Sacramento Proposals of Times Past

[innov8]

Sacramento development and construction proposals that fail to be built.

I figured it would be helpful (and sad) to have a list of past proposals that at one
time were going to improve our city. Here's a big one to start it off... Lot A.

Feel free to add to the list.

August 16, 1989 Sacramanto Bee

http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/6544/4grandvisionsunveiled19dh6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/9022/4grandvisionsunveiled19nh6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/5411/4grandvisionsunveiled19pb3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[TowerDistrict]

heh.. what an exciting an depressing thread rolled into one!

And goddamn... I never knew the City fielded proposals like that for Lot A! Thanks for posting innov8!!!

here's my first contribution with info pulled from sugit's post @ skyscrapercity, on April 15th, 2005 (scan from the Biz Journal, by me):


4.5 Million Sqaure Feet in Total
- 28 Story - 550 Room Hotel
- 40 Story - Office Tower
- 26 Story - Residentul
- Exhibition Center - 1.2 Million SF (will "dwarf" the DT convention center)
- Retail, dinning, shopping - 220K SF
- Trade and Finace College - 120K SF
- Internation Shipping Center - 100K
- 2000- Seat Cultural Center and amphitheaer
- Setzer Meseum, 20K SF
- 9000 New Jobs, 1/3 will be from "any country that wants to partcipate"

Architects are Hornberger+ Worstell (couldn't find anything on the website)

The possbile locations are:

- Triangle in West Sacramento
- Land near Arco Arena (I-5 and I-80)
- Natomas
- Railyards
- 3rd and Broadway
- Richard Blvd

Developers say they have raised 900M from investors in Hong Kong, but need additional investor for about 2-10M to carry the project through the entitlement process...Hong Kong investor will not give money until that part is complete

Lot of skepticism among local developers that were approced for money. Some thing it's a "pipedream" (that was kinda my thought too)

WHY SACRAMENTO?
- CA is the largest Asian trader
- Central Location in CA
- Lower Construction Costs than SF, LA or Seattle
- More affordable and better commutes that make it easier to attract foreign talent

They expect entitlements to take 3 years and hope to be open in 2010


http://www.hellobubba.com/downloads/CITC_bizjournal-cover.jpg

[ltsmotorsport]

Wow, I had totally forgotten all about the Asian Trade Center (was that it's name?).

And another sigh...a different 50+ story proposal on CM that never made it.

[TowerDistrict]

Wow, I had totally forgotten all about the Asian Trade Center (was that it's name?).

And another sigh...a different 50+ story proposal on CM that never made it.

haha... yeah that was the name. just a minor detail i forgot to include.

[TWAK]

holy crap i remember that. Weren't there also proposals for it to be at ex airport and near the intl airport?

[BrianSac]

My favorite: the Lot A propsal with the 4 tiered roofs, and shorter round bldg next to it. At the time I thought 34 floors was undoable in Sacramento.......looks like it still is......19yrs later. :slob:

Lets hope the airport expansion is completed without any cutbacks.

[TowerDistrict]

holy crap i remember that. Weren't there also proposals for it to be at ex airport and near the intl airport?

i think that was actually another trade center proposal that didn't pan out.

[innov8]

Metro Place
May 6, 2000 Sacramento Bee

This was proposed before the housing wave started in downtown/midtown.
A sweet tower for sure.

https://i.postimg.cc/26nyqmbP/2-Ninth-and-J-Tower-article.jpg (https://postimg.cc/G8hdNWjQ)

https://i.postimg.cc/VNx5L56q/1-Ninth-and-J-Tower-article.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/JhDGLj17/unnamed.jpg (https://postimg.cc/PLHtbpp0)

https://i.postimg.cc/66d4qVCy/Metro-Place2.gif (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/cL5r2FG5/Metro-Place3.gif (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/Xq0ZxX6j/Metro-Place4.gif (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/fyjVPZMx/Metro-Place6.gif (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/sg2MTtqh/Metro-Place7.gif (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/c40gnKcT/Metro-Place8.gif (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/ZKH9FT7m/Metro-Place9.gif (https://postimages.org/)

[ltsmotorsport]

:( The saddest loss (although maybe the Towers has overtaken it) for Sacramento. Such a great design, but do we know if the top or bottom renderings were the most recent?

[innov8]

I did not know that Metro Place had any revisions? I can't imagine it changed very much.

