Sacramento Proposal/Approval/Construction Thread - III

[Sactorleans]

Wburg, 24th & T Street? What is going on there?

[wburg]

Wburg, 24th & T Street? What is going on there?

Nothing major--six apartment units replacing a single-family house and garage (1930s vintage but apparently in pretty bad condition including a cracked foundation) inspired by the nearby "bungalow court" apartments, designed by Ron Vrilakas. They will start out as apartments but will be built to condo standards and probably put up for sale as condos in 10 years or so.

[Mr. Ozo]

As someone who lives down on 27th and T, I was hoping something with a small retail space would go it at 24th and T. It would a great spot for a small cafe.

[innov8]

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/4047/centralpowerplant201009.jpg (http://img443.imageshack.us/i/centralpowerplant201009.jpg/)

New Sacramento Central Utility Plant

The new Central Power Plant between Q, P, 6th and 7th streets. The old
plant was shut down by the EPA for discharging hot water into the river.
The new plant utilizes a huge water cooling tower. Instead of trying to
hide it- which is impossible- the design embellishes it with colored panels
and a space frame. The treatment at the top is supposed to represent a
splash, just like a high speed photo of a milk drop splash. The remainder of
the building is intended to look like an office building, but it is simply a big
mechanical plant inside with pipes and ducts, etc.

The new $181 million Sacramento Central Plant will replace an aging
40-year-old facility, efficiently heating and cooling 5.5 million square feet
of office space in the Capitol and 23 other state buildings in downtown
Sacramento. Although called a renovation, this project consisted of
constructing a new plant outside the footprint of the existing plant and
once complete the old plant was demolished to make way for TANK and
site amenities. The new structure is about 80,000-SF. More info here (http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/revit_architecture_customer_story_sacramento_central_plant_us-proxy.pdf).

[wburg]

As someone who lives down on 27th and T, I was hoping something with a small retail space would go it at 24th and T. It would a great spot for a small cafe.

The cluster of things that have gone in at 29th and S kind of makes up for that, though--in addition to Temple, the cake bakery and the existing tattoo studio, Revolution Wines just relocated there, and are apparently opening a small wine bar/tasting room in the front. The recently constructed retail space at 26th and R (part of the Alchemy project) is still vacant, so there is room for retail to fit into existing spaces. Maybe that will change once the ZETA project at 25th and R go in.

[Mr. Ozo]

Temple has been great, but it would nice to have something on the walk into Midtown from the Southern Neighborhoods.

However, it's nice and quiet on the southside and I can walk to the center of Midtown in 15 minutes so it's not too bad.

[wburg]

Well, there's always the Round Corner a block north!

[downtownserg89]

exited the 160 and drove down Del Paso blvd earlier. that area is looking better. It seriously has potential to be the "new midtown."

That really busy intersection where it splits into arden and del paso, that empty triangle lot that used to host a gas station, they should build a midrise apartment building with low income housing for starving students and others. I'd totally live there. Right across the street from lightrail, great opportunity for cool apartment views of the street. get a little streetcar action in there, and we got ourselves a thriving little Uptown district, just off the grid.

just a random little rant :)

[arod74]

Wow, an actual proposal?!? Hopefully the first in a line of projects with some height to look forward to in the coming years. Good luck to the brave individuals pushing this project. You will need it!

Monday, October 4, 2010, 2:40pm PDT | Modified: Tuesday, October 5, 2010, 2:54pm

New eight-story midtown condo project starts selling units
Sacramento Business Journal - by Michael Shaw Staff writer

Sales of condos for Sacramento’s first large-scale housing project in midtown since the economic downturn started are scheduled to begin Thursday.

An eight-story mid-rise project dubbed the “Warren” is planned for 16th and N streets, a block away from Capitol Park. The Warren is a 117-condominium project with ground-floor retail with many of its units aimed at work force housing, meaning those making up to 20 percent more than the Sacramento area-median income.

A grant from a California Department of Housing and Community Development will reduce the expected $325,000 home price to $286,000 and also allows for a “silent second” mortgage of 20 percent from the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency for homebuyers with income less than 120 percent of the Sacramento-area median. That means that those who qualify will have monthly payments as if they have a $229,000 mortgage.

The development entity, East End Gateway I LLC, is a joint venture between the Sacramento-based Nehemiah Community Reinvestment Fund and Em Johnson Interest of San Francisco. They teamed with the Capitol Area Development Authority for the rights to develop the parcel that is now a parking lot and small, aged, apartment complex.

Officials did not say when construction would begin on the project.

Ron Mellon, managing director of Nehemiah Community Reinvestment Fund, said there is an interest list of more than 100 people.

The Warren is planned to include 77 one-bedroom units ranging from 660 to 975 square feet; and 40 two-bedroom units ranging from 900 to 1,300 square feet, including 17 penthouse lofts and five townhomes.

Developers estimated the project’s development cost at $43 million last year. EM Johnson has a relationship with the National Electrical Benefit Fund, a Washington, D.C.-based pension fund that signed a letter of intent to financing the venture.

The building is named in honor of Earl Warren, the former California governor who eventually became a U.S. Supreme Court justice.

There will be an unveiling party Thursday night at the site.

There is an opening reception planned at The Press restaurant at 18th and Capitol Avenue at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
For additional information, call 916-231-0085 or visit the website: TheWarrenSacramento.com.

http://www.thewarrensacramento.com

[ltsmotorsport]

Was just about to post this. Looks like a nice proposal, and just what the central city needs, especially with the market right now.


Now if only the Crystal Ice project could get back on its feet. :cool:

[TWAK]

I live like right across the street from this LOL. I'll take a picture of the lot tmr
what kind of qualifications are they looking at, since starting next year i'll have a taxable income of like 5k

[Majin]

According to the website, its 9 floors.

[wburg]

The 120 percent income level means single folks with an income of $60,000 or so. $229K (the subsidized level) means a monthly payment of about $1200-1300 plus HOA fees (assuming about 5% interest and no down) which is pretty do-able for someone making $60K a year.

[Korey]

exited the 160 and drove down Del Paso blvd earlier. that area is looking better. It seriously has potential to be the "new midtown."

That really busy intersection where it splits into arden and del paso, that empty triangle lot that used to host a gas station, they should build a midrise apartment building with low income housing for starving students and others. I'd totally live there. Right across the street from lightrail, great opportunity for cool apartment views of the street. get a little streetcar action in there, and we got ourselves a thriving little Uptown district, just off the grid.

just a random little rant :)

It already has light rail right there, and if you can get enough height on a building it would have killer views. I want to see 16th developed up and 12th developed down with that area as the top focal point (dunno if that makes sense). But yeah dude, that's an area that has a ton of potential. SN&R moved into the area too, so you got a booster in them. There should totally be a flatiron type building in that one lot you mentioned.

[Surefiresacto]

More cool news about development downtown...


By Bob Shallit
bshallit@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010

A New York-based company with international connections has a most ambitious goal for a midtown Sacramento corner: to construct "the most sustainable building in America."

"That's our plan right now," says Katy Reynolds, president of Sukna Global Holdings, a partnership established earlier this year.

The company is involved in two energy-efficient housing projects in the Mideast, but wants to turn a half-acre parcel at 16th and P streets into a global showcase for its technology.

"California still has tremendous cachet," says Reynolds, a former Merrill Lynch investment banker, "and to build something (special) a few blocks from the Capitol would have huge international significance."

Sukna's hope is to get approval to build at the so-called Gateway 4 site, now owned by the Capitol Area Development Authority, then put up a five-story, mixed-use building that includes a restaurant and food market along with 30 condo units priced from $350,000 to $550,000.

What makes the project unusual, Reynolds contends, is the goal of creating a "net-zero" living environment – a complex that not only meets its own energy needs from solar power but also recycles nearly all its wastewater and provides food for its residents through a rooftop "vertical" garden and a ground-level fish farm.

Much of the technology for the project was developed in Syria by Reynolds' partner, Khaled Mahjoub, to create "affordable, sustainable" housing in developing countries.

The plan here is to combine some of those ideas with local technology and end up with a luxury complex – facing Fremont Park – that would surpass the highest standards for sustainability.

Sukna and three other companies will present their ideas to CADA's board on Oct. 22. The other firms – MNA Development, Lambert Development and SKK Development – also have intriguing proposals. But each has made runs at the property in the past and encountered problems with financing.

Reynolds, who went to UC Berkeley with Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and credits him with luring Sukna here, says financing "won't be an issue" for her group.

An Abu Dhabi company that's financing Sukna's Mideast ventures is a "likely" equity investor in the Sacramento project, she says, with several companies interested in providing construction loans.

[Surefiresacto]

And maybe even more...


By Bob Shallit
bshallit@sacbee.com The Sacramento Bee
Published: Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010

Renewed development interest in the Gateway 4 site is just the latest bit of encouraging news for the 16th Street corridor.

As we reported earlier this week, a partnership today starts pre-selling units for what's planned as a nine-story condo project on CADA land at 16th and N streets.

A reception kicking off the marketing campaign is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at the Press Restaurant at 18th and Capitol Avenue.

There's progress, too, in plans for a proposed apartment complex on CADA property at 16th and O streets.

Development firm Ravel Rasmussen Properties has applied for a loan for the project under the HUD 221(d)(4) program and "is getting green-lighted all along the way" in that process, says CADA executive director Paul Schmidt.

Scott Rasmussen acknowledges his firm has had "decent conversations" with HUD, but he cautions against too much optimism.

Getting money these days? "It's crazy tough," he says.

[downtownserg89]

It already has light rail right there, and if you can get enough height on a building it would have killer views. I want to see 16th developed up and 12th developed down with that area as the top focal point (dunno if that makes sense). But yeah dude, that's an area that has a ton of potential. SN&R moved into the area too, so you got a booster in them. There should totally be a flatiron type building in that one lot you mentioned.

100% agree with you. 16th street is kinda like the new J street, but it gets real rough past H street. Empty lots/vacant buildings galore around C,D,E,F and G streets. Continue the revitalization up to North Downtown which is also infested with random vacant lots and buildings. Extend that life up and into Del Paso blvd, and we've got ourselves a new "it" street/corridor. The intersection on N12th by Goldie's has potential to be pretty welcoming as well. Fix up 12th street all the way from C st to J st. It's a necessity/ needs to be highly prioritzed

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

If they could continue the development on 16th all the way up to Pipeworks and make use of some of those industrial buildings, that'd be amazing. I always thought Sacramento's skyline was too east-west since it's basically two strips along J Street and Capital Mall.

[Web]

The intersection on N12th by Goldie's has potential to be pretty welcoming as well.

if it were nuked:koko: :notacrook: :tup:

[downtownserg89]

The intersection on N12th by Goldie's has potential to be pretty welcoming as well.

if it were nuked:koko: :notacrook: :tup:

There aren't that many multi way intersections in downtown Sac, obviously because it's a grid, but when I see multi way intersections they remind me of the bay citites. They just look cool, ya know?
The goldie's intersection is creepy. Not to sound harsh, but it's very "crack-headish." Mainly because of the homeless shelter. I say relocate that thing, add more mix use buildings and make North Downtown trendy, not scary. Especially that intersection, which is the "you're about to enter the downtown sac grid" intersection.



I had a friend come down to Sac from the Roseville area. She just moved there and had never been to Sacramento. I told her to take the long way, which meant having to transfer from 80 to i-5 just so she can take the J street exit, and not the easier 160 exit into north downtown, just because J street leaves a better impression.

