LOCAL

Grab a bite, get on your bike: Downtown Redding spot sheds naughty past to become hipster hangout

Projects like Market Center and Block 7 are changing the face of downtown Redding.

But the repurposing of a former brothel into a transit center that will be a launching point to other downtown destinations and the area’s trail network has the potential to be just as transformative, proponents say.

Work on Bell Plaza at Shasta and California streets is expected to start in February after the McConnell Foundation received its building permit for the Bike Depot portion of the project last month.

Shasta Living Streets will operate the Bike Depot, which will include a secure place to park your bike that is accessible 24 hours, bike sharing and a starting point for trail tours.

A rendering of the Bike Depot in downtown Redding.

The depot will be a new two-story building on California Street that will be connected to an outdoor plaza and café being developed by the McConnell Foundation. The café will encompass the former Bell Rooms, a dilapidated white brick, two-story building that in the 1940s operated as a brothel.

The McConnell Foundation purchased the Bell Rooms property from Redding Area Bus Authority and has been working on the development for some time.

“We will be hiring a contractor for the whole project after the first year ... and we are ready to get going,” McConnell Foundation Chief Operating Officer Shannon Phillips said.

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Construction will take about a year.

Trilogy Architecture of Redding is the project designer.

"We are excited about this project, its location along the Diestelhorst-to-Downtown Bike Trail, and the opportunity to repurpose the brick Bell Rooms into a café," Phillips said. 

Approximately $1 million from the Block 7 project is going toward the Bike Depot. The money for transportation-related amenities comes from the $20 million state Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities grant received to do Block 7, a partnership between McConnell, K2 Development and the city of Redding.

The McConnell Foundation is paying for the café and outdoor area in Bell Plaza.

Block 7 will include 79 affordable apartments, plus between 12 and 20 market-rate apartments, commercial and retail space, a park and a smaller parking structure to replace the California Street parking garage. Demolition of the parking structure started last month.

K2 also is building the $39 million Market Center on the site of the former Dicker’s department store building. The company anticipates finishing the mixed-use, four-story building next fall.

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While the McConnell Foundation has picked Shasta Living Streets to operate the Bike Depot, the philanthropic organization hasn’t decided who will run the café.

“What we envision is to be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, we want it to be fresh, want it to be affordable, and we want it to have a little bit of a grab-and-go component,” Phillips said of the café’s menu.

The menu also will be seasonal, featuring items like fresh fruit and salads in the summer and soups and other warm comfort foods in the winter, Phillips said.

There is a chance redevelopment of the Bell Rooms into the two-story café also will start early next year, Phillips said.

Anne Wallach Thomas, founder and director of Shasta Living Streets, said the depot will have about 30 parking spaces for bikes. The bike park will be secured and accessible by a key card at any time. There will be a yet to be determined fee to use the bike park.

The McConnell Foundation purchased the former Bell Rooms building from RABA and will repurpose it into a cafe that will be a part of Bell Plaza.

The Bike Depot will not sell or repair bikes.

“We have great bike shops,” Wallach Thomas said.

Shasta Living Streets also will host guided tours on electric bikes.

“We want to provide a service to the community, also we are a small community, and we are a nonprofit, so we need as many revenue streams as possible,” Wallach Thomas said.

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Eventually, the depot will offer bike sharing and be a jumping off point for the Salmon Runner, a Redding-to-Sacramento service on electric buses being funded by an $8.6 million state Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program grant awarded to the Shasta Regional Transportation Agency.

Jennifer Pollom, senior transportation planner with SRTA, said the money will pay for seven buses and the infrastructure to run the service. She did not know when the transit service will start.

The holdup is SRTA hasn't found an electric bus that can make the 175-mile trip to Sacramento, Pollom said.

"So we are working through that," she said. "We do have the funding. We just are trying to figure out what vehicle can" make the trip.

Wallach Thomas is excited about the prospect. 

“You can leave your house, ride your bike, park your bike and get on the Salmon Runner to go to Sacramento. Come back, get on your bike and never use your car,” Wallach Thomas said.

David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly "Buzz on the Street" column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-225-8219. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.