Here's a link at the Biz Journal as to why is was not feasible...

Friday, April 26, 2002
Metro no place
A downtown Sacramento skyscraper with offices and apartments would have replaced a vacant lot -- if lenders hadn't been spooked

Dean Ingemanson's plan for a 32-story office/apartment building at the Metro Place site on 9th and J streets is defunct because it cannot secure financing in today's weak office market.

Shifting to a more feasible project, Ingemanson has signed a tentative agreement with a Southern California developer, CIM Group Inc., to build an apartment building of about five stories on the site.

Yet Ingemanson and others agree that if the hybrid tower had been built, it almost surely would have been commercially successful.

"The bottom line," Ingemanson said, "is that if I was able with a magic wand to get it built, it would have succeeded because of the low vacancy of class-A office space downtown and demand for downtown apartments."

On top of that, it would have been a stunning coup for the redevelopment officials who staunchly supported Ingemanson's dream of a mix of high-rise apartments with offices and ground-floor retail in downtown Sacramento. And it would have permanently removed one of the worst eyesores in the downtown area, a half-block long hole in the ground, walled off with a cheap plywood fence.

"I thought it was a great urban design project," said Andrew Plescia, the city's economic development director and a strong supporter. "It would have brought a lot of vitality and livability to downtown."

So what happened to this dandy redevelopment project that might have been a resounding commercial success?

The simple answer is that lenders wouldn't touch the $127 million venture. They were spooked by the national economic downturn, combined with a rising office vacancy nationally, especially in the Bay Area. It didn't matter that Sacramento itself is one of the nation's strongest office markets.

No magic wand, no money: Ingemanson's proposal called for a 32-story building to include 114 apartments on the top 10 stories, as well as about 262,000 square feet of offices and 20,562 square feet of retail on the ground floor, plus 1,044 parking spaces. The whole building would be more than 850,000 square feet -- almost as big as the nearby Downtown Plaza mall.

Metro Place would be built on the half block on the south side of J Street between 8th and 9th streets. Ingemanson controlled the western quarter block, while the city owns the eastern quarter.

In early 1999, Ingemanson purchased most of his portion out of bankruptcy court. He then proposed a partnership with the city to build the tower, and the city agreed to chip in an $11 million subsidy, plus the city's quarter block of land, valued at $4.8 million. The whole city package came to $16.7 million.

For redevelopment officials it was a dream come true. Metro Place, two blocks from City Hall, would have replaced a decade-old blight and replaced it with office workers who would shop downtown during the day and residents who would shop downtown after hours.

"It was a huge, wonderful step forward for the housing market downtown," said John Dangberg, executive director of the Capitol Area Development Authority and former redevelopment director for the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency.

Renters were clearly very interested in the upper-story apartments. Despite high rents, the units would surely have leased, said Dangberg and others.

Office pundits agree that the office portion would eventually have paid off. Downtown Sacramento's office vacancy is 5 percent -- among the lowest in the nation.

Wrong time: But Ingemanson, looking for a loan of $70 million, showed up at the lenders' doors at the wrong time.

"The financial market is chasing stabilized, completed projects, and development projects are seen as higher risks," said Kevin Randles, a mortgage banker with the local office of L.J. Melody & Co., a Houston-based lender and subsidiary of CB Richard Ellis.

Around the nation, the office market is in the doldrums. Demand is sluggish and vacancies are up as a result of corporate America's slowdown during the past year. The Bay Area especially has seen horrendous vacancies and rental decreases as a result of high-tech's hard times.

Sacramento, less than 90 miles from the bay, is guilty by geographical association.

"Sacramento is the only big office market in the United State with single-digit vacancy rates," Randles said. "But we're seen as a sister city to the Bay Area, which is having a lot of trouble."

More here... http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2002/04/29/focus1.html

[ltsmotorsport]

Well, the first rendering with the kind of sunset lighting makes the building look kind of rounded while the following ones are more rectangular looking. The balconies are also much more pronounced on the upper floors of the "second" renderings.


Funny thing is, if Metro Place had been built, it would have hit the boom at the exact right time, instead of too late like the others a few years later.

[TowerDistrict]

Yeah, they're different alright. Check the vertical lines on the side of the curved/sunset version. That's the first I've seen of that version.

[econgrad]

This thread makes me sad... I may never look at it again.

[BrianSac]

:previous:
Hey Mike, I hate to admit it, but I had those same newspaper clippings for a long time. I later burned them, seriously.