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

I think the most bittersweet thing about that terrible intersection is that that approach affords one of the best views of Sacramento at sunset and at night.

[Pistola916]

701 L news. Doesn't look like it will happen but I guess we all knew that.

===============================================
Bob Shallit: Owner Benvenuti looks beyond Greyhound terminal
Published Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010

The long-awaited relocation of downtown's Greyhound bus station to the River District is likely to take place a year from now, slightly ahead of schedule.

What then becomes of the existing bus terminal site at Seventh and L streets?

It could become home to a grocery store or a multitenant retail center, or even a rental housing complex.

Those are the options under study by landowner Danny Benvenuti, who tells us he hopes to have a decision in three to four months.

What's clear is that Benvenuti's original plan for the site – a high-rise office and condo tower – isn't feasible.

That idea is "on a long-term hold," he says.

If Benvenuti opts to put retail there, he can do so with minimal cost and then proceed with the high-rise development when the economy eventually recovers.

Not so with his idea for 40 to 60 units of medium-priced apartments in a three- or four-story configuration.

That would cost so much that he'd be "locked in" to that use, Benvenuti says.

[wburg]

Heck, the existing Greyhound depot would make a great grocery store--rehab the building, enclose the parking bay (it is big enough to use as a back warehouse and receive delivery trucks) and turn the interior depot area into the market floor. Or use the parking bay as a semi-enclosed "farmer's market" that is open every day instead of once a week.

It's just about the only Streamline Moderne building downtown, it could really shine for about the same price as building a cheap tilt-up grocery store. Plus, there is room in the vacant lot behind the Greyhound for a residential building--and after a while, maybe a small-footprint but vertical residential tower, like the one behind the former Greyhound depot in Washington DC--in fact, it would nicely complement the adaptive-reuse/rehab with residential behind it going in across the alley.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2096/1920969594_01b78f0b96_z.jpg
(image via http://www.flickr.com/photos/army_arch/ )

[Majin]

You guys are missing the big picture here. The reason why retail options are poor downtown is because of the lack of residents. Adding more retail or grocery stores isn't solving the fundamental issue downtown. There needs to be more apartments/condos that aren't SROs.

Any retail that opens at the old greyhound spot will be a liquor store or check cashing store. A grocery store won't open at all until there are more people living within a 2-3 block radius.

[kamehameha]

State picks prime sites for Sacramento County courthouse
Sacramento Business Journal - by Michael Shaw
Date: Monday, October 25, 2010, 8:04pm PDT .Related:
Commercial Real Estate .Enlarge Image


The lot at 301 Capitol Mall had at one time been chosen to house two 52-story condominium towers, but construction was halted early on as funding dried up.
...The State Public Works Board on Monday narrowed the choices for a new $439.1 million Sacramento County Superior Courthouse to two sites — the vacant 301 Capitol Mall lot that was once the proposed site for the Towers on Capitol Mall high rises and property within the Sacramento Railyards.

The state’s Administrative Office of the Courts will now begin a negotiation process with the owners of each lot to determine where the new courthouse will be built.

The office expects to complete site acquisition in one year and complete the project in early 2015.

The 301 Capitol Mall is owned by The Towers On Capitol Mall LLC, which is controlled by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.

The Sacramento Railyards site is across the street from the Federal Courthouse and now owned by Inland American Real Estate Trust.

It’s unclear what the value of either property would be in today’s market, although the county has assessed the Capitol Mall lot at $21 million.

Steve White, presiding judge of the Superior Court of Sacramento County, said, “This moves our court a step closer to providing our citizens a modern, efficient, and workable courthouse. Those using this old insecure facility have suffered too long with an inadequate, overcrowded, and badly designed courthouse.”

The new courthouse will provide 44 courtrooms, 35 of which will be relocated from the Gordon D. Schaber Courthouse and nine for new judicial positions. It will consolidate most of the court’s criminal operations as well as centralize court operations from other downtown leased facilities. The Schaber Courthouse was built in 1965 with only 22 courtrooms, operates at double capacity, and lacks critical security features.

Architecture firms Nacht & Lewis and HOK have been selected to design the 405,000-square-foot courthouse.

The new courthouse project is among 41 projects to be funded by Senate Bill 1407, which finances courthouse construction, renovation, and repair through a portion of judicial branch fees, penalties, and assessments. It does not impose a burden on the state’s general fund, officials said.
..

[Mr. Ozo]

Wait, why can't they build on one of the two adjacent block sized parking lots?

[ltsmotorsport]

I would think that empty lot behind the county jail would be the best spot.

[TWAK]

this must be over 500 ft

[CAGeoNerd]

Please do not put a federal courthouse in that spot on Capitol Mall.. that is exactly what that spot does not need... I'm hoping they go with the railyards site. sigh... still think about the Towers project every now and then, so depressing it fell through..

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

When it comes to 301 Capital, I have no hope anymore. I'll take whatever I can get, and I'll take this courthouse. As long as it's taller than the Embassy Suites, I pretty much don't care because I just want to see that giant hole in the ground filled in.

[goldcntry]

It was rather depressing to look out my window in the Emerald Tower ever day and look down on the hole across the street... Now I'm in Salt Lake and get to look out my window everday at the new Questar building construction below and all the tower cranes for the huge City Creek Center project across the way!

What ever they end up putting in 301, I really hope it breaks the darn flat-top ceiling that currently exists in Sacto by a noticeable margin!
:tomato:

[kamehameha]

Home / Articles / Cityscapes: Here Comes the Neighborhood

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Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Feature: November 2010

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Here Comes the Neighborhood

Area infill projects forge ahead

Story by Adam Weintraub | Photo by Greg Pond

Demolition and site preparation has started at the 65-acre Township 9 site in the River District.
If everything goes as planned, the newest phase of the K Street redevelopment effort will open for business late next month off 10th Street, bringing a pizza place, dance club and “dive bar” stocked with costumed mermaids and mermen to the downtown mix.

Those fish-tailed swimmers in the saltwater tank near 10th and K streets will be just the first of the new faces in the neighborhood. At least five major projects — at stages of development from “imminent” to “who knows?” — are on tap in or near downtown Sacramento with the potential to transform the area.

Within two years, the west end of K Street could be home to the largest single addition of housing downtown in years, with more than 250 new apartments planned for projects in the 700 and 800 blocks of the strip. That’s the most at once since CIM Group’s 225-unit 800 J Lofts began leasing in 2006, and “before that the last was Riverview Plaza in the late ’80s,” says Leslie Fritzsche, downtown development manager for the city of Sacramento.

The two blocks of K Street have different proposals, developers and timelines. Each developer has been granted an “exclusive right to negotiate” by the Sacramento City Council and have started firming up the details of design, financing, tax subsidies and timing. The effort on the 700 block of K could start construction by late next year and be complete as early as 2012.

The K Street projects, along with the 800 J Lofts, would put close to 1,000 residents in the heart of downtown Sacramento, a concentration long seen as a catalyst to revitalize the city core.

Even bigger residential plans in the area are slowly moving forward, though not without bumps in the road.

The most ambitious project is also the most uncertain at the moment, with Thomas Enterprises Inc. losing the 240-acre railyard redevelopment site just north of downtown to a creditor at auction late in October. Initial work has started on roads in the former Union Pacific yard and relocating the train tracks would be next. City officials hope the new owner, Inland American Real Estate, will continue the project. The Thomas Enterprises plan was to add some 12,000 residences, along with retail, offices and entertainment, including the elusive and recurring notion of a new arena where the Sacramento Kings would play.

Not far away, site preparation has started at the 65-acre Township 9 site in the River District along the American River while the developers work out plans for an initial 180 affordable apartments. Long-term plans call for a first phase of about 750 housing units and eventually more than 2,300 units, along with neighborhood retail and other space. A Regional Transit light-rail station on the new Green Line, once planned to open late this year, is expected by mid-2011, and as of October the developers were working on a bid for improvements on North 7th Street.

Across the Sacramento River, construction has started in the Bridge District near Raley Field in West Sacramento with street and bridge work, parks and some utilities set for completion next year. More than 700 housing units of various types are expected to be in place by 2014 with the potential for more than 5,200 units as the area is built out over the years. The first wave is expected to include “a mix of affordable housing, both for sale and rental, and also some market-rate,” says Charline Hamilton, development services manager for West Sacramento.

Those large-scale projects will take years, and the state of the market and availability of financing can change a lot in a short time. The most immediate focus is on K Street.

Nightclub operator George Karpaty is working with CIM and David S. Taylor Interests on the mermaid bar, over-30 dance club and pizza restaurant in the 1000 block of K Street. The City Council in October gave CIM, Taylor and Domus Development of San Francisco exclusive rights to assemble a detailed plan for the 800 block of K and the area to the south.

Potentially first out of the gate is the 700 K proposal, now taking shape as Bay Miry, Ali Youssefi and their compatriots explore the cluster of storefronts they hope to use as the heart of a new western anchor on the long-blighted K Street Mall.

“This is a project that we want to start now,” says Youssefi, a vice president with CFY Development Inc. of Sacramento, a multifamily housing developer with a history of reusing and preserving historic sites such as the Globe Mills and the Stockton Hotel. “We realize the urgency that everybody feels.”

“We feel really strongly about the potential of this site, and that’s why we’re investing all our time and money and energy,” says Miry, of D&S Development Inc. “And our dads’ time and money and energy,” he adds. He’s half-joking about Cyrus Youssefi and David Miry, but the joke acknowledges that both of the point men on 700 K grew up in the business and bring a homegrown Sacramento perspective to the project. D&S has been behind the Old Sac iLofts condo and retail project in the former Mechanics Exchange building; the mixed-use development at 14th and R that includes the Shady Lady restaurant and bar and 13 for-sale lofts; and owns and operates the Sterling Hotel.

Miry and Youssefi, Kuchman Architects and the other members of the development team pitched a proposal that preserves the retail face and historic elements of K Street but lops off the inefficient back of the long, narrow stores. It replaces the rear of the stores with apartments and parking facing the alley and adds more housing above the stores. “I think what separated us was the balance between being doable and being bold,” Miry says. “We weren’t talking about tearing everything down and building skyscrapers. … We think it’s very financeable.”


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The K Street projects, along with the 800J Lofts, would put close to 1,000 residents in the heart of downtown, a concentration long seen as a catalyst to revitalize the city core.


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Once the city approved their exclusive right to negotiate, the plans started to shift, mainly because they got a set of keys and began exploring the site. “We go to a basement we didn’t even know existed the week before — because we didn’t know how to get into it — and realize, ‘Wow, this could be a really cool basement lounge,’” Miry says.

That’s how they arrived at the notion of converting the historic building at 700 K Street that most recently held a Men’s Wearhouse into a music venue that could hold 500 to 800 patrons. A music venue had always been part of their plans, but when they got inside the store they saw the old posters of men in tuxedos around the upper level, looking down to the former sales floor as if they were spectators at a show. It sparked an idea — what if you knocked out the wall to the former Joe Sun & Co. shop next door, replaced some support columns with roof trusses and added a tiered balcony? “The stage would go right about where the dressing rooms are now,” Miry says.

