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HISTORIC NAPA MILL PROJECT NEARS COMPLETION

September 1999, Napa Valley, California - Nearing completion in downtown Napa is the renovation of the historic Napa Mill Project, featuring the Hatt Market and the Napa River Inn. Anchored by the Hatt Building, originally built in 1884 and designated a National Registry Historic Landmark, the project is the largest historic redevelopment undertaking in the history of Napa.

When completed, the 2.5 acre Napa Mill Project will include a variety of restaurants, Epicurean food markets, boutique shops, regularly scheduled river boat excursions, a weekend farmer's market, an arts and crafts market, plus an ongoing schedule of special events, festivals and river activities.

The Napa Mill will be the first completed phase of a major downtown Napa renovation and redevelopment. With the $70 million American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts only a short walk away, the Napa Opera House restoration just two blocks away and the Napa Wine Train just across the river, guests and residents in the Napa Valley will have a wide selection of nearby interests to pursue.

At the heart of the project is the Napa River Inn, a 66-room boutique hotel located throughout a series of three uniquely designed buildings: the historic Hatt Building and the new Embarcadero and River Plaza buildings. Among the many amenities the Inn will offer are complimentary breakfast, river views, fitness facilities, fireplaces, in-room massage and the services of onsite Greenhaus Spa.

In addition to the Inn and spa already underway are a Mediterranean restaurant, a pub restaurant, a bakery, a coffee brewing & roasting company, flower and gift shop, ice cream and soda parlor and a wine and wine accessories shop.

Visitors may arrive at the Napa Mill via boat on the Napa River and use the facility's river dock. The "paddle wheeler" riverboat, Grand Romance, will operate a regular schedule of dinner cruises and private events from its home base at the Napa Mill. The newly approved $750,000,000 Napa River Restoration and Flood Control Project, to be completed over the course of the next seven years, will add a series of river trails, water access and nature hikes to the broad complement of activities.

Once an agricultural center of commerce for the burgeoning San Francisco Bay area, the Napa Mill Complex was originally built by Captain Albert Hatt on property purchased from Napa's Founder, Nathan Coombs. In addition to river commerce with his luxury steamship, Amelia, Capt. Hatt operated a coal and vegetable emporium from the Hatt Building, employed a series of wharves on the river and was a local social, civil and political figure. His wife, Alma, operated the "Oyster House and Restaurant" on the first floor of the Napa Valley Opera House, two blocks away.

It is with this past in mind that developer Harry Price, with his wife, Linda, and partner Sandra Callahan-Bhutan, undertook this massive project "to restore, preserve and recapture a part of the rich history of the town of Napa". Price stated, "these days, the historical significance of properties like this can only be maintained and managed through the same resource that created it in the first place:commerce. It is our job and our desire that the Napa Mill complex will live again as a respected, important and continuing part of Napa Valley's history."

The Napa River Inn is scheduled to open June 2000, and the Hatt Market will open to the public in the spring of2001. The Napa Mill and Napa River Inn are located at 500 Main Street, Napa, California 94559. For further information on the Napa River Inn, phone 707.251.8500, fax 707.251.8504. The Hatt Market can be contacted by calling 707.251.8550.