[arod74]

Before joining, I spent quite a few years lurking on this forum and SSC and these sure are a blast from the past. Thanks for posting innov8. Jeez, looking at this thread is a sure reminder of just how little stock you can put in any proposal as most of them never amount to anything but renderings. TD's repost from SSC of the Asian Trade Center reminds me: whatever happened to the old mill site off Broadway and I-5 that was supposed to be sold off for the purposes of some grand civic project according to the wishes of the family owning the property? With the downturn in the real estate market did the owners balk on selling..

[wburg]

Man, I should go copy some stuff I found at the archives: during the redevelopment era there were all these crazy plans for downtown Sacramento--stuff like 15-story condo buildings where Old Sac is, essentially tearing down the entire central city and turning them into "superblocks" of garden apartments like Capitol Towers.

[arod74]

Proposals like those must shake you out of sleep at night in a cold sweat wburg :haha:

[wburg]

arod: Nah, they just make me more pissed off than I usually get about the horrors that got inflicted on the West End. Considering that we'd have a central city that would look like a bunch of copies of the Capitol Towers apartments and the Resources Building (remember, we're talking mid-sixties here), I doubt they would excite much besides derision even by folks here.

[arod74]

Agreed, for all the hokey candy and t-shirt shops that litter the tourist trap that has become Old Sac, the current condition is 700 billion times better than the Crapitol Towers apartments and the Resources building. I don't think anyone, even folks here, would argue that. Now if you start talking about bulldozing Old Sac and putting up some projects like the Towers and Aura then you might have us buzzing again wburg hahaha :poke:

[TowerDistrict]

TD's repost from SSC of the Asian Trade Center reminds me: whatever happened to the old mill site off Broadway and I-5 that was supposed to be sold off for the purposes of some grand civic project according to the wishes of the family owning the property? With the downturn in the real estate market did the owners balk on selling..

The Setzer property is to my knowledge, still actively a lumber mill. The deal for the land was awarded to Signature properties (partners @ the Docks and developer of the Washington Park townhomes). They are in really bad shape right now. I personally know four people in their Bay Area offices that have been laid off. I don't know if they have backed out of the idea entirely, or have just put everything on hold. Things have been silent on that end.

story of the acquisition here (http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2006/08/14/story10.html)

[wburg]

Yep, Setzer is still an active lumber mill--Sac Southern still delivers boxcars of MDF to them on a regular basis via the tunnel under I-5. And yeah, Signature has a lot of other projects in the pipeline, and is having a rough time. I'm saddened to see that the Washington Park buildings aren't selling as hoped: they are among my favorites of the new crop of buildings, placed as they are on a disused parking lot (and a former railyard site) with some good design.

[urban_encounter]

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/9022/4grandvisionsunveiled19nh6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/5411/4grandvisionsunveiled19pb3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


I remember attending a lot of city council meetings when thie this competition was underway. The two proposals top and bottom left, were the two finalists, while the other two (right top and bottom) were eliminated first.

Rockefeller/McCuen when head to head with LankfordCook.


The Rockefeller/McCuen proposal would have been a phased project with the office tower going up first; the hotel and second office tower going up when the market conditions demanded.


The Lankford/Cook two tower proposal would have been built simultaneously and would have been the regional headquarters of First Interstate Bank. The project was also projected to begin construction quickly after city approval; or that was the developers predicition).


I recall one of the council members commenting that it would be exciting watching the towers race into the sky. I also seem to recall one of our current council members making the same comment about 301 CM.



Personally the Lankford/Cook proposal was my favorite.


The city of course chose the McCuen/Rockefeller and we now have Taylor's less than inspiring project on that site.

[enigma99a]

Better add 301CM, Capital Grand, etc to the list :haha: Metropolitan?

[BrianSac]

double post

[BrianSac]

:previous:
What about proposed freeways and roads like the freeway connecting 50 to 80 along Sunrise Blvd. This was planned before there was almost nothing east of Sunrise and there were more people living in Folsom Prison than in Folsom town, and when Sunrise Mall was the latest and greatest state of the art mall.

[innov8]

:previous:
What about proposed freeways and roads like the freeway connecting 50 to 80 along Sunrise Blvd. This was planned before there was almost nothing east of Sunrise and there were more people living in Folsom Prison than in Folsom town, and when Sunrise Mall was the latest and greatest state of the art mall.