The developers are similarly tweaking their plans for housing — they now envision about 150 apartments, mostly studios and one-bedrooms aimed at tenants with “moderate” income of $40,000 to $50,000 a year — and talking with retail prospects from earlier projects who have expressed interest in the new site. Those tweaks will firm up financing talks, both on city subsidies and on bank loans, but Miry and Youssefi are confident. “The city is as motivated as we are to make something happen here,” Youssefi says.

Just behind on the development curve is David S. Taylor, president of the eponymous development company with a long history of office and hotel projects in Sacramento, including the Sheraton Grand and the US Bank Tower at 621 Capitol Mall.

That timing suits Taylor just fine. He originally was part of proposals for both the 700 and 800 blocks, and when the CFY/D&S group was selected, he had concerns about a possible glut of apartments if they all hit the market at the same time. Now, he says, it looks like the Taylor/CIM/Domus project would start construction no sooner than autumn 2011 and not hit the market before mid-2013, allowing time for the space to be absorbed.

The Taylor/CIM proposal calls for around 60 market-rate apartments along K Street on a now vacant site on the southeast corner of 8th and K, and 60 to 65 affordable units oriented to L Street, incorporating and redeveloping the historic Bel-Vue Apartments building. “We’re in the very early stages of defining exactly what the project is,” Taylor says, which includes the possibility of adding 20 apartments and possibly working with the 700 K team to jointly market retail space.

The time is right for K Street, Taylor says, because the city used its power to assemble blocks of land that had been held by numerous small owners “who assumed they’d get the kind of prices you’d get for an office building.” Also crucial is the city’s financial support and tax credits for affordable housing, he says. “Both of our projects assume that the city is providing land to us, at least at first.” Taylor says his firm and CIM would supply equity for the market-rate construction, and he expects to tap into a multimillion-dollar fund resulting from the city’s sale of the Sheraton Grand, profits that are to be plowed back into redevelopment.

Both development groups must go back to the city with detailed plans to win approval to move forward on K Street, but neither sees much immediate competitive threat from the railyard, Township 9 or Bridge District, all of which have tapped into state bond money that has been slow to flow. “I see our project and Taylor’s hitting the market well before the railyard or Township 9,” Miry says.

“There’s always going to be competition,” says Steve Goodwin, one of the partners behind Township 9. But he sees K Street as a different residential market with a different customer than his project. “To some degree it’s an all-boats-rise situation. … A true marketplace gives people options.” Some people may want the downtown entertainment vibe, he says, while others may want ready access to the American River and its bike trail, a short light-rail ride from downtown. “We’re looking to bring the river to the city and the city to the river.”

That’s a much more wide-open task than redeveloping a couple of downtown blocks. Goodwin likened Township 9 to a master-planned development that would be built out over 10 to 12 years but with more flexibility as to the types of construction within the broader project. “They start off a little slow, but they acquire momentum,” Goodwin says. “For a while, everybody thinks you’re a ding-dong; now, we’re starting to get some buy in.”

Demolition of the Tri Valley Growers cannery at North 7th and Richards Boulevard and other structures began this year, and a contract should be cut soon to develop 7th Street into a “promenade.” Design work has begun with St. Anton Partners on the first new housing at the site, 180 affordable units expected by late next year. “We’re starting to kind of noodle about what the next project will be after that,” Goodwin says. Because the area has been mostly industrial, he says, it needs neighborhood retail that is unlikely to compete with the retail of other developments.

No one at Thomas Enterprises returned calls for this story; Thomas has been embroiled in legal fights with former partners and lender Inland American Real Estate that some said would force the railyard project into bankruptcy. Inland took over the site Oct. 22 through a foreclosure auction.

Fritzsche, from the city economic development office, in October called the situation “a time of flux but also a time of great opportunity.” Before the court fight heated up, she said, “if we do wind up working with Inland, they have expressed a strong interest in going forward” with the project, but that 
likely would delay development.

[Surefiresacto]

Good find. Thanks for posting. I am excited with all of the potential things going on here. This is the first I have heard of the potential music venue on K Street. Does anybody know if there are updated renderings to show how this would work into their plan?

[kamehameha]

B St. Theatre sets stage for final financing of new complex
Sacramento Business Journal - by Mark Anderson
Date: Thursday, November 4, 2010, 6:21pm PDT .Related:



The $24 million project will have two theaters at 27th Street and Capitol Avenue.
...It’s showtime for the B Street Theatre, which is trying to raise $10 million to complete the financing for its planned midtown theater complex at 27th Street and Capitol Avenue.

The $24 million project has been in the works for about five years, with various revisions and downsizing along the way. Plans now call for two theaters, with project review by the city starting next year and ground breaking slated for 2012.

The theater company is counting on raising the $10 million from individual investors via naming rights for the theater and seats — the latter for $2,500 each. It’s ...

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

When I was up in Wells Fargo today, I noticed a completely empty, grassy lot right across Darth Vader at 8th and K. What the heck's going on there (if anything)?

[wburg]

There was a fire on that quarter-block in 2006 that resulted in the later demolition of the buildings on that quarter-block. The property, along with the quarter-block just south of it, are the David Taylor/CIM/Domus half of the 700/800 K Street project. Their proposal is to build a new building on the quarter-block (around 5 stories, I think), rehab the Bel-Vue building across the alley, and build another building where the Feldhusen building (on the corner of 8th and L) and the garage and Sam's Hof Brau (just east of it) stand. It will be mostly residential (rental, some market rate, some workforce-level low-income) with retail/commercial on the ground floor.

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

Nice. If K Street and Downtown Plaza were more active and friendly, that seems like it would be a great spot for some condos. Vader always seems so lonely where it is.

[CAGeoNerd]

So just casually looking around Sacramento, there are lots of empty lots; does anyone know if anything is being considered or planned for any of these locations?

3rd & Capitol Mall
8th & K
15th & Q
16th & N
20th & Capitol
14th & I
18th & S
16th & R

These all look to be basically empty dirt lots.. Would these places get built before demolishing existing older buildings?

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

So just casually looking around Sacramento, there are lots of empty lots; does anyone know if anything is being considered or planned for any of these locations?

3rd & Capitol Mall
8th & K
15th & Q
16th & N
20th & Capitol
14th & I
18th & S
16th & R

These all look to be basically empty dirt lots.. Would these places get built before demolishing existing older buildings?

1. That's one of the locations they're looking into for a new high-rise courthouse.
2. Wburg said David Taylor's doing something there, a few floors, hopefully.
3. Dunno.
4. I've seen posters on the corners for years now. I doubt anything will happen there soon.
5. I know there is/was a proposal there, but I don't know what's happening there.
6. No clue.
7. No clue.
8. I have no idea, but I like how the building to the south has the "THIS IS WHAT MIDTOWN'S BEEN WAITING FOR" painted on it in a giant arrow pointed at the empty lot. If it weren't for those damn trees, I could shoot it.

[kamehameha]

Historic district, properties considered

by Suzanne Hurt, published on December 2, 2010 at 6:08PM
The Sacramento Preservation Commission took an important step toward protecting the River District's history Wednesday by recommending creation of a new historic district and designation of other properties as landmarks.

The commission's six present members voted unanimously to recommend the Sacramento City Council create the North 16th Street Historic District and add nine properties found elsewhere in the River District to the Sacramento Register of Historic & Cultural Resources.

At the same time, the commission postponed a decision on whether to start the historic landmark nomination process for the state printing plant at Seventh Street and Richards Boulevard. The building was designed by prominent architect William Wurster. City staff members have recommended its demolition to improve traffic circulation and support economic development at that critical intersection. State officials have no plans to sell it or tear it down.

Historic preservation in the area has come up as part of the city's process to update its plan for the neighborhood under the River District Specific Plan. City planners see the River District as a prime area for infill close to downtown that can help Sacramento achieve smart growth goals, said Rachel Hazlewood, a senior project manager with the city's Economic Development Department.

"Historic assets are a strength," Hazlewood said. "That's why we brought forth the North 16th Street District."

The River District, previously known as the Richards Boulevard area, is bounded by the American and Sacramento rivers, 16th Street and the historic railyards. The buildings and the district are being nominated as part of an update to a historic properties survey of Richards Boulevard and the railyards taken 10 years ago.

Creation of the North 16th Street Historic District is being recommended to preserve the street's historic character and more than 20 buildings, mostly brick structures dating back to the 1920s. The street still maintains traces of the district's early role in transportation, warehousing and distribution for Sacramento. The boundaries are east of Ahern Street, south of Richards Boulevard, north of C Street and west of 18th Street.

The nine properties being nominated outside the new historic district include the Jibboom Street Bridge in Discovery Park, PG&E Power Station B at 400 Jibboom St., the Sacramento River Water Treatment Plant, Fire Station 14 and Pipeworks Complex, which contains a climbing gym.

The district and other properties are a "great selection" of historic industrial buildings, said Commissioner Andrew Hope.

"I'm completely in support of district nomination," he said.

The Quonset Huts erected in 1946 and the Acme Cabinet building containing Loaves & Fishes were dropped from the list Wednesday night. They could be reconsidered at a later time.

City staff have recommended the state printing plant at 344 N. Seventh St. be demolished so Bannon and Sixth streets can be extended through the property. Staff members believe the building won't help stimulate development at that important intersection, Hazlewood said.

"This is going to be the heart and soul of the river district," she said.

Officials with the California Department of General Services' Office of State Publishing, which operates the plant, notified the city they oppose the plant's demolition.

DGS plans to move the printing plant because it's outlived the location, where it's been housed for 50 years. But the state intends to turn the building into a million square feet of office space to meet the state's needs in years to come, DGS spokesman Eric Lamoureux said Thursday.

"Our long-term plan is to redevelop the space," he said.

The building was designed by Wurster, an influential American architect who co-founded the UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design. Born in Stockton, Wurster transformed an old industrial area of San Francisco into Ghirardelli Square, one of the country's first adaptive reuse projects in 1964, local historian William Burg told the commission at its meeting.

The building has the potential to be listed on state and national historic registers and could be adapted to reuse, said Burg, a board member of the Sacramento Old City Association and a state historian with the California Office of Historic Preservation.

The commission voted five to one to postpone a decision on the building while sending city staff to get more information about it from the State Historic Preservation Officer.

"As a commission, our mission is to promote preservation of these buildings," said Commissioner Tim Brandt.

The council is expected to consider the commission's recommendations in February.


http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/41591/Historic_district_considered

[What is a Rivercat?]

Have you guys heard about this? Is it a real project at 601 J?

http://www.vanirdevelopment.com/doc.asp?id=46

[kamehameha]

looks like a 30 story structure.

[KingsFan#1]

never heard of it.......
and I've never heard of the company
so really if there's only a fifty percent chance it's a real proposal and a twenty-five percent chance it wouldn't go bankrupt before groundbraking, there's realy only a twelve percent chance we'd even see any activity about this tower, which does however, look sick

It looks like if it was built, it deffinately doesn't look like it would be the tallest thing in Sacramento, but It'd probably be somewhere in the top ten. It looks like maybe 27 or 28 floors, and somewhere around the same hight as renaissance

[kamehameha]

I called Vanir Development company. They said the project exist and they will call me back for more details, timeframe etc.

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

Interesting design. I'm with (one of the few remaining) Kings Fan on this, though: I have no hopes for this project until I actually see a crane on the site and steel in the air.

