Business Group Honors Murphys Arbors Development

A new new retail and housing development in Murphys has been honored by the Sierra Business Council.

The Arbors Development was named one of four Vision 2020 award winners for its careful and profitable approach for the project.

Architect Rudy Ortega, from Ortega and Associates in Murphys, said property owner Stephen Drammer had a clear vision.

“He wanted to create a mixed-use, retail and residential development that would blend in with the fabric of the existing community in terms of scale and architecture and use of materials,” Ortega said.

Some residents opposed the project when it was drawings and promises, because they didn´t believe it would really look like that when it was built.

Ortega says some of those people stop him on the street now to thank him.

“Once it got to be a touch-feel situation, they kind of took a sigh of relief and said, ´Yeah, this is everything you said it was going to be,´” he said.

And it´s proving profitable: The retail space is already rented or committed.

The Business Council awards honor innovation and leadership in the Sierra.