Oh yeah, can't forget those cross town freeway plans. One ring around town
would have been nice so traffic would not have go through downtown to go cross town.

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/3002/unbuiltsacramentofreewalp6.gif (http://imageshack.us)

Former Freeway Plans
Freeway Plan Map
Summary
SR 16, Jackson Freeway
SR 65, Eastside Freeway
I 80, New Alignment
SR 102, Greenback Corridor
SR 102, Western Corridor
SR 143, Carmichael to Elk Grove
SR 148, South crosstown connector
SR 244, Carmichael to Rancho Cordova
SR 256, West Roseville Freeway

More here: http://www.spectracity.net/usroads/unbuilt.htm

[BrianSac]

:previous:
Do you remember when part of I-80 through north sac was called I-880, then the bay area took that number. Changing north sac's 880 to 80 was a good call, but they should have renumbered the capital city frwy to completely different number instead of calling it Bus 80. Minor detail, I know.

[Majin]

What the fuck happened to all those freeways? The state just said fuck it?

[TowerDistrict]

This one is alive, and gaining momentum...

The Capital SouthEast Connector (http://www.connectorjpa.net/) (Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova, Folsom)

see the map of possible alignments starting on page 8 of this PDF (http://www.connectorjpa.net/documents/Connector%20Concept%20Plan%20Report%20(May%202005).pdf).

[innov8]

What the fuck happened to all those freeways? The state just said fuck it?

DUKE VETOES HIGHWAY SALES TAX MEASURE
Published on August 29, 1987 - Sacramento Bee
Gov. Deukmejian vetoed legislation Friday that would have allowed Sacramento County voters to add up to a penny to the state sales tax to pay for new highways and mass transit. The veto caught the bill's author, Assemblyman Lloyd Connelly, D- Sacramento, and others by surprise since Deukmejian had routinely signed similar bills for other counties in the past.
""Beyond my comprehension,'' said Sacramento County Executive Brian...

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SB&p_theme=sb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB0D7D7EBED5214&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM

[TowerDistrict]

that's okay... Gov. Duke of Majin will right this ship

[Majin]

So sac has been getting the shaft as long back as 87?

[Majin]

This one is alive, and gaining momentum...

The Capital SouthEast Connector (http://www.connectorjpa.net/) (Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova, Folsom)

see the map of possible alignments starting on page 8 of this PDF (http://www.connectorjpa.net/documents/Connector%20Concept%20Plan%20Report%20(May%202005).pdf).

Skimmed over it but didn't read it closely, this looks like the grant line alignment, is plan for a freeway or just an expressway? Has there been any update since 2005?

[BrianSac]

What the fuck happened to all those freeways? The state just said fuck it?

Yep, and we are going to get F***cked on High Speed Rail too!....largely because of Bay Area elitists.

[innov8]

I remember attending a lot of city council meetings when thie this competition was underway. The two proposals top and bottom left, were the two finalists, while the other two (right top and bottom) were eliminated first.

Rockefeller/McCuen when head to head with LankfordCook.

The Rockefeller/McCuen proposal would have been a phased project with the office tower going up first; the hotel and second office tower going up when the market conditions demanded.

The Lankford/Cook two tower proposal would have been built simultaneously and would have been the regional headquarters of First Interstate Bank. The project was also projected to begin construction quickly after city approval; or that was the developers predicition).

I recall one of the council members commenting that it would be exciting watching the towers race into the sky. I also seem to recall one of our current council members making the same comment about 301 CM.

Personally the Lankford/Cook proposal was my favorite.

The city of course chose the McCuen/Rockefeller and we now have Taylor's less than inspiring project on that site.

As you probably know urban, Mayor Joe Serna's in 1993 offered to take $1 for
for Lot A that four years before was bought by the city for $14 million from
David Rockefeller.

EVEN $1 DEAL MAY NOT PUT SHOWPLACE ON LOT A
SERNA OFFER PRAISED, BUT FACES BIG HURDLES
Published on May 26, 1993 Sacramento Bee

Declining real estate values are one thing, but Mayor Joe Serna's offer to take $1 for choice downtown property that four years ago fetched $14 million from David Rockefeller must be a record. Once the city's fondest hope for a landmark skyscraper from one of the world's great architects, the 7th and Capitol parcel known as "Lot A" has soaked up exhaust fumes and parking fees as a city garage since a rotten economy buried the...

