Riverside city officials and developer Adrenaline Sports Resorts Collaborative are negotiating a deal to transform a portion of the Northside neighborhood with a recreational adventure park, hotel and conference center, new housing, a grocery store and restaurants.
The City Council voted 7-0 on Feb. 25 to negotiate exclusively with ASR Collaborative.
The developer has at least six months to work with city officials to acquire 126 acres of city-owned property north of Highway 60 to create the Riverside Adventure Center along with a mixed-use development consisting of housing, commercial and retail space.
Officials said ASR’s proposal is in line with the goals of the city’s 2020 Northside Specific Plan. During the negotiating period the parties will hash out a binding agreement on price, sale terms, performance measures and key milestones.
“This project has the potential to transform the Northside, honoring the wishes of the neighborhood while expanding our recreational opportunities for all residents of Riverside,” Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said in a statement. “The combination of a lushly developed and free park with discounted fee-based adventure sports offers a new level of parks amenities in Riverside.”
ASR has committed to pay fair market value for the land and does not require city funds for the park construction, officials said. The developer’s operational team members have extensive experience delivering public and private projects and designing programming for the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, Riversport in Oklahoma City, and Montgomery Whitewater in Alabama.
The ASR Collaborative is a partnership with Riverside-based Overland Development Company. The group has proposed $200 million to build “an 85-acre Riverside Adventure Center, with a heavily landscaped public park that connects to the existing Reid Park, biking, hiking, trails, climbing, play areas and open space, all for free,” according to a city statement. “For a fee, visitors could visit world-class aquatic recreation facilities, including a whitewater rafting course, a wave lagoon with a surf park and boathouse, zip-line and rope courses, sport climbing walls and an amphitheater. Riverside residents would get discounts.”
The proposal also includes a Northside Village Center with a 45,000-square-foot grocery store, restaurants and retail shops on 41 acres to the south of the project area; a four-story, 150-room, 91,500-square-foot Adventure Center Hotel and Conference Center and 722 units of housing with 25% designated for “affordable” units.
“This transformative project will not only deliver much-needed amenities to the Northside, fulfilling a long-standing community desire, but will also introduce unprecedented recreational opportunities that will redefine what’s possible for Riverside, unlocking a new era of growth and vitality for our residents,” Mayor Pro Tem Sean Mill said in a statement.
Officials estimated the project would create an 2,800 jobs.
“ASR Collaborative is thrilled to be working with the city on this historic effort to reinvigorate and celebrate Riverside’s Northside neighborhood,” an ASR spokesperson said in a statement. “Our work with the city will establish a vibrant mixed-use community anchored by an Adventure Center that provides recreational opportunities from nature hikes to world class whitewater and surf for the more adventurous. This effort will activate the Springbrook Arroyo and serve as a hub for community activities, cultural celebrations and economic growth. Through this project, ASR Collaborative will not only be bringing the river back to Riverside but will create a grand new amenity for the city and its residents.”
The 126-acre project site is the former location of the Riverside Golf Course, which has been closed since 2009.
Plans for the Riverside Adventure Center include a training facility for athletes at the youth, collegiate, national and international levels, officials said. The Riverside Fire Department and other urban search and rescue groups also could use it as a local training facility instead of traveling to Blythe.
ASR intends to design the Adventure Center to Olympic standards so the facility can be considered as a possible venue for competitions in the LA28 Olympic Games such as whitewater canoes and kayaks, climbing, skateboard contests, BMX cycling, surfing and the biathlon.
The outdoor sports venues would be designed in collaboration with international and national sport governing organizations for eligibility in world cups, championships, X-Games, training camps and events leading up to LA28. Officials noted that the project’s overall success would not be dependent on securing the LA28 Olympic Games.
More information is available at NorthsidePlan.com.
