Next to Glen Ellen, the Old SDC Grounds Are Mostly Park and Partly Proposal

On August 3, the Glen Ellen Forum filled the Jack London Saloon on Arnold Drive for a meeting about the future of the Sonoma Developmental Center. Scott Orr, director of Permit Sonoma, was the guest speaker. The Sonoma Index-Tribune reported that the room was standing-room only and that the county expected to release the draft environmental impact report in September.

Four weeks later, on August 31, the same paper reported that the draft would not come out in 2026. Orr said it would most likely be released in spring 2027. For anyone looking at property along Arnold Drive or near Eldridge, the delay makes the site easier to read. About 765 acres of the old SDC grounds are now settled public parkland. The 180-acre campus in the middle is still a proposal, and its proposed construction calendar starts in the same season its environmental review is now expected to appear.

The Calendar in the County's Own Notice

The campus belongs to the California Department of General Services. In February 2025 the state chose Eldridge LLC to develop it. Eldridge LLC is a partnership of two California firms, The Grupe Company and Rogal & Partners. Permit Sonoma's August 2025 Notice of Preparation describes the project in three overlapping phases running from March 2027 to August 2036:

1. Phase 1: 241 homes and the hotel, with 50 of those homes affordable.
2. Phase 2: 469 more homes, including 100 low-income senior apartments. The notice gives August 2030 and February 2035 as Phase 2's site-preparation and construction endpoints.
3. Phase 3: the last 280 homes, including 50 affordable apartments, with site preparation starting February 2033.

The three phases add up to the full 990 units: 785 market-rate homes, 5 independent-living homes and 200 homes affordable to lower-income households. That affordable share is at least 20 percent of the total, which the notice says makes the project eligible for state and county density bonuses.

Phase 1 is scheduled to begin in March 2027, and the draft EIR is now expected that spring. After the draft is released, Permit Sonoma expects a public comment period before the report goes to the Planning Commission. The Index-Tribune's August 6 report described a 30-day comment period but gave no date for a Planning Commission or Board of Supervisors hearing. The last review was overturned in court. A 2023 lawsuit from Sonoma Community Advocates for a Liveable Environment and Sonoma County Tomorrow led the Sonoma County Superior Court to invalidate both the earlier EIR and the 2022 SDC Specific Plan in October 2024. A separate case is also pending. Eldridge For All reports that a court allowed a Sonoma Valley Next 100 lawsuit against the Department of General Services to proceed on March 13, 2026. That suit challenges how the state disposed of the property.

That leaves the 2027 to 2036 phase schedule as the developer's estimate. Nothing on it has been approved.

What the Park Side Already Settled

The open space around the campus has its own timeline. The land transfers are complete, and the final park designation has been filed.

When it announced the 2024 transfer, State Parks said the land links Jack London State Historic Park with Sonoma Valley Regional Park and protects a regional wildlife connection. The Press Democrat reported that adding Camp Via brought the total to 661 acres. On October 14, State Parks posted that its Bay Area District supervisors and Jack London Park Partners had filed the General Plan amendment the month before. Once the amendment is in place, the 765 acres become part of Jack London State Historic Park and the park grows past 2,200 acres. Jack London Park Partners will keep running the historic park, and State Parks staff will continue to operate the SDC open space.

The land is already being used. State Parks runs an Accessible History Hike on the Sunrise/Baker loop. The loop is a flat, paved walk of 45 to 50 minutes around a seasonal wetland on the eastern edge of the property. It passes the old farm, a horse corral, the dairy and other buildings from the years when the SDC raised its own food. A separate Lake Suttonfield Guided Hike runs alongside it. The B.A.R.K. Ranger program for dog owners started there on August 22. A BioBlitz around Lake Suttonfield in September 2026 recorded 361 observations of 152 species. The area already appears on Glen Ellen's preserve map, and the pending General Plan amendment would make it part of Jack London State Historic Park.