May 26, 1993 - Serna's right about the times. Sacramento could have had most of what it wanted back in 1989, with millions in cash for its troubles, but the City Council rejected a proposal from the Lankford & Taylor development firm. It was one of a half dozen proposals to buy the land at market ...

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SB&p_theme=sb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB0DA5090A0331E&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM

[urban_encounter]

As you probably know urban, Mayor Joe Serna's in 1993 offered to take $1 for
for Lot A that four years before was bought by the city for $14 million from
David Rockefeller.

EVEN $1 DEAL MAY NOT PUT SHOWPLACE ON LOT A
SERNA OFFER PRAISED, BUT FACES BIG HURDLES
Published on May 26, 1993 Sacramento Bee

Declining real estate values are one thing, but Mayor Joe Serna's offer to take $1 for choice downtown property that four years ago fetched $14 million from David Rockefeller must be a record. Once the city's fondest hope for a landmark skyscraper from one of the world's great architects, the 7th and Capitol parcel known as "Lot A" has soaked up exhaust fumes and parking fees as a city garage since a rotten economy buried the...

May 26, 1993 - Serna's right about the times. Sacramento could have had most of what it wanted back in 1989, with millions in cash for its troubles, but the City Council rejected a proposal from the Lankford & Taylor development firm. It was one of a half dozen proposals to buy the land at market ...

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SB&p_theme=sb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB0DA5090A0331E&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM



The city's choice of the Rockefeller/McCuen proposal was also motivated at the time, by the city's desire (or drive) to push Mansard roofs around the downtown area. I like Mansard roofs, but every building constructed downtown didn't (or doesn't) need to be Mansard.

The irony of the final two proposals is that they would have looked good from any direction, unlike many of the projects that get approved today.

[TWAK]

:previous:
Do you remember when part of I-80 through north sac was called I-880, then the bay area took that number. Changing north sac's 880 to 80 was a good call, but they should have renumbered the capital city frwy to completely different number instead of calling it Bus 80. Minor detail, I know.
there is part of it thats called I-305 but it is unsigned. I say give it signs!!
They are planning to upgrade 99 to I-7 or I-9, we could finally get some auxiliary names.

[austinjfox]

i wish to see sacramento break the 30 story mark before i get out of here. that would be nice.

[urban_encounter]

i wish to see sacramento break the 30 story mark before i get out of here. that would be nice.

I would say we're about 10 years away from that happening (at least).


There's is nothing on the horizon and there is just no market for office buildings much over 25 to 28 stories here. The state could, (but they wont, because they need large floor plates). David Taylor isn't about to build anyting taller than 30 stories.


Residential highrises over 30 stories? Not likely if St Anton is already considering scaling back a 20 story project, that is still probably a couple years off.

[Pistola916]

i wish to see sacramento break the 30 story mark before i get out of here. that would be nice.

The Metropolitan would be next in line at 39-40 stories, but thats still a few years away from construction.

[BrianSac]

There's is nothing on the horizon and there is just no market for office buildings much over 25 to 28 stories here. The state could, (but they wont, because they need large floor plates). David Taylor isn't about to build anyting taller than 30 stories.




The state=Large floor plates: why?
Taylor<30 stories: the reason behind this?

[innov8]

The state=Large floor plates: why?
Taylor<30 stories: the reason behind this?

Back when the West End Office Complex was going through the public
meeting process there was a point when the Department of General Services
and Real Estate Services Division, (in charge of planning and permitting)
explained that a couple of the proposals that were shown could not be built
because the floor plates weren’t large enough. They said a state law had
been passed years ago detailing how new state office buildings had to be
built to a certain square footage per floor. This ruled out the Slender Tower
alternatives that many people choose as their favorite. It’s odd that they
even offered it as a choice?

I think the reason Taylor will never build over 30 floors is because there is
not enough need for it. At one time 621CM was proposed at 31 floors, but for
6 years Taylor could not find enough tenants to fill it so banks could
loan him the money to build. A certain percentage of square feet in a
tower has to be leased out before money is released to build. Unless a
tower is built on speculation (like 500cm) it becomes difficult in Sacramento
to build anything over 400,000sf.


The Metropolitan would be next in line at 39-40 stories, but thats still a few years away from construction.

The Metropolitan might be 40 floors but it will still be shorter than Wells Fargo
or the same height when done. Residential floors are shorter than office floors.

