Riverside looks to develop major mixed-use projects in Northside Neighborhood

One of Riverside’s oldest neighborhoods may be on the verge of a major transformation.

The city has agreed to hold talks with Adrenaline Sports Resorts Collaborative about developing the Riverside Adventure Center, a recreational adventure park, hotel and conference center, housing, a grocery store and restaurants.

That project will be built on a 126-acre site in the Northside Neighborhood, on a parcel occupied by former Riverside Golf Course, which has been closed for 20 years and is overrun by weeds.

With a 7-0 vote, the city council on Feb. 25 approved negotiations with Adrenaline Sports. Both sides hope those discussions will result in the developer buying the property from the city.

Both parties will spend up to six months negotiating an agreement, although those talks may be extended up to one year, at the request of Adrenaline Sports. The company will then transform the dilapidated site into a mixed-use project that will include outdoor recreation and retail and housing.
Riverside Adventure Center will cost about $200 million to develop and create an estimated 2,800 jobs, according to the city.

“ASR Collaborative is thrilled to be working with the city on this historic effort to reinvigorate and celebrate Riverside’s Northside neighborhood,” the company said in a statement. “Our work with the city will establish a 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.”

The project will also activate Springbrook Arroyo, a waterway that is part of the Santa Ana River watershed. The Springbrook Arroyo is being restored as part of Riverside’s Northside Master Development Project. That project will bring walking trails, bicycle corridors, open park space, and recreational facilities to the entire Northside neighborhood.

“Adrenaline Sports Collaborative will create a grand new amenity for the city and its residents,” the statement reads.

Current plans call for the project to cover 85 acres, about two-thirds of the project site. Adrenaline Sports Collaborative will not ask for any financial assistance from the city, according to Regine Kennedy, Riverside City Planner.

Adrenaline Sports has assembled a team that has developed public and private projects – and developed programming – for several major entities, including the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, Riversport in Oklahoma City, and Montgomery Whitewater in Alabama, according to the statement.

The Riverside Adventure Center could transform not just the Northside Neighborhood but all of Riverside because of its potential to become a regional destination, said Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson.

Few cities have anything like the combination of a park that is free to the public – along with adventure sports available at reduced rates – that the Riverside Adventure Center proposes to offer, according to Lock Dawson.

“It’s a very interesting project for a neighborhood that hasn’t gotten a lot of investment over the years,” Lock Dawson said. “It will be a good source of revenue, and it will bring some excitement, to that part of the city. It might also get the attention of some people who have never heard of Riverside.”

ASR Collaborative is partnership between Adrenaline Sports and Riverside-based Overland Development Co. The proposed $200 million project, which would be developed in phases, would be made up of:

• The 85-acre Riverside Adventure Center, which would include a heavily landscaped public park that will connect to Reid Park at 701 N. Orange St. Bicycle, and hiking trails, climbing walls, playgrounds and open space will be available there, all free of charge.
• Aquatic recreation facilities, including a whitewater rafting course, a wave lagoon and surf park and boathouse, “zip-line”  and rope courses, climbing walls, and an amphitheater. An admission fee will be charged to all of those attractions, with Riverside residents given a discount.
• The 41-acre Northside Village Center, which will include a 45,000-square-foot grocery store, restaurants and retail.
• The Adventure Center Hotel, a four-story, 150-room facility that will cover 91,500-square-foot facility;
• 722 units of housing with 25 percent designated as affordable housing.

The proposed project has a good chance of succeeding, according to Lock Dawson

“It’s an ambitious project, but it’s achievable. There’s a very clear strategy behind it, and the things tend to work out better when you’re trying to do something that you’re capable of doing.”

Adrenaline Sports was one of two development groups that responded to the city’s request for a proposal, and it was chosen because it presented a project that will provide the Northside Neighborhood, and the city, with numerous benefits, Kennedy told the council.

The project’s water recreation element will also give Riverside a chance to host several Olympic competitions in the 2028 Summer Olympics, including canoe/kayaking, climbing, and skateboarding.”

“Overall, this is an opportunity to improve the quality of life in Riverside,” Kennedy told the council. “It will provide safe recreation space for Riverside residents and visitors, and a place for them to shop and dine and enjoy the day. It’s also important that Adrenaline Sports will require no financial contributions from the city.”

If nothing else, the Riverside Adventure Center will be a major boost for the Northside Neighborhood, a part of the city originally dominated by dairies, large chicken ranches, horse ranches, and groves of eucalyptus, citrus, and walnut trees.

That began to change in the 1960’s when some commercial and residential development happened there, but for the most part the Northside Neighborhood has lagged behind the rest of Riverside in those areas.

“Until now, not a lot of developers wanted to build anything in that part of the city,” Lock Dawson said. “But this project could happen.”