[kamehameha]

La Valentina affordable housing project kicks off
by Brandon Darnell, published on December 9, 2010 at 5:21PM

Developers are promising to bring new life to a blighted section of Alkali Flat following the groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for 81 units of affordable housing adjacent to the Alkali Flat/La Valentina light rail station.

The site on the corner of 12th and D streets has been vacant for more than 20 years and previously housed an auto repair shop.

The new construction will include 63 apartments and 18 townhouses, the latter being the first “Net Zero” site designed for Sacramento, meaning all energy consumed on the site will be produced there.

“We’re here to bring, I think, the most contemporary, most cutting-edge design that we could bring to one of the oldest residential neighborhoods of Sacramento,” said Meea King, a principal at Domus Development, the San Francisco-based company in charge of the project. “We’re very pleased to be able to do that."

King said the $27 million project is being financed by a combination of private, state and local funding and will create and/or maintain about 400 jobs in the area. Construction is scheduled to be completed in summer 2012.

“We are tremendously excited about this project, because this is one of the first near-zero-energy projects in the Sacramento area,” said Paul Lau, assistant general manager of SMUD. “This meets all the requirements of a great project.”

SMUD contributed more than $400,000 in credits for the project’s energy conservation, Lau said.

Lau checked off a laundry list of energy-efficient features in the building, including solar roofing panels, sliding glass doors, energy-efficient windows, space heating, central air conditioning, compact fluorescent and LED lighting, and Energy Star appliances.

“The whole (City) Council is really excited about this project,” said City Councilman Steve Cohn, in whose district the project sits. “This project really hits all the sweet spots; this hits all the points that we are trying to do when we talk about Sacramento becoming the most livable city in America.”

Cohn applauded the fact that the site is “taking advantage of a 25-year investment” in the Alkali Flat/La Valentina light rail station and urged Sacramentans to rely more on walking, bicycles and public transit.

“These types of projects are going to do just that,” he said.

But it wasn’t just government officials and developers who saw the groundbreaking as a good thing Thursday.

“Affordable housing gets people off the street,” said Harvey Hayes, an area resident. “And the energy efficiency is big.”

Hayes said he believes people are speeding up the natural process of the Earth’s climate change, and in working to be more energy-efficient, that process can be slowed down.

“Anything and everything makes a difference,” he said.

Another local resident, Richard, who declined to give his last name, said the area has long been a haven for drug use and crime, but building new housing on what was formerly a derelict lot will help curtail that problem.

“This place is a slum,” he said. “(The new project) is going to help a lot with the drug situation.”

Brandon Darnell is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

[kamehameha]

http://sacramentopress.com/headline/42048/Alkali_Flat_affordable_housing

[innov8]

Have you guys heard about this? Is it a real project at 601 J?

http://www.vanirdevelopment.com/doc.asp?id=46


This office proposal has not even made it out of the rendering stage or been
submitted to the city for needed entitlements… I also would not put any hope
in it getting built while there is a huge glut of office space available in the
downtown area. This proposal began about 5 years ago, it’s the site where
Bank of the West use to have it’s downtown office. Four years ago
Bank of the West was notified by the landowner that an office tower was
being planned for the site and they needed to move, that was when
everything then fell into place for them to move to 500 Capitol Mall.
Right now the red brick buildings are setting there empty… hopefully they
will get some new tenants to fill the space. IMO, the design is awful with
that strange angle that comes out towards J Street, it’s like they want it to
be unique but in a bad way.

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

I agree, the design definitely needs some work. The angle feels like it's trying too hard, and the overall feel is almost a suburban office building. Generally, though, I bet that if this does continue (which I think we would all like to see happen), it will go through one or two revisions. As for the glut of office space, we'll just have to find a way to entice people to live downtown or near downtown like Midtown.

[wburg]

I've got an idea to reduce the glut of downtown office space: A lot of older residential and commercial buildings were converted to office space during the redevelopment era--mostly those buildings that didn't get demolished, like the Travelers' Hotel, the Hotel Regis, the Senator Hotel, or department stores like Weinstock & Lubin, Kress, Montgomery Ward, etcetera. There are also some older office buildings, like the Fruit Building, the Elks, or the Forum. Convert them to residential lofts--some for-sale units, some rental, at various price points, from very low income to market-rate luxury.

Projects like the D&S and David Taylor projects for the 700/800 block will lead the way with affordable rentals, where a lot of the demand is, but there will also be demand for ownership condos. Putting it into existing buildings reduces the supply of office space and makes things like new office tower projects more practical, while providing a new source of housing that is unlike anything else in the region. Lots of other cities have done residential conversions of downtown office buildings, and projects like the D&S units at 14th and R have shown that there is a market. The difference is that these units would be right at the heart of downtown.

What kind of customer is looking to buy or rent in downtown Sacramento? Well, folks like this:

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_16764005?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com&nclick_check=1
Whether Brown's interest in the historic mansion is sentimental, a desire to preserve a historic structure or to make a home with his wife wasn't clear Thursday. The governor-elect wasn't available for comment.

The Browns now live in the Oakland hills in a Japanese-inspired home. They plan to keep it for weekend visits during Brown's term in office.

In the meantime, Gust Brown said, they will likely rent a loft or apartment near the Capitol.

"Jerry is the one who said he wants to live downtown," she said.

This time, though, chances are the mattress will be off the floor.

Obviously, downtown Sacramento condo customers like the new governor of California will be relatively rare--but a few customers like that will attract more people interested in living downtown--if not in luxury, at least in comfort.

Obviously, other efforts would help--better late-night public transit, greater efforts to prevent sprawl, and better central city schools--but we already know that the market exists, and adaptive reuse could get more people into the downtown core more quickly than waiting for someone to take the risk at new high-rise condo construction. And once the older buildings start filling up, it becomes easier to prove (to developers and to banks) that there is a market for new high-rise residential towers.

[Web]

:)
Obviously, other efforts would help--better late-night public transit, greater efforts to prevent sprawl, and better central city schools--but we already know that the market exists, and adaptive reuse could get more people into the downtown core more quickly than waiting for someone to take the risk at new high-rise condo construction. And once the older buildings start filling up, it becomes easier to prove (to developers and to banks) that there is a market for new high-rise residential towers.

yeah LATE NIGHT after 9pm.....still a joke.....just came back from minnesota and I took a bus at 1130 at night and it was not the last bus......they also have cut back now it only runs every 30 min vs every 20 min.....and the fare is now 1.75........:) :)

[sactivity]

Its been awhile since I visited these threads. Everything looks status quo! But thought I'd say "hi" while I was here. Anyone remember me???

visit my website when you have a chance...

http://www.michaelkristiephotography.com

[Dieler]

Anyone remember me???

Enjoyed the bottle of your homemade Petite Sarah you gave me before you left. Did you get the vineyard going yet?

[CAGeoNerd]

Enjoyed the bottle of your homemade Petite Sarah you gave me before you left. Did you get the vineyard going yet?

Whaa? Wine? Alcohol?? :yes: ... nothing has been happening for far too long....

[wburg]

The historic Elliott Building lofts will have a new high-profile tenant soon:

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/20/3269829/jerry-brown-will-live-in-sacramento.html#storylink=omni_popular

Jerry Brown will live in Sacramento midtown loft
Share
By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Dec. 20, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 3A
Last Modified: Monday, Dec. 20, 2010 - 1:10 pm

Gov.-elect Jerry Brown and his wife have chosen an upscale, midtown loft for their Sacramento residence.

The one-bedroom unit is at 16th and J streets, near the Capitol and across from Memorial Auditorium, a source said.

Brown was spotted last week visiting the 1530 J St. building, a renovated, one-time automobile dealership building. On the ground floor are two restaurants, P.F. Chang's China Bistro and Mikuni Japanese Restaurant.

The California Highway Patrol has approved of the location, the source said.

Steve Glazer, Brown's campaign manager, said Sunday that Brown and his wife, Anne Gust Brown, chose a one-bedroom, unfurnished loft to rent in midtown over the weekend. They will move in the "near future," he said.

California is one of five states without a governor's mansion, and the governor's sleeping arrangements have for years been of special interest around the Capitol.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was criticized for not moving to Sacramento, with some observers saying residence here might have benefited his relationship with lawmakers. Schwarzenegger flies most nights to his home in Brentwood, at his own expense, or stays at a suite at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento.

Brown, 72, famously lived in an apartment on N Street when he was first governor, from 1975 to 1983. He has said he will keep his $1.8 million home in Oakland, but he said of Sacramento, "I'm not going to stay in a hotel room."

A website listing lofts at 1530 J Street refers to them as "sophisticated, stylish and smart," with rents starting at $1,700 a month. Units feature modern kitchens, stainless steel appliances and "abundant natural light," according to the site.

Before settling on the loft, Brown seemingly gave passing thought to living in the historic governor's mansion, touring it with Gust Brown after the election. The home, at 16th and H streets, is now part of the California State Parks system. It has been vacant since 1967 and would require extensive renovations.

In addition to renting the apartment on N Street, Brown owned a house in Los Angeles when he was governor before. He refused to move into the new governor's mansion in Carmichael, and the mansion was later sold.


Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/20/3269829/jerry-brown-will-live-in-sacramento.html#ixzz18iefrZNp


Admittedly it's a rental rather than purchase, but at least he is setting up residence here in Sacramento, unlike Schwarzenegger, who commuted home to Brentwood by jet most days. When Brown spoke in Winn Park during the campaign, he talked about "elegant density" in city living (and described Midtown as a prime example of that idea) and it appears he wants to practice what he's preaching, not to mention being conveniently close to the capitol. So if you walk around a lot in downtown Sacramento, you might run into our new governor on the sidewalk!

[CAGeoNerd]

The historic Elliott Building lofts will have a new high-profile tenant soon:

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/20/3269829/jerry-brown-will-live-in-sacramento.html#storylink=omni_popular


Admittedly it's a rental rather than purchase, but at least he is setting up residence here in Sacramento, unlike Schwarzenegger, who commuted home to Brentwood by jet most days. When Brown spoke in Winn Park during the campaign, he talked about "elegant density" in city living (and described Midtown as a prime example of that idea) and it appears he wants to practice what he's preaching, not to mention being conveniently close to the capitol. So if you walk around a lot in downtown Sacramento, you might run into our new governor on the sidewalk!

I'm sure he'll stand out with an entourage of security walking with him :) So it looks like he'll be living right above Mikuni's / P.F. Changs? Kind of weird, but I guess convenient location.

[TWAK]

The historic Elliott Building lofts will have a new high-profile tenant soon:

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/20/3269829/jerry-brown-will-live-in-sacramento.html#storylink=omni_popular


Admittedly it's a rental rather than purchase, but at least he is setting up residence here in Sacramento, unlike Schwarzenegger, who commuted home to Brentwood by jet most days. When Brown spoke in Winn Park during the campaign, he talked about "elegant density" in city living (and described Midtown as a prime example of that idea) and it appears he wants to practice what he's preaching, not to mention being conveniently close to the capitol. So if you walk around a lot in downtown Sacramento, you might run into our new governor on the sidewalk!
I catch the 30 bus right next to Azukar so I'll keep my eyes open

[wburg]

I'm kind of surprised that the story about Jerry Brown moving downtown hasn't resulted in more hubbub here--it certainly provides a model tenant for downtown living, and is about as high-profile as possible, whether or not you like Brown. It has popped up a few places in the planning/urbanism blogsphere:

http://www.cp-dr.com/node/2840

Jerry Brown, Urban Hipster and Trend Setter?