[ltsmotorsport]

I think maybe the state should go back and look at that legislation.

Anyone have those 8 propsals for the West End? I don't care if it is a state/government building, I still wouldn't mind the "Golden State Building".

[innov8]

This was alternative 8, I'll post the others soon.

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/7577/8alternative208golden20zt4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[ltsmotorsport]

Yep, just add a nice looking crown (that would be lit dammit!) to the top and you'd have a pretty nice building there. The state could then sell that horrible underground building and even make a little money from the project. Win/win! :yes:


:( If only. :(

[innov8]

The year was 2005; the West End Project was pushing forward with
public workshops... and that was about it before the negative state
budget got even worse. Here are the 8 alternatives at the time.


http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/761/1alternative201rockefelsy5.jpg

http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/4033/2alternative202levis20pyy1.jpg

http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/9115/3alternative203central2uq9.jpg

http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/8546/4alternative204three20ten1.jpg

http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/7669/5alternative205single20wa9.jpg

http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/8330/6alternative206slender2if5.jpg

http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/6349/7alternative207lower20pqr1.jpg

http://img114.imageshack.us/img114/9760/8alternative208golden20nh1.jpg

[innov8]

Craig Nassi and company really left us hanging with AURA and EPIC.
These projects were advertised with great fan fair and went down the
tubes after alot of deception and lack of financing.


Sacramento: AURA Tower Project 39 Story 441’
39-story 441-foot tall building
262-unit project
15K Ground Floor Retail
Location: Capitol Mall and 6th Street
Danial Libeskind Design
Developer: Craig Nissi of BNC Development
Last Status: Needed to pick up permits to start construction but lack of money stopped that.
Price to build: $175 million
AURA was submitted to the city in April 2005 and died late 2007.

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/5341/1004538sl3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/3868/24bzg5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)



Sacramento: EPIC Tower Project 50 Story 638’
50-story 638-foot tall building
694,380 gross square-foot
354 residential
65,380 gsf of retail and office uses
413 parking spaces
Location: 12 & I street
Price to build: $250 million
Danial Libeskind Design
Last Status: Pending Certification of the EIR
EPIC was submitted to the city in August 2005 and died late 2007.

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/8976/1epicviewalongistreetbxch4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/4065/epicrendering291907we8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/8445/epicrendering91907aa8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[ltsmotorsport]

Funny that these two were had relatively low price tags for a skyscraper but the incompetence of Nassi ultimately doomed them.

[innov8]

Funny that these two were had relatively low price tags for a skyscraper but the incompetence of Nassi ultimately doomed them.

I think the price for Aura's design was $400,000 and in the final months before
total collapse nassi tried to buy it for $200,000 to be paid in installments over
eight weeks. I think Epic's design also cost around $400,000.

[arod74]

I always thought Epic looked awkward but Aura would have been pretty special from all the models and renderings. It's too bad that is all we have.

[innov8]

Printed June 30, 1988 in the Sacramento Bee.

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/4885/oldsactowerjune3019881ez8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/488/oldsactowerjune3019882nb4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Phillip]

Nassi is still advertising Aura on his website.

http://www.craignassi.com/sacramento.php

It's curious how projects that were close to happening as recently as a year or two ago now belong in a thread about " Proposals from Times Past". I don't know if we can precisely define when things changed but it's sure a different environment today than it was when Aura was an Almost, not very long ago at all.

[Web]

Nassi is still advertising Aura on his website.

http://www.craignassi.com/sacramento.php

It's curious how projects that were close to happening as recently as a year or two ago now belong in a thread about " Proposals from Times Past". I don't know if we can precisely define when things changed but it's sure a different environment today than it was when Aura was an Almost, not very long ago at all.


Nassi should be put in jail...he is a crook period...be glad he didnt start construction and saddle the city with another hole in the ground

[ozone]

http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/5637/ocm20buildingsd0.th.jpg (http://img113.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ocm20buildingsd0.jpg)http://img113.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)
http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/6554/1211601capitolmallsh3.th.jpg (http://img113.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1211601capitolmallsh3.jpg)http://img113.imageshack.us/images/thpix.gif (http://g.imageshack.us/thpix.php)
And here's the Old Sac Tower that actually got built.

[ltsmotorsport]

I really like One Capitol Mall. It's a shame they couldn't have played off the theme more on Embassy Suites.

