O Pioneers

In a move that could create the single largest development opportunity on the Northern California coast, a historic 430-acre sawmill site in Fort Bragg is going up for sale.


The now-closed Georgia Pacific Corp. complex, the economic engine that drove the Mendocino Coast economy for more than a century, is being marketed to developers as a potential site for a mixture of homes and commercial enterprises, including a luxury hotel and a marine research center.


The sawmill site, which has dominated the town's appearance for nearly 120 years, sits in the heart of Fort Bragg with its own power plant, readily available city services and two miles of spectacular ocean frontage.


"I don't think there is any other site like it," said Randall Stemler, an analyst for the California Coastal Commission.


For Fort Bragg, the potential sale holds out hope of new economic development to replace a shrinking local timber industry, while for the first time since 1885 providing city resid...