Submitted by jstephens on 25 December 2010 - 1:16am

* Sacramento County
* Jerry Brown
* Sacramento
* smart growth

This week Governor-elect Jerry Brown’s office announced that the incoming governor would take part-time residence in the Eliot Building in Downtown Sacramento upon taking office in January.

The incoming governor’s new digs, on the busy intersection of 16th Street (historic Highway 160) and J Streets, was one of the first modern mixed use projects in Sacramento. Bordering the unofficial boundaries of Sacramento’s Downtown and Midtown areas, the former Chevrolet dealership was rehabbed by LoftWorks and Fulcrum Property in 2003 to create an 18-unit project with 11,000 sq. ft. of ground floor retail and 11,000 sq. ft of office space. The Governor-elect is expected to reside in a modest 1,450 sq. ft one-bedroom apartment – unfurnished for now. Although he intends to keep his home in Oakland, he is the first Governor in recent times to establish residence close to the capital since 1967, when Ronald and Nancy Reagan moved from the Governor’s Mansion on 16th and H, now a State Historic Park.**

In the 1970s during his first stint as Governor, Jerry Brown lived in a sparse studio across the street from the Capitol building – reflective of his Jesuit training and overall economic aesthete. It was not motivated by desires to revitalize a blighted community, or encourage smart growth; rather, it was a practical and no-frills statement.

In an age when politicians often say one thing and do another, Brown’s choice of residence reflects a refreshing consistency.

Brown’s interest in revitalization and redevelopment was most prominent as mayor of Oakland, including his “10K” campaign to populate Downtown Oakland with 10,000 new residents, pushing policies forward to allow for higher density redevelopment projects, and even rehabbing a warehouse near the Jack London waterfront in 1995, which served as both a communal residence for him and eight others and nonprofit office space. As governor, Brown is likely to continue to push an urban agenda, using CEQA and other tools to encourage growth in infill areas and discourage growth in greenfield areas, including increased focus on SB 375 implementation, as noted in an October 2010 CPDR blog.

These days, it appears that the Governor-elect continues to embrace his urbanist leanings, and although he has stated that he doesn’t intend to do much after-hours bar-hopping, the activity on the street might be attractive to Brown. Using the ubiquitous Walkscore tool, frequently used by planners as a metric for identifying walkability of an address based on proximity to amenities and transit access, Brown’s new digs will have a walkscore of 95 – actually the highest neighborhood score in Sacramento. Brown’s previous urban residences generated lower walkscores (89 and 94 in his two lofts in Downtown Oakland), and 15 in his current home in the Oakland Hills area (approximated).

From a convenience perspective, Brown will be settling down within five blocks from his office at the State Capitol – with eateries, household services, small grocery stores, and even other residents – also a short walking distance from his new home. Brown joins the numerous state legislators, staffers, and even Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson – all urban dwellers within close distance to their workplaces.

This Los Angeles Times’ article describes the immediate area as “at the intersection of two busy thoroughfares in the heart of what passes for a hip downtown. There's a sushi spot downstairs and a fancified burger joint down the block that offers Mac-N-Cheese as a topping.” Which always leads us to think about what makes a neighborhood trendy? Is it the urbanity of people living and working in the same areas, or the toppings on a burger?

Is Brown’s choice of a smaller dwelling in a higher-density project a sign of his interest in encouraging smart growth, or one of mere convenience? Probably both. Is Brown being trendy or merely following the mainstream? Will the term “hipster” refer to hip replacements rather than a guy in skinny jeans and a tumblr account? (Although CPDR hasn’t checked to see if JB is on tumblr yet…)

Hopefully it is less of a “trend” and more of a general option for those seeking to live a more compact lifestyle. Rregardless, Brown’s preference for urban places and walkable commutes to the office is to be commended.

--CPDR’s Sacramento Bureau

**Governor Schwarzenegger occasionally stayed at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Sacramento (across from the Capital building) during the week, however most nights, Schwarzenegger chartered flights back to Los Angeles, at his own expense.

...although it should be noted that KJ no longer lives at the condo on 17th and L Street--he moved back to his house in Curtis Park.

[wburg]

This report will be of interest to anyone who follows Sacramento building development:

http://sacramento.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=21&event_id=144&meta_id=215380

It's an annual "Urban Design Team" report, combining both Design Review and Preservation projects. Some are still in process, some were recently passed, others are now under construction. A bit slim in the skyscraper department, admittedly, but a good overview (albeit not all-inclusive) of what is going on development-wise in the city.

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

Anybody know what's going on with the Hotel Berry? It's boarded up, fenced off, and covered in ads for a construction company? Demolition? Renovation?

Also, completely different question, but what fireproofing material did they use in 621 Capital?

[Web]

didnt the rehab start in october??? rehabbing the rooms

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

I had no idea there were any plans for it. If it is being rehabbed and renovated into something better, I can only hope the same happens to the Hotel Marshall. Sure, it might look better with that new corner store and restaurant at the base, but let me tell ya', when you see it from above, you might as well be looking at the Bronx circa 1970.

[wburg]

The Berry is being rehabbed, it will remain an SRO but the building will be fixed up and cleaned up, some of the units will be expanded into ADA compliant units. I hope the same thing happens to the Marshall too--it's still a beautiful building despite its sad state.

[innov8]

Steel Rises at Sutter Medical Center

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/705/suttermedical0111201100.jpg

http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/705/suttermedical0111201100.jpg

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/705/suttermedical0111201100.jpg

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/705/suttermedical0111201100.jpg

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/705/suttermedical0111201100.jpg

[wburg]

I don't have a Bizjournal subscription--did anyone see the story today that UOP wants to open satellite campuses in SF and Sacramento? A downtown campus (with some downtown campus housing) might be an ideal purpose for some underutilized chunk of downtown...what do you think? Railyards? Docks? 3rd and Capitol? Our city could certainly use more centers of higher education, and it would be a shame for another school to settle for a campus in a suburban "business park," far from other campuses, libraries and other resources students might utilize.

[obtuse_edge]

I think it would be awesome if we can get a U of P campus into some area of downtown. It will bring so much more dynamism and life into the central Sacramento area.

[goldcntry]

It's good to see tower cranes over Sacto again! :tomato:

[arod74]

I saw the same article too and was also intrigued but I don't have a subscription either. If officials from UoP mentioned a tenative scope or timeline I am also in the dark. A sizable campus presence would be a godsend for the Railyards during the early build out it goes without saying. A cheaper piece of land in West Sac (does the triangle project even have a pulse?) would also be attractive in conjuction with other infill projects. The former SacPD building the city owns could be a nice spot for their school of business. How about the city donate one of the buildings on K Street they own to UoP's music conservatory to get the ball further rolling on making it a live music destination?

I don't have a Bizjournal subscription--did anyone see the story today that UOP wants to open satellite campuses in SF and Sacramento? A downtown campus (with some downtown campus housing) might be an ideal purpose for some underutilized chunk of downtown...what do you think? Railyards? Docks? 3rd and Capitol? Our city could certainly use more centers of higher education, and it would be a shame for another school to settle for a campus in a suburban "business park," far from other campuses, libraries and other resources students might utilize.

[CAGeoNerd]

Webcam (but much cooler is the Time Lapse) of the new Sutter Med Center building:
http://sutterhealth.oxblue.com/smcsacramento/

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

That is awesome. Thanks for sharing that.

I gotta be honest, looking at those cranes every day, it almost makes me want to try craning.

[Ghost of Econgrad]

Sacramento's Greyhound station move could push downtown growth

SACRAMENTO, CA - Efforts to move the Greyhound Bus Depot from L Street, in downtown, to Richards Boulevard are ahead of schedule, said a Sacramento project manager Thursday.

"It's about six months early," Economic Development Department's Rachel Hazlewood said.

One of the main reasons for getting the transit center out of downtown and onto Richards Boulevard is to help make the area safer and more attractive to people who want to walk around downtown.

"This has become an attractive nuisance downtown, with a lot of activities happening outside Greyhound," said Hazlewood. "A lot of people loiter in front who have no business being there."

The price tag on the new facility at Richards Boulevard, which also includes an extension of 3rd Street northbound to Richards from downtown, is about $7.4 million.

It is right next to a Sacramento police substation, and the location is not by accident, said Hazlewood.

"Security is going to be pretty intense. There are going to be a lot of eyes on the terminal."

With construction ahead of schedule, it's possible the new Greyhound terminal could open as early as November or December of 2011, much sooner than the original target date of April 1, 2012.

[CAGeoNerd]

Awesome news about the Greyhound station. It's too bad this still isn't being planned for the location:

701 L street
31 story mixed use residential/office 445'
80 residential units
240K commerical office space
10K retail
Developer: Danny Benvenuti
Architect: Hellmuth, Obata, Kassabaum (HOK)
Privately financed by developer and pending relocation of Greyhound Station

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b147/urban_encounter/701-1.jpg

Or is it?

[Ghost of Econgrad]

Redevelopment bites

By Cosmo Garvin

Last week, the Mayors’ Institute on City Design—a Washington, D.C.-based group of urban design experts—swung through Sacramento and offered a critique of our deeply dysfunctional downtown, in particular the J-K-L corridor.

A lot of what the MICD had to say at its brief presentation at City Hall last week was familiar to anyone who’s followed downtown development.

For one, K Street isn’t really a street anymore, malled up and cut off by Downtown Plaza and the Sacramento Convention Center. Downtown Plaza itself is a Death Star, a gloomy fortress at war with the neighborhood outside.

(In fact, Bites has been talking about getting rid of Downtown Plaza for years now. See “Blow up the mall” by Cosmo Garvin; September 20, 2007. Also check out www.deadmalls.com to see what other towns are doing with their abandoned, and might-as-well-be abandoned, shopping centers.)

Unfortunately, the MICD panel ignored the one factor that mucked up downtown in the first place: redevelopment.

Mayors up and down the state are pitching a collective hissy fit because Gov. Jerry Brown wants to take away their power to divert taxes into redevelopment agencies.

The upside is that it will mean an end to bizarre experiments like K Street, where for decades millions of dollars in public money have been spent trying out the latest gimmicks. Banning cars, building suburban-style shopping malls, creating a heavily subsidized entertainment district, complete with an underperforming IMAX theater and a mermaid bar.

What did a once perfectly good urban thoroughfare like K Street ever do to deserve such shabby treatment?

Along with the many physical perversions of K Street came the social and political perversions. What was the point of banning street musicians from K Street? Is there not something a bit corrosive about using tax dollars and the power of eminent domain to force “undesirable” businesses like restaurants, record stores and clothing shops to relocate?

Did we really need to spend millions to relocate light-rail stations—and light-rail riders, some of whom are homeless, or young and rowdy, or drunk, or all of the above—away from the sight lines of property owned by certain favored developers? Oh, and how did that whole Z Gallerie thing work out, anyway?

And why does it seem like, inside the redevelopment zone, nobody does anything positive without a fat government handout?
:tup:

The city lionizes downtown super developer David Taylor, who has made his career parlaying public funds into impressive, but often sterile, commercial projects. At the same time it demonizes downtown landlord Moe Mohanna, because he was smart enough to buy up property in the downtown redevelopment zone and then, when the city decided it wanted his land, to demand a high price for it. But both men are products of the same distorted system.

Of course, it should be noted that SN&R’s Del Paso Boulevard mother ship was paid for with a loan from the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency.