[ozone]

I agree. I'm really not happy with the way ES turned out. It's a shame considering the city council asked for special upgrades to the hotel.
I remember seeing somewhere that the Railroad Museum of Technology was originally going to be where Towe Auto Museum is today. Does anyone ever see that too?

[wburg]

I remember seeing somewhere that the Railroad Museum of Technology was originally going to be where Towe Auto Museum is today. Does anyone ever see that too?

Not quite, but close--the original MORT (Museum of Railroad Technology) was supposed to go just south of R and Front Street, along the current right-of-way of the Sacramento Southern and near the R Street railroad bridge. There is still a chunk of land slated for the Docks Project that belongs to State Parks, originally purchased for the museum. It was supposed to be built shortly after the Railroad Museum was completed, but budget crises took their toll and it never got built. There's a drawing of what the MORT would have looked like on the Central Pacific freight house along Front Street.

The warehouse where the Towe is, down by X Street, wouldn't be a very good choice for a railroad technology museum; it didn't have direct rail access anymore (the old SN tracks along Front Street were taken up in 1966) and at the time there were still some buildings from the old PG&E plant in the way.

[innov8]

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/5391/arcoarenafromabove3wl9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Photo by Ryan@CU

In 1988 the foundation was being poured for the 40,000-seat Arco Park baseball
stadium next to Arco Arena in North Natomas. The Sacramento
Sports Association had a sponsorship agreement with the Atlantic Richfield
Co. to support this new stadium worth $25 million to $35 million and would
have enable the association to complete construction of its sports complex
if a major-league franchise was found to fill it.

In 1989 the Sacramento City Council voted 9-0 to provide
$50 million in public money to bring the Los Angeles Raiders to Sacramento.
In the end, Raiders' owner Al Davis decided to stay put, and construction on
the stadium halted as Lukenbill and Benvenuti's Sacramento Sports
Association buckled under millions of dollars in debt. Seattle First National
Bank repossessed the partially completed facility.

In 1992 refund checks went out for the "Piece of the Park' stadium fund.
More than $2 million in refunds were mailed to approximately 1,200 sports
fans who hoped to reserve space at the unfinished Arco Park stadium.
Sacramento businessman Fred Anderson said it wasn't appropriate to keep
the public's money while he completed the purchase.

In the end, the SSA was not able to lure either a MLB or NFL team to
Sacramento. SSA partners Joe Benvenuti, Gregg Lukenbill and Fred Anderson
who had controlling interest in construction stopped construction with
approximately 20 percent completed and several million dollars worth of
concrete for a stadium next to Arco Arena.

I could not find any renderings of the proposed Arco Park, if anyone has one,
could you please post it… thanks.

[Ryan@CU]

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/5391/arcoarenafromabove3wl9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

.

Haha, looks like someone is a member of KingsFans.com (unless I posted it somewhere else that I can't remember). I took that back in November 2005.

[innov8]

I pulled it off Google images; I did not go to the source. Sorry, you have now been credited :tup:

[LivingInExile]

This thread makes me feel disappointed, sorry if I sound like a party pooper. :(

[innov8]

Yeah, it doe's suck... but this is what's been happening over the years. The more
digging I do the more I find, stay tuned.

[Ryan@CU]

I pulled it off Google images; I did not go to the source. Sorry, you have now been credited :tup:

No worries. I was just surprised to see it.

[Ryan@CU]

Oh yeah, can't forget those cross town freeway plans. One ring around town
would have been nice so traffic would not have go through downtown to go cross town.

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/3002/unbuiltsacramentofreewalp6.gif (http://imageshack.us)



Ohhh wee need that so badly. Going from one end of Watt to the other can take 20 minutes, but if we had that freeway i bet it would take one minute.

[doriankage]

Ohhh wee need that so badly. Going from one end of Watt to the other can take 20 minutes, but if we had that freeway i bet it would take one minute.

This map sort proves that not all freeways cause sprawl. Look in the southeast county, the 148, 65 and such are in areas that are now are neighborhoods and towns and tickytacky houses!
I know the Duke killed our chances in the 80's for the freeways, but I think this shows that you can't always blame freeways for sprawl; land developers and the consumers cause sprawl.
I think, where they can, they should build the freeways. I know the 65 by Rocklin-Roseville could still be built out and of course they are trying to build the Elk Grove-Rancho connector.