For a buyer weighing a parcel that borders or looks onto this land, the outlook is settled. The open space is no longer a parcel the state might sell. It is becoming part of a state historic park, with a support group that raised a record $680,000 at its September 19 gala.

The Water Rights Stayed With the Campus

The park and the campus share one important asset. According to the county's notice, the 650-acre State Parks transfer excluded the site's water rights and water infrastructure, along with the cemetery areas. The lakes are inside the park, but the water rights and the system that treats and delivers the water did not go with the land.

That system is what the campus proposal relies on. The notice says the project would use the SDC's own lakes, springs, wells and treatment and distribution network. Eldridge's service arrangement is still conditional. It holds a will-serve letter from Valley of the Moon Water District that depends on a negotiated agreement, approval from the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) and other conditions. In its September 2025 scoping letter, Sonoma Land Trust said the supply relies on Roulette Springs and the Fern Lake and Suttonfield Lake reservoirs. By the Trust's figures, the supply is about 405 acre-feet a year against projected demand of about 402. The Trust asked the county to study alternatives. Those numbers are the Trust's own analysis. The county has not published its findings on water.

For someone thinking about pasture or vines in the area, this explains why the water section of the EIR will be read closely. The Trust's figures put the project's demand close to the system's full supply, and the reservoirs sit inside state parkland.

What Arnold Drive Would Carry

The proposal also includes about 130,000 square feet of commercial space for office, retail, research and light manufacturing. The 150-room hotel and its parking structure would add about 120,000 square feet more. Together those make the 250,000 square feet of non-residential space cited in some sources, so the two numbers agree. The plan calls for about 67 acres of parks and recreation space and about 3,030 parking spaces.

Most of that traffic would use Arnold Drive. The proposal would rebuild it as a "complete street" with bike lanes, pedestrian paths and better transit stops. It would also add a road east to Highway 12 for emergency use only. In Phase 1, the National Register-listed Main Building would be reused for uses such as a food hall, screening room, co-working space and community library.

Traffic and road access are the analyses holding up the draft. In the Index-Tribune's August 31 report, Orr explained why the county could not release the report in parts:

"So many sections rely on analysis being complete in other sections… things like traffic impacts, land use and … emergency access and that can have a cascade of effects."

Debbie Lammers, president of the Glen Ellen Forum, told the paper the community was "disappointed but hopeful" that the result would be a plan the surrounding communities could support.

A 43-Day Market Next to a Ten-Year Plan

The county housing market moves much faster than the planning process. According to BAREIS, Sonoma County recorded 356 residential sales in September 2026 at a median price of $779,500. Median days on market were 43. In September 2025, the county recorded 381 sales at a $740,000 median, with 53 days on market. The California Association of REALTORS counts only existing single-family homes and shows a different picture. Its August 2026 county median was $790,000, down 5.1 percent from a year earlier, with 3.7 months of unsold inventory, unchanged from August 2025.

These are countywide figures. They do not isolate Glen Ellen, and they say nothing about whether the SDC has affected local prices. A home that sells at the county's September pace goes under contract in about six weeks. A buyer who closes this winter will likely own the property before the draft EIR comes out, before its comment period opens and before any hearing date is set. The open space can be fully assessed during escrow. The campus cannot be, because its review has not been published.

FAQ

Is the SDC open space open to visitors now? Yes, with programs run by State Parks. The Sunrise/Baker loop, Lake Suttonfield hikes and B.A.R.K. Ranger events are posted on the SDC Open Space updates page.

Has the 990-home plan been approved? No. The draft EIR is expected in spring 2027. After that come public comment and Planning Commission review.

Where will updates be posted? Permit Sonoma posts schedule changes on its SDC project page.

This post is general information about a public planning process. It is not legal, water-rights or financial advice. Confirm how it affects a specific parcel with the right professional.

If you are considering acreage near Eldridge, it helps to know which part of the view is permanent parkland and which part still depends on the 2027 review. Wine Country Equestrian Real Estate will guide you to the right resources and professionals to gain accurate, current information as plans change if you are considering buying property in Glen Ellen.