The historic Nut Tree property, a popular Northern California retail landmark, quickly fell into physical and financial disarray after the death of its longtime proprietor. The City of Vacaville took possession of the 76-acre site, located along the heavily traveled Interstate 80 midway between San Francisco and Sacramento. The City entered into exclusive negotiations with a developer intent on creating a unique, high-density project that would include land uses not yet established in this growing suburban environment.
Working with the developer selected by the City, EPS evaluated the market potential and financial feasibility of a variety of mixed-use development concepts for the Nut Tree site. The analysis focused on a retail mixed-use project that would leverage the site's desirable attributes, including positive name recognition and adjacency to a local baseball stadium, well-utilized private airport, and popular factory outlet center. EPS also evaluated the potential success of high-density office and residential uses to be integrated with other project components, which included a conference center hotel, golf course, parks, a museum, and other public amenities. Based on its market financial feasibility analysis, EPS helped to design a preferred land use concept and provided strategic input for the development of a comprehensive public/private financing plan and a Development Agreement with the City. The work was conducted as part of a multidisciplinary team that included designers, engineers, and a golf/hotel consultant.