Sonoma County Indian Health Project secures expansion space as large clinic project delayed

It’s been nearly nine years since the Tubbs Fire destroyed the Kmart store at 3771 Cleveland Ave. in Santa Rosa on Oct. 9, 2017. Sonoma County Indian Health Project in 2020 acquired the property, seen here on Aug. 5, 2020, and announced plans to open a 70,000-square-foot medical center on the land. In May 2026, the organization leased office space across from its Santa Rosa clinic as the bigger project remains on the drawing board. Kent Porter / The Press Democrat 2020

Image

By Jeff Quackenbush

jeff@nbbj.news

Sonoma County Indian Health Project Inc. has leased offices across the street from its main Santa Rosa clinic as its long-planned health center at the former Kmart site on Cleveland Avenue is delayed, according to a source close to the organization.

The nonprofit signed a lease May 21 for 12,173 square feet at 141 Stony Circle, Suites 140-145. A source inside Sonoma County Indian Health Project said maternity and other services are expected to relocate there this summer because the proposed health center at 3771 Cleveland Ave. has been delayed for a few years.

The organization announced in July that billing and medical records also had moved outside its 144 Stony Point Road clinic, though it did not identify the location.

City records show the organization requested meetings in June 2020 about a two-story, 70,000-square-foot medical office building at the former Kmart property. No subsequent submissions are noted on the city permit portal.

“The City has not received a formal application,” Santa Rosa spokesperson Misti Wood wrote in an email Tuesday.

The healthcare organization hasn’t responded to multiple requests for comment in the past few months.

The Journal reported in 2020 that the organization planned the clinic on the 9-acre property, where the Kmart was destroyed in the deadly October 2017 Tubbs Fire.

The organization’s finances have grown substantially since then, according to ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer, which extracts financial data from Form 990 filings submitted to the IRS. The project’s revenue exceeded expenses in every fiscal year from 2016 through 2025.

Revenue increased from $21 million in fiscal 2016, when expenses were $17.8 million, to $65 million in fiscal 2025, when expenses totaled $39.4 million. Net assets rose from $27.6 million to $144.3 million during that period. Total assets reached $158.6 million in 2025, while liabilities were $14.3 million, down from $17.6 million in 2016.

Established in 1971, the nonprofit operates its main clinic in Santa Rosa and a satellite clinic in Point Arena. Its tribal consortium includes Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California, Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians, Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, Lytton Rancheria of California, Manchester Band of Pomo Indians of the Manchester Rancheria, and Kashia Band of Pomo Indians of Stewarts Point Rancheria.

Shawn Johnson of Keegan & Coppin Co. Inc. represented the organization in the May lease, and Dave Peterson of the brokerage represented the landlord, STG Group.

Jeff Quackenbush joined North Bay Business Journal in May 1999. Reach him at jeff@nbbj.news or 707-521-4256.