects it will change hands.

“I am in talks with some buyers for this,” said Gerry.

In the meantime, the hotel is welcoming a new proprietor for its restaurant space. Opening May 15 will be Baked on the River by Swedish-born chef Helena Gustavsson Giesea, which had operated nearby for six years.

When that location was sold last year, Gustavsson Giesea closed up her bakery and cafe in December and sought a new place to reopen it. She told the B.A.R. she is delighted to be moving into the R3 Hotel space, as it will allow her to expand her menu to dinner service.

“We are so excited about it. It is going to be amazing,” said Gustavsson Giesea, a straight ally who has called the Russian River area home since 2004. “After we closed, it was kind of like a harsh winter.”

Now, her previous staff of six is coming back to work at the eatery along with several new employees she hired on due to now being open for dinner. With egg prices still sky high, and inflation and tariffs raising the prices of various products, Gustavsson Giesea said she has retooled some recipes where she can to use fewer eggs.

“I am reorganizing the dishes a little bit,” she said.

She wouldn’t divulge just yet what the kitchen will be cooking up in the evenings but did say some of her regulars’ favorite items are coming back, like Groovy Sconed and Gravy, her twist on biscuits and gravy with both veggie and meat options, and Hash in Pan, inspired by the Swedish dish Pyttipanna featuring grated potatoes with either meats or veggies and served with a soft egg on top.

Her salmon chowder is also coming back, while Swedish pancakes are being added as a special menu item.

“As a popular Guerneville restaurant, I think we will bring a lot of clientele in there for support,” said Gustavsson Giesea, adding that she is “planning to stay for forever” at the R3 space. “I hope they will find a buyer who will keep the same spirit and same glamorous feel that the R3 can offer. I feel that we would like to stay on with the new owner unless things change.”

Making a larger investment in the local economy is chamber board member Jimmy Kansau, a gay man who in 2021 bought the El Barrio mezcal lounge at 16230 Main Street from lesbian celebrity chef Crista Luedtke, who owns the resorts boon hotel + spa and The Highlands. Kansau is now readying to open The Guerneville Social Club this fall, turning the former Timberline Restaurant building at 16440 Fourth Street into a multi-purpose community hub and market hall with a wine tasting room, a bakery/coffee shop, a beer garden, and a restaurant.

“We always saw that building and we love mid-century architecture,” said Kansau of himself and his husband, John Anderson, an interior designer in San Francisco.

The couple of 22 years has run into some permitting issues, delaying their timeline for opening, which Kansau now hopes will be sometime in October. He will oversee the rooftop restaurant that will largely focus on weekend brunch and the beer garden, which will serve soft pretzels, gourmet hot dogs, and brisket sandwiches along with the different ales on tap.

One of the market halls will be taken up by the Palm Springs Bottle Shop, Kansau told the B.A.R. Owned by two queer couples from San Francisco, one male, the other female, the liquor store carries different products and brands owned and operated by LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and women entrepreneurs.

“It is really wonderful what they do,” said Kansau, who splits his time between San Francisco and Guerneville.

In the meantime, Kansau is prepping to open his Mexican-inspired bar on Sundays later this month through the fall for a special brunch menu from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Featured will be brunch tacos and other finger foods.

“There is a lot of human wealth in this area,” noted Kansau. “The bar has been an excellent catalyzer to strengthen these relationships. We have met a lot of wonderful people here.”

It is why he decided to further invest in the local business scene with the social club concept. It will also bolster the ranks of queer-owned places in town, a perennial issue as Guerneville also draws straight visitors and investors in new enterprises, such as glamping resort The River Electric that recently welcomed its first guests.

“I didn’t want the queer community to fall behind,” said Kansau, who initially bought El Barrio after learning someone was interested in turning it into a sports bar at the same time he was looking to open a place of his own. “It was my favorite bar, so I told Crista I was going to buy it. It has been almost four years and I love it.”

Summer season
Guerneville’s business owners are expecting it to be a busy summer season this year. While overseas visitors may dip somewhat due to foreign tourists boycotting the U.S. over the policies of the Trump White House, more locals are expected to visit in light of concerns over the economy and preferring to staycation in the coming months.

At the R3 some Canadians, Germans, and British repeat guests have canceled their trips this summer, said Bridges. But many of its regular Canadian visitors are returning, he said, and the hotel expects to see many more people from the Bay Area checking in this summer.

“I feel positive about this summer. We do have a lot of bookings on the books,” said Bridges. “There are parties and events planned almost every weekend throughout the season to bring people up.”

Several thousand attendees are expected for this year’s LGBTQ-focused Women’s Weekend taking place Thursday, May 15, through Sunday, May 18, as the B.A.R. recently reported. In two months it will be LGBTQ men descending on the town for the annual Lazy Bear Week, taking place July 28 through August 4, with attendance expected to be double of last year’s nearly 2,000 participants.

The following month will see the return of Russian River Pride with the 2025 parade set for Saturday, September 20.

“When the economy goes down, people from San Francisco don’t travel so they come here,” noted Kansau as for why he is expecting record crowds this summer. “The other one is the way the government is going right now, a lot of people are feeling the need for that community and coming together and that sense of pride. Especially in the queer community, it’s more prevalent now.”

With the openings of various businesses this year and the improvements to the streetscape, there is no better time to visit Guerneville, argued Schwanz. A main focus for him as chamber president is to highlight what the town has to offer via the group’s social media pages and encourage people to visit.

“This is going to be the summer to remember. There is more energy, more events, and more new things going on here than we have had in a while,” he said.

Got a tip on LGBTQ business news? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or email [email protected].

Construction equipment lines State Route 116 in Guerneville where Caltrans is working on pedestrian upgrades that it hopes to complete this summer. Photo: Courtesy Russian River Chamber of Commerce