And Bites is no Libertarian. Twenty percent of redevelopment money now collected by local agencies like SHRA by law has to be used to produce much-needed affordable housing in our communities. That part of the governor’s plan will actually hurt real people.

But if Mayor Kevin Johnson and the other “Big Ten” city mayors are going to go to the mat for redevelopment, it would be nice if they put extra focus on saving the affordable-housing money, and less on saving the mermaid bars.

Perhaps, with some serious reforms, redevelopment could be made to work better. As it stands now, Bites will only be 20 percent sad to see it go.

http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content?oid=1927450


:haha: I cannot believe I read this in the News and Review! So much truth from such a twisted publication. :tup:

[snfenoc]

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/04/12/3548098/state-taps-railyard-site-for-courthouse.html

State taps railyard site for courthouse
tbizjak@sacbee.com
Published Tuesday, Apr. 12, 2011

A state advisory board has unanimously recommended the 5th and H streets site downtown as the site for a new Sacramento Superior Court building.

The group, including judges and local Sacramento officials, chose the 2.4-acre block behind the federal courthouse as its preferred site for the massive new building. The other site considered was the 300 block of Capitol Mall.

The site choice is not final, and will be reviewed by state courts and public works officials in the coming months. Officials with the state Administrative Office of the Courts said they must finish an environmental assessment of the preferred site and negotiate a land purchase price.

The state decision to build the 400,000-square foot building on the vacant lot a couple of blocks from the existing courthouse was cheered by local officials, who see it as boost for development efforts in the downtown railyard. The city and railyard ownership group have been looking for a signature project to help launch development of the unused 200-plus acre site.

The $440 million courthouse project involves building 44 new courtrooms, mainly for criminal trials in the new building, and minor renovations on the existing Gordon Schaber Courthouse, three blocks away. The existing 1965-vintage courthouse, which state officials say is overcrowded, will continue to be used, but will house only 12 civil and five criminal courtrooms.

State Judicial Council officials said construction is scheduled to begin in 2013 and completed in 2015. The building is likely to be 10 to 12 stories.

[Surefiresacto]

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/04/12/3548098/state-taps-railyard-site-for-courthouse.html

10-12 stories for $440 mil... ouch. For that kind of money, it would be nice to see an arena in Sacto. Maybe they can add a 45th court room... basketball court-room :shrug: ... sorry, that was just dumb.

[TWAK]

10-12 stories. weakk

[Web]

the existing building is 5 stories with a big basement etc so 6 stories on about 1/2 the block x 1 block

so 10-12 stories is definitely bigger!!!:cool:

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

Given the still somewhat shaky economy and the fact that there hasn't been a 12 story building go up in Sacramento since, what, Bank of the West, I'm glad to see this one go up. Hopefully, it might bring a bit of rejuvenation where it goes as well.

[Pistola916]

I just hope the design of this building is sharp.

[Bob Lablaw]

I just hope the design of this building is sharp.

Maybe Walter Horsting will revive his plans? His rendering has his building almost in the right place. :jester:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_R1jrvHOhrrs/SPjXtYpL1bI/AAAAAAAAACw/6apErilgOTM/s1600/Golden%2BSpike%2BJune%2B27%2B08_edited-1.jpg

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

I sure as hell hope Sacramento never devolves to such touristy tackiness. This is California, FFS: if we decide to do some bold new landmark, we can do it right.

[CAGeoNerd]

10-12 stories for $440 mil... ouch. For that kind of money, it would be nice to see an arena in Sacto. Maybe they can add a 45th court room... basketball court-room :shrug: ... sorry, that was just dumb.

Wow, 440 mil?? Isn't that a little, steep? I mean, what exactly is going in this building? And the anti-public-funds-for-an-arena crowd are whining about the shared cost of an arena? I guess we don't have money for anything, unless it's for military or prosecuting criminals, then it's blank check time.

[wburg]

Depends on who "we" is. The city of Sacramento isn't directly paying for this courthouse, it is (I think) state funds that are already allocated. A courthouse will have a lot of special security measures and fairly sturdy construction--you can't just slap it up out of OSB and 2x4s.

The project would, however, pump some funds into the local economy, from its construction to the court jobs in the new building, and it's not like it is going to take up the whole Railyards site; such a project might, in the long run, make a multipurpose arena in the Railyards more possible.

[Web]

isnt it slated where the railroad tracks are being moved and between the two bridges?? wish the earthwork would start for all of that the bridges in space look scary!:D

[rampant_jwalker]

The new county courthouses across the state, including Sacramento, Yolo, and Placer counties, are being payed for by special court fees, not taxpayer dollars. So if you've gotten married, divorced, a DUI, or a felony in the past decade, thank you! You've helped pay for this new building!

http://courts.ca.gov/5355.htm

[Surefiresacto]

Wow, 440 mil?? Isn't that a little, steep? I mean, what exactly is going in this building? And the anti-public-funds-for-an-arena crowd are whining about the shared cost of an arena? I guess we don't have money for anything, unless it's for military or prosecuting criminals, then it's blank check time.

I was kidding. I realize these are funds that are specifically available for this type of project. I'm willing to bet that 90% of people out there don't realize the difference in the funds though.

Speaking of rediculous overspending on needless crap, I may be mistaken but heard that the DMV building on Broadway was a $100+ mil job just to renovate that building. Why spend so much on that place when there are vacancies in other newer government buildings around Sac?

[innov8]

Sutter Medical Center expected to be topped out in late June and
completed in late 2012.

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/2371/sutter20110514.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/707/sutter20110514.jpg/)

http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/7471/sutter201105142.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/580/sutter201105142.jpg/)

http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/7091/sutter201105141.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/8/sutter201105141.jpg/)

[CAGeoNerd]

I noticed this weekend that you can see the top of that new medical center if you're coming east over Pioneer Bridge/Hwy 50 over the Sac River. Kinda neat

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

I'm going to miss seeing those cranes. They gave this city a sense of progress, of actually getting something done.

[rampant_jwalker]

speaking of construction cranes, and hospital projects... there's a new parking structure going up on Stockton Blvd for UC Davis Med Center. Here's a website where you can see high def. images of the site and construction updated every 12 minutes. You can also go back to images from any day and time you choose. I hope we start seeing this technology used more often on other projects!

http://oxblue.com/pro/open/ucdmc3 (http://oxblue.com/pro/open/ucdmc3)

some renderings of what it will look like here:
http://www.dreyfussblackford.com/projectsDetail.jsp?id=79&category=7&title=Parking&level=1

[econgrad2.0]

Sacto’s Ongoing Redevelopment Disaster--Sound Like Your Town?Written by CA Political News on April 20, 2011, 09:44 PM
Sacto’s Ongoing Redevelopment Disaster


By RICHARD TRAINOR, Cal Watchdog, 4/19/11

Since its inception in 1953, the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency has been driven by scandals, sweetheart deals for connected developers, cockeyed projects and ineptitude. In 1991, this reporter wrote the official history of the (SHRA) in a book titled, “Flood, Fire & Blight.”

The agency’s history since then has included such developer-concocted deals as:
* The proposed redevelopment of the Southern Pacific depot (a Tsakopolus-Angelides project)
* The fourth ( or is it fifth? — I forget, there have been so
many) redevelopment of the downtown mall.
* The failed Convergence Project.

* The new and aptly named “Green Line.”

Given all that, today the book might be re-titled, “Blood, Ire & Bloat.” Taxpayer blood is irate with supporting developers’ cash-bloated projects. In Sacramento, this blood-letting has been refined to a science
Redevelopment Failures
The city first redeveloped the K Street Mall in 1966 with a “pedestrian mall,” a series of crazily angled and pedestrian-unfriendly concrete structures supplied by local mega-developer Teichert Construction. Critics called the $8 million contraption of peaks and streams “the tank traps” — sort of like those the Germans erected on Normandy Beach in World War II to try to halt the Allied invasion and liberation of Europe.
It killed K Street, which was until then the commercial heart of downtown Sacramento. The mall lasted less than 20 years before the SHRA spent another $18 million on K Street trying to fix it. Ten years later, another $20 million of redevelopment revenue was spent on a new K Street Mall.
A few years later, the city shelled out another $25 million in developer kickbacks and light-rail relocation. “That whole project right from the beginning is a city-wide disgrace,” says Jim Walker, an agent with Cook Realty and a native of Sacramento. “They should never have taken the cars off K Street. When they did, all the theaters closed, and then all the restaurants, then the department stores.”End All Redevelopment?
Earlier this year, Gov. Jerry Brown announced his controversial plan to do away with all of California’s redevelopment agencies, allowing the state to recoup $1.7 billion in revenue set aside for the redevelopment agencies who control earmarked revenue through increased property values. The $1.7 billion would then divert to the state’s $26 billion under-funded general fund.

The Brown plan was delivered after a state audit of 28 redevelopment agencies in California conducted by State Controller John Chiang. The audit found a number of the redevelopment agencies guilty of abuse and mismanagement.
Among those agencies studied by the Chiang audit and found guilty was the Sacramento Housing & Redevelopment Agency. Lashelle Dozier, the SHRA’s executive director, fired back at the report almost as soon as Brown announced his plan.

“During these challenging economic times, Sacramento needs to have the tool of redevelopment always within reach to keep its economic engine from stalling out,” said Dozier, whose agency has 291 employees, a budget of $261 million and controls 3,144 units of public housing.

Those opposed to the redevelopment agency closures are agency chiefs like Sacramento’s Dozier and San Francisco’s interim Mayor Ed Lee. Some critics of the plan also say that Brown’s policy change on redevelopment reeks of hypocrisy.

As Chase Davis reported in a story published on January 21 in California Watch:

Jerry Brown’s controversial proposal to do away with local redevelopment agencies is rich with small ironies. First, there’s the governor’s new loft: an award-winning example of infill development in downtown Sacramento that was funded in part by the same type of redevelopment agency Brown wants to eliminate. After meeting with Brown earlier this week to discuss the proposed cuts, Yuba City Mayor John Dukes wasn’t shy about telling the Sacramento Bee that he found the choice of digs to be “a little hypocritical.”

Despite Dukes’ and Dozier’s protests, supporters of the redevelopment agency closures say that Sacramento’s redevelopment agency is a prime case of redevelopmental disability.

The SHRA can claim with some pride that they were the first such agency in the United States to issue redevelopment bonds; and that the first project called a “redevelopment project” in Sacramento was a ringing success (the 1929 construction of the Arts & Craft style buildings that grace the west side of Capitol Park). But it has not been a cheerful history ever since.
Deals and Scams

Sweetheart deals and scams have been the bywords of the SHRA for the past four decades. One of its former executive directors, Harry Zollinger, was fired in 1971 for misappropriating redevelopment funds for his own use. Two executive directors later, the SHRA’s unused housing allocations had risen to $17 million in 1980.According to Lloyd Connelly, a former Sacramento City Council member who now serves as a Superior Court Judge, “There was a lot of dissatisfaction with SHRA during that time because [low-cost] housing just wasn’t getting done.”

One redevelopment proposal put forward in 2010 was a fairytale fantasy called “The Convergence Plan.” This was the loopy idea to give away Cal Expo, the state fair site, to developers like Gerry Kamilos, David Taylor and Angelo Tsakopolous. The state would cede Cal Expo for a new state fair site at the current Kings basketball team site. The Kings would then move into a new $350 million downtown stadium adjacent to the Southern-Pacific depot that would be largely funded by SHRA redevelopment bonds.

