New Spinoff Company to Manage Saltworks Project

A new company will be in charge of managing the 1,426-acre Cargill Saltworks development proposal, developer DMB Associates, Inc., announced Monday. Arizona-based DMB Associates has decided to splinter its growing Pacific Division into a new company, DMB Pacific Ventures, which will be headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area.

DMB Pacific Ventures will manage the proposed Saltworks project just as DMB Associates had done and that nothing will change in the day-to-day management, a spokesperson said.

“The process from the beginning has been very local and rightfully so,” said spokesperson Jay Reed. “This project requires much community input.”

Because the company identified Saltworks as the company’s “biggest long-term opportunity,” DMB has had an office on Seaport Boulevard throughout the application process.

“Given the scale of DMB Pacific projects, the extraordinary places in which they occur and the nature of the accords on which they are based, it is important to us that our community partners and stakeholders understand that this transition is under way,” said Mark Kehke, the DMB Associates Pacific Division chief operating officer who will accept the same position in the new company, in a statement. “But what won’t change are our commitments, our dedication to quality and the people responsible for them.”

Though DMB Associates has had several projects in California for the past two decades, the company said it saw several more market opportunities in California. With California’s emphasis on future growth along transit lines and housing closer to jobs, focusing on The Golden State was an “organic move,” the spokesperson said.

This re-organization has been in the works throughout 2011.

When large corporation, DMB Associates came into town in June 2006 with its proposal to build on the Cargill Saltworks site, many residents were highly skeptical and even resistant to the company’s dedication to Redwood City.

“Do Cargill and DMB plan to stick around to make sure that what they have promised to build will actually be built?” asked Patch blogger Marisuita. “What incentive will they have to stay in Redwood City rather than move on to their next lucrative project?”

Reed pointed out that Cargill Inc., who owns the land, has been “an active player philanthropically since the late 70s.”

"And [DMB's Senior Vice President] John Bruno has been a life-long Bay Area resident," he added.

Editor's Note: The lede was altered to clarify that DMB Associates adn DMB Pacific Ventures are two separate companies, but have the same name association.

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