Although the land swap plan was backed by the National Basketball Association and Sacramento Mayor (and former NBA star) Kevin Johnson, the Convergence Plan failed to convince locals.

“That whole thing was a joke,” says Pat Melarkey, the former Sacramento County Supervisor, shaking his head. “First off, it was a giveaway of the state fair to the developers. Second is the fact that the state fair couldn’t have been squeezed into the Kings site. Third is the fact that Arco Arena is only 25 years old. And the fourth but most important point was the cost. Why should the city put up $350 million for a new downtown stadium during such a downtown as Sacramento has had? And what guarantee would we have that the Kings would stay here?”

Melarkey’s suspicions were shared by many Sacramento residents. By the end of 2010, the Convergence Plan was dead. Now the Maloof family is in the process of selling the Kings, who may move to Anaheim.
Green Line Pork

The newest redevelopment pork fest is the so-called “Green Line” light-rail extension. It will run north from downtown Sacramento on 7th Street to Township 6. This project, which will run 1.7 miles and serve 2,350 new residents, is projected to cost $1.7 billion, more when you add in the trains.
As of December 2010, the SHRA had assembled $53 million of the total cost. This is another project that would require redevelopment bonds. The corporations in line for the new rail line project are Teichert Construction, URS and Parsons-Brinckerhoff, Quade & Douglas.

URS is also involved in the California High-Speed Rail and the peripheral canal. So is Parsons-Brinckerhoff, the corporation famous for putting the $14 billion “Big Dig” on Boston.

Critics of the Green Line include Sacramento rail advocate Richard Tolmach, of TRAC (the Train Riders Association of California). “When you add in the projected cost of the train [about $1 billion, Tolmach estimates], it rounds up to a cost of about $1 million per resident. This is a total flim-flam It shows that the SHRA’s projects are mostly focused on manipulating land values. They don’t serve what they are promised to serve and they don’t do anything for the taxpayers who finance them.”

The much-redeveloped K Street Mall is still a crime-ridden and unpopulated dead zone of lost souls. Which it has been for the past 40 years — even though the Sacramento Bee frequently calls it a “renaissance.” Wrong, It’s a cash cow hole in the ground for developers bellying up to the trough: If they don’t get K Street right, they get another chance to fix it again.
Maybe Jerry Brown can find another 14 agencies with $1.7 billion to siphon off for the general fund and thereby avoid the unhappy task of downsizing the state work force from its current population of 350,000 and $30 billion payroll, or addressing ballooning state worker pensions. That’s unlikely, given that the union-organized state workers are largely his base.

Gov. Brown and SHRA Executive Director Dozier were sent a list of 11 questions by this reporter asking for comment about the downtown mall, the cynical snatch and grab of redevelopment funds for the state and the sweetheart deals involving major developers. Neither of them, nor their press secretaries, bothered to respond.


http://capoliticalnews.com/blog_post/show/8345

[ThatDarnSacramentan]

I guess it's just like Don Henley said: you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. We get it already.

[econgrad2.0]

I guess it's just like Don Henley said: you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. We get it already.

You get it already? You get that allowing people do live as they choose (this is called the "Free Market") and not have the Government and Unions oppress hard work by picking winners and losers and hindering Sacramento's development? Great. Glad you are starting to wake up! :cheers:

Why not try disputing the facts in my posts?

(Oh, because no one here can...)

If we didn't waste all this money on redevelopment that failed, the city would have a new arena already. Anyone who actually works hard for a living, should be completely outraged at the wasteful spending this city has done. I am sure this is a common tale in many cities, it needs to be exposed. There is a reason why Gov Brown wants to stop this wastefulness. Educate yourself, re-read the article and look up more information about it. You will find public records, more articles (even some from the biased Bee) and so on. If you are a Tax payer, it will make your blood boil. Do your own research, I will keep posting as well.

[wburg]

I should preface this by saying that I have my own fairly serious issues and concerns with redevelopment, although I have been called a liar and a manipulator by Econgrad and others for stating those concerns. So while I don't want to sound like I'm championing redevelopment, especially of the "kick everyone out, demolish everything and build a bunch of new stuff" variety, Econgrad asked for people to challenge "his" post (actually, we don't hear from him at all, but from Richard Trainor. Unless Econgrad is actually Richard Trainor, of course.)

Sacto’s Ongoing Redevelopment Disaster--Sound Like Your Town? Written by CA Political News on April 20, 2011, 09:44 PM
Sacto’s Ongoing Redevelopment Disaster


By RICHARD TRAINOR, Cal Watchdog, 4/19/11

Since its inception in 1953, the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency has been driven by scandals, sweetheart deals for connected developers, cockeyed projects and ineptitude. In 1991, this reporter wrote the official history of the (SHRA) in a book titled, “Flood, Fire & Blight.”
Technically incorrect. Sacramento had earlier redevelopment authorities--the Sacramento Redevelopment Agency, incorporated in 1950. It was reincorporated as SHRA in 1981 as a joint powers authority. I'd definitely like to read this book he wrote in 1991--any idea where I can find a copy?


The agency’s history since then has included such developer-concocted deals as:
* The proposed redevelopment of the Southern Pacific depot (a Tsakopolus-Angelides project)
* The fourth ( or is it fifth? — I forget, there have been so
many) redevelopment of the downtown mall.
* The failed Convergence Project.

* The new and aptly named “Green Line.”

Factually incorrect. SHRA was not a partner in the "Convergence" proposal--that was a deal involving a couple of local developers, the Maloofs, the city of Sacramento, and the California State Fairgrounds. If you would like to prove me wrong and explain where SHRA was involved in the deal, feel free to do so. The "Green Line" is a Sacramento Regional Transit project, not an SHRA project. More on that later, but start with the fact that SHRA doesn't build light rail lines. And I don't think SHRA, or Angelides/Tsakopoulis, were ever involved in the projects involving the Southern Pacific/Amtrak passenger depot. Again, feel free to prove me wrong on this if you have information to the contrary.


Redevelopment Failures
The city first redeveloped the K Street Mall in 1966 with a “pedestrian mall,” a series of crazily angled and pedestrian-unfriendly concrete structures supplied by local mega-developer Teichert Construction. Critics called the $8 million contraption of peaks and streams “the tank traps” — sort of like those the Germans erected on Normandy Beach in World War II to try to halt the Allied invasion and liberation of Europe.
Factually incorrect. The K Street Mall was completed in 1969.


It killed K Street, which was until then the commercial heart of downtown Sacramento.
Factually incorrect. K Street's slow downfall began in the late 1940s, when streetcar service ended, the first suburban shopping centers opened, and postwar suburban development exploded. By the late 1950s and early 1960s, the growing number of suburban malls (and suburbs), the flight of Sacramento's middle class to the new suburbs, and the forced depopulation of the West End (another redevelopment project) meant that there were few people downtown to shop on K Street, and few reasons for suburban shoppers to drive downtown to the same stores and theaters they could visit at nearby shopping malls. You can read about it in a Master's thesis by Hansel Hudgens Cope, who quite clearly graphed the decline of the K Street business district and the rise of the suburban malls in 1966. Here's the permalink to the Sacramento Public Library record:
http://www.saclibrarycatalog.org/record=b1130768~S45

The mall lasted less than 20 years before the SHRA spent another $18 million on K Street trying to fix it. Ten years later, another $20 million of redevelopment revenue was spent on a new K Street Mall.
A few years later, the city shelled out another $25 million in developer kickbacks and light-rail relocation. “That whole project right from the beginning is a city-wide disgrace,” says Jim Walker, an agent with Cook Realty and a native of Sacramento. “They should never have taken the cars off K Street. When they did, all the theaters closed, and then all the restaurants, then the department stores.”

Factually incorrect. Most had already closed by the late 1960s. The handful of theaters left in downtown Sacramento by the time the pedestrian mall opened featured second-run films, king fu films, strippers, or porn. The Crest closed in 1979 but reopened in 1986. And at no point did all the restaurants or all the department stores close. Those closures had little to do with the street closure, but a lot to do with suburban malls that offered the same products closer to their customers. Of course, there are now theaters open on K Street--the Downtown Plaza multiplex, the Esquire IMAX, and the magnificent Crest.

The SHRA can claim with some pride that they were the first such agency in the United States to issue redevelopment bonds; and that the first project called a “redevelopment project” in Sacramento was a ringing success (the 1929 construction of the Arts & Craft style buildings that grace the west side of Capitol Park). But it has not been a cheerful history ever since.
Deals and Scams

Technically incorrect. The Library & Courts and Office Building 1 were constructed in 1928, and are Neoclassical, not Arts & Crafts, in style. That they were referred to as a redevelopment project is news to me, and I would like to see some citation to prove this. It is my understanding that Sacramento was the first place to use tax increment financing for redevelopment, but that wasn't for these two buildings, it was for the Capitol Mall project to the west of these two buildings, in the 1950s--a redevelopment project that demolished the old West End, then Sacramento's most densely populated neighborhood, and was part of the reason for the decline of K Street.

One redevelopment proposal put forward in 2010 was a fairytale fantasy called “The Convergence Plan.” This was the loopy idea to give away Cal Expo, the state fair site, to developers like Gerry Kamilos, David Taylor and Angelo Tsakopolous. The state would cede Cal Expo for a new state fair site at the current Kings basketball team site. The Kings would then move into a new $350 million downtown stadium adjacent to the Southern-Pacific depot that would be largely funded by SHRA redevelopment bonds.
Although the land swap plan was backed by the National Basketball Association and Sacramento Mayor (and former NBA star) Kevin Johnson, the Convergence Plan failed to convince locals.

Again, I'd like to see some proof that this was going to be funded by SHRA redevelopment bonds. This is the first I have heard of it, and I followed the Convergence plan pretty closely.

“That whole thing was a joke,” says Pat Melarkey, the former Sacramento County Supervisor, shaking his head. “First off, it was a giveaway of the state fair to the developers. Second is the fact that the state fair couldn’t have been squeezed into the Kings site. Third is the fact that Arco Arena is only 25 years old. And the fourth but most important point was the cost. Why should the city put up $350 million for a new downtown stadium during such a downtown as Sacramento has had? And what guarantee would we have that the Kings would stay here?”

Melarkey’s suspicions were shared by many Sacramento residents. By the end of 2010, the Convergence Plan was dead. Now the Maloof family is in the process of selling the Kings, who may move to Anaheim.

Technically incorrect. Yes, the Convergence plan fell through, and I for one don't lament its loss, but the Maloof family is not in the process of selling the Kings. If this guy has some evidence that they are preparing to sell it, show it to us.

Green Line Pork
The newest redevelopment pork fest is the so-called “Green Line” light-rail extension. It will run north from downtown Sacramento on 7th Street to Township 6. This project, which will run 1.7 miles and serve 2,350 new residents, is projected to cost $1.7 billion, more when you add in the trains.
As of December 2010, the SHRA had assembled $53 million of the total cost. This is another project that would require redevelopment bonds. The corporations in line for the new rail line project are Teichert Construction, URS and Parsons-Brinckerhoff, Quade & Douglas.

URS is also involved in the California High-Speed Rail and the peripheral canal. So is Parsons-Brinckerhoff, the corporation famous for putting the $14 billion “Big Dig” on Boston.

Critics of the Green Line include Sacramento rail advocate Richard Tolmach, of TRAC (the Train Riders Association of California). “When you add in the projected cost of the train [about $1 billion, Tolmach estimates], it rounds up to a cost of about $1 million per resident. This is a total flim-flam It shows that the SHRA’s projects are mostly focused on manipulating land values. They don’t serve what they are promised to serve and they don’t do anything for the taxpayers who finance them.”

Factually and technically incorrect. The "Green Line" is a planned 12.8 mile extension to the Sacramento Airport--the first portion of the line, currently under construction, is to Richards Boulevard at North 7th. That 1.7 miles is expected to cost about $44 million, not $1.7 billion! As mentioned above, this is a Sacramento Regional Transit project, not an SHRA project. The end of the line is the currently under-construction site of a development called Township 9 (not "Township 6") but the line also stops in the middle of the Railyards development, which, when finally built out, could have as many as 10,000 housing units (so maybe 15-20,000 residents) in addition to 2500 housing units in Township 9 (so maybe 3000-5000 residents.) The line will run through North and South Natomas, which adds up to more than 100,000 residents, giving them direct, regular transit access to downtown Sacramento--and K Street.

The much-redeveloped K Street Mall is still a crime-ridden and unpopulated dead zone of lost souls. Which it has been for the past 40 years — even though the Sacramento Bee frequently calls it a “renaissance.” Wrong, It’s a cash cow hole in the ground for developers bellying up to the trough: If they don’t get K Street right, they get another chance to fix it again.

Factually and technically incorrect. K Street is still in rough shape, as anyone will admit. But the Bee calls K Street "blighted" and "troubled" at least as often as they call it a "renaissance." But in many ways, it is both at once. It is certainly not unpopulated: in addition to several hundred residents of SRO hotels (not counting the Berry, currently undergoing rehab), there are several apartment buildings, from the mundane Jade Apartments and El Cortez to the swanky Cathedral Building and 800 J Lofts, and an assortment of small units like the apartments above Temple Coffee. Yes, K Street could use many, many more residents--and the latest round of redevelopment projects, which this author failed to mention entirely, are designed to do exactly that. But they do redevelopment right--by reusing existing buildings for both residential and retail, constructing new housing where it is needed and fixing up the existing urban fabric. And at least this time around, the city chose the most frugal and practical of the proposed set of redevelopment plans, leveraging existing assets and funds, instead of going for gaudy and unrealistic plans that would have drained the city's coffers to a far greater extent. And while the current number of residents within a block or so of downtown K Street is relatively small, there are about 30,000 people in the central city, within walking distance of K Street, who, if linked back to their downtown by redevelopment of this sort, would welcome the return of their downtown from the older school of thought that taught that downtowns were for working and shopping only, not places for people to live.

As to the "dead" state of K Street, I walked home from Old Sacramento just before writing this. Old Sacramento was pretty busy thanks to the good weather, and while the mall wasn't thronged with people, it was reasonably busy. The pedestrian area of K Street was far from vacant--quite a few people strolling about, from the urban kids acting tough on the 700 block to the early-dinner visitors to the much-maligned "mermaid bar" project on the 1000 block and nearby areas. I have been on that block a lot in the past few months. Since January when they opened, two nearby cafes that used to close after the office crowd went home now stay open or reopen until midnight, to catch overflow business from the crowds that visit. A block away, Tequila Museo Mayahuel just opened, without benefit of any redevelopment money, and they seem to be doing well (and the food is FANTASTIC.) A smattering of other clubs, cafes and restaurants nearby (Marilyn's, Blush, Cosmo/Social, Grange/Scandal Bar, Temple Coffee, Chops, Ella, etc.) were just getting ready to open for the evening. As I walked through to Midtown, I noticed a steady stream of cars, pedestrians and bikes, all heading downtown. Plenty of folks were still in Midtown, in the quiet hum of the early dinner hour, before the nightclub crowds start arriving.

It's a bit early to call the latest K Street project a "renaissance" just yet. But there are some encouraging signs. I was on K Street at midnight a few weeks ago for a movie premiere (one attended by nearly a thousand people) and the streets were very busy indeed as I left the Crest--crowds were inside and outside Dive Bar, Pizza Rock, District 30, Cosmo/Social and the other nearby clubs. The Crest Cafe and Ambrosia were still open (had a great late-night dessert at Ambrosia) and people were comfortably strolling down K--I felt as safe walking home after midnight as I just did walking home at 6 PM. Last year at the same time, that would not have been the case. We'll see how it looks next year--or the year after that, when the projects at the 700 and 800 block should be nearing completion.

Calling the guy who wrote this a "liar" would be a bit inaccurate. A lie generally has to be believable to count as a lie. This is like someone telling you "The sky is orange!" when it is actually blue, and it is easy to look outside and notice the obvious. Now, as I started by saying, I have plenty of my own problems with redevelopment as practiced by the city of Sacramento, although it was practiced this way by cities all over the country, usually with fairly similar results. But if someone is going to criticize redevelopment, they should at least do so in an accurate and factually correct fashion. This guy has abjectly failed to do so.

[econgrad2.0]

I should preface this by saying that I have my own fairly serious issues and concerns with redevelopment, although I have been called a liar and a manipulator by Econgrad and others for stating those concerns. So while I don't want to sound like I'm championing redevelopment, especially of the "kick everyone out, demolish everything and build a bunch of new stuff" variety, Econgrad asked for people to challenge "his" post (actually, we don't hear from him at all, but from Richard Trainor. Unless Econgrad is actually Richard Trainor, of course.)



Dude, I even went back and read so many of my posts, and I never, ever, called you a liar or a manipulator. Thats kind of strange guy...keep it real.

[econgrad2.0]

@Wburg
Wow! I read your entire response! I looked up the Dates, and could not find anything to back up your arguements. I followed your ONE LINK to a Book in a Library (Not even one excerpt). Yet you throw around the word "Liar" quite a lot? I really hope other people read your response and did their own homework. There is no reason for me to even rebuttle, cause its almost as if its all just kind of "made up history and facts" after I looked into the dates and statements you inputed above.
I'll point out a few:

Your first rebuttle states that the author is saying SHRA is the first Redevlopment Authority? He never states this. You made up an arguement that wasn't even there...

I wish I had more time today, I'll let other readers critically think and dig deeper into your rebuttles, and let them come to the same comclusion I have about your "facts".

[wburg]

So, in other words, Econgrad, you're calling me a liar?

[downtownserg89]

I thought, "oh cool, a new post! It has been a few days. Can't wait to read about the latest developments going on in sacramento!" But nope, just more personal conflicts.


Can someone at least fill me in on what's happening to R street? Will it become the next hot spot in town?

Oh and speaking of R street, the new Bows & Arrows location opened up today on 19th and R. They still sell vintage clothes, but now there's an art gallery, a bar with lagunitas IPA on tap, they sell food and there is an awesome back patio. Sacramento truly needed a shop like this. Please support it.

[wburg]

I thought, "oh cool, a new post! It has been a few days. Can't wait to read about the latest developments going on in sacramento!" But nope, just more personal conflicts.


Can someone at least fill me in on what's happening to R street? Will it become the next hot spot in town?

Oh and speaking of R street, the new Bows & Arrows location opened up today on 19th and R. They still sell vintage clothes, but now there's an art gallery, a bar with lagunitas IPA on tap, they sell food and there is an awesome back patio. Sacramento truly needed a shop like this. Please support it.

Depends on where on R Street. You have probably noticed the road resurfacing closer to Fox & Goose, which will eventually continue down to 18th Street behind the Safeway. Not sure if it counts as a "new development," but the condos on the 2500 block of R Street have had their prices dropped, to around $215K per unit, and they are apparently trying to advertise the site with billboards--the tagline is "Prices so low you'll be able to afford a new set of wheels", with a picture of a cruiser bike.

Definitely planning on checking out the new Bows & Arrows location--the highly-regarded FatFace of Davis is their food vendor, with excellent sandwiches and gourmet popsicles.

I'm equally excited that "Cheap Thrills," whose owner retired this spring, will be re-opening in Bows & Arrows' old location under new ownership. And in the same neck of the woods a few other new places are opening--two antique stores around 18th and L, a boutique-style Goodwill shop on L and 17th, and a gelato place where La Petit Paris closed last year. (I'm fully behind this whole gelato revival going on--I missed having gelato shops in Midtown like we had in the 1980s.) It seems like a lot of retail niches are getting filled, especially in older buildings, but even new buildings are getting in on the act--a deli is opening in the "Alexan Midtown" building in the Alhambra Triangle. And maybe if the prices on the 2500 R project are dropping, they'll find a retail tenant for that corner space.

Also in the Alhambra Triangle, the big warehouse building behind Alexan on 34th is going to be a mini-storage facility. Traditionally, developers use things like mini-storage as "ground cover," a relatively low-cost use for a property that brings in revenue while they're waiting for the real project that will allow them to make money off the land, so I suppose someone sees some potential for that block--maybe once the market turns around, "Alexan Midtown" will start selling off those apartments as condo units, and then need another block to expand.

[downtownserg89]

Depends on where on R Street. You have probably noticed the road resurfacing closer to Fox & Goose, which will eventually continue down to 18th Street behind the Safeway. Not sure if it counts as a "new development," but the condos on the 2500 block of R Street have had their prices dropped, to around $215K per unit, and they are apparently trying to advertise the site with billboards--the tagline is "Prices so low you'll be able to afford a new set of wheels", with a picture of a cruiser bike.

Definitely planning on checking out the new Bows & Arrows location--the highly-regarded FatFace of Davis is their food vendor, with excellent sandwiches and gourmet popsicles.

I'm equally excited that "Cheap Thrills," whose owner retired this spring, will be re-opening in Bows & Arrows' old location under new ownership. And in the same neck of the woods a few other new places are opening--two antique stores around 18th and L, a boutique-style Goodwill shop on L and 17th, and a gelato place where La Petit Paris closed last year. (I'm fully behind this whole gelato revival going on--I missed having gelato shops in Midtown like we had in the 1980s.) It seems like a lot of retail niches are getting filled, especially in older buildings, but even new buildings are getting in on the act--a deli is opening in the "Alexan Midtown" building in the Alhambra Triangle. And maybe if the prices on the 2500 R project are dropping, they'll find a retail tenant for that corner space.

Also in the Alhambra Triangle, the big warehouse building behind Alexan on 34th is going to be a mini-storage facility. Traditionally, developers use things like mini-storage as "ground cover," a relatively low-cost use for a property that brings in revenue while they're waiting for the real project that will allow them to make money off the land, so I suppose someone sees some potential for that block--maybe once the market turns around, "Alexan Midtown" will start selling off those apartments as condo units, and then need another block to expand.



Thank god they're finally fixing up the R street road, especially by safeway. If they rennovated the builidngs on R between 10th and 18th and used the spaces for more shops/bars/restaurants/homes, R street could be a very fun and lively street! And it would be even more amazing if there was a street car line that ran all down R street from safeway down to the waterfront. There are already tracks in front of the Shady Lady, might as well use them to help get the drunk people home at 2am.

Cheap Thrills will fit right into the area. I work with the lady who createdthe shop back in her day, and it sounds like it'll be quite the hoot. I'm looking forward to seeing these new shops you speak of, they sound like my cup of tea.