[innov8]

Capitol Grand Tower History (2004 -2007)

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/3182/capitolgrandtowerjm2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Back in October 2004 Mohammed "Mo" Mohanna and John Lambeth proposed
a 32 story hotel/condo tower (315’) that would have been built at
1215 J Street where the current Capitol Grand Ballroom is now. In early 2005
Mo revised the tower to be 38 floors which was the second of four
revisions for the proposed tower. At 38 floors it had 405,000 sf, 192 hotel
room with pool and fitness room, restaurant 85 condos, and 238 parking
stalls topping out at 378’. Costs to build were estimated to be $65 million.

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/4292/cgsmzn2.jpg

http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/854/capitolgrand6nrcp4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

In February of 2006 plans were revised to include a second parcel and
expanded the size of the building. In partnership with the California Medical
Association, revised plans showed the new tower being 56 stories (701 feet)
and would have had 1.17 million sqft which includes 100,000sf of office,
395 residential condos, 250 hotel rooms with a pool and fitness room, and
several levels of subterranean. Cost to build were estimated to be $250 million.

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/7966/3sactowerjstreetelevnoval5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/8753/cgelevation20070315dv5ce4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

In March of 2007 Mo Mohanna & John Lambeth and their partners the
California Medical Association revised their plans to make the tower even
taller and bigger. The fourth revision showed the tower being 70 stories and
965' to the top of the spire. The tower was going to have 7 floors of above
ground parking levels as well as 6 below going down 75' with slurry walls 3
feet thick surrounding the hole. No cost was released to build this final
revision and the EIR was never finished to proceed into the committees for approval.

[Majin]

Why stop at 965'? Why not revise it one more time to break 1000'?

[What is a Rivercat?]

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/cvcvcvcv/bp.jpg

[JeffZurn]

^pre Raley's field?

[Surefiresacto]

^pre Raley's field?

No, that's Arco Field next to the Arena... started but never finished.

[Ryan@CU]

^pre Raley's field?

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=158300&page=3
Go to the bottom and it's explained.

[innov8]

West Sacramento has had some grand visions too in the last 20 years. Here's
a few from 1989.


July 3, 1989
Sacramento Bee
W. Sacramento has seen future, and it’s towering
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SB&p_theme=sb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB0D8EFE0D532DC&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM

Below are paraphrased parts from the Sacramento Bee article.

20 years ago West Sacramento had really big plans for the riverfront costing
$1 Billion plus. The metamorphosis included the areas first 40-story high-rise
tower; the first luxury riverfront developments; and the first five-star hotel
and conference center. The proposed development was to include one 40
story tower at Raley’s Landing to be finished in 1992 as well as another
developer jockeying to build their own 48 story tower.

All the proposed developments were to transform West Sacramento image
from an industrial eyesore to an auto mall on the west end to upscale
waterfront development and residential construction to the southeast.
The developers expect to spend $1 billion, and the city expected $3 billion
to be spent over the next 20 years.

West Sac’s new general plan was a commitment to develop its entire
waterfront for public use, linking pricey marinas and other developments with city parks.

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/7149/july31989westsacramentozk1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Lighthouse Marian was to be finance by the Japanese, 321-acre resort
project along the Sacramento River near the mouth of the American River.
It would have included a marina, hotel convection center, 18 hole golf course
and 1,660 homes, for an estimated price of $500 million.

Raley’s Landing was to be 28-acre project just north of Tower Bridge with a
630-room hotel, five star hotel and a 40-story office tower and second
smaller tower along with 400 riverfront condominiums. The development was
to receive up to $300 million in international financing.

The Triangle, a chunk of land between I-80 and the Tower Bridge was at the
time described as “the premier piece of property in the region” and was
designated for mix-use waterfront development. As many as 20 property
owner own land in the 135 acre area with The Rice Growers Association
owning 50 acres, which was the biggest chunk on land. The at one time the
city of West Sacramento had a plan to organize an association of all the
property owners in the Triangle area to create a plan for the 135-acre site,
but the effort failed when the Rice Growers Association pulled out of a city’s
plan to organize the property owners. The RGA felt there was so little
interest in the group that it would be more useful to hire a consultant to
plan its own property.

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/2186/july31989westsacramentoaw2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Dean F. Unger, a Sacramento architect, owns 9 acres of the property
waterfront property just south of the Tower Bridge and had plans mapped
out but had also been approached by several development groups. One of
the groups were vying for a position to build a high-rise was Kersten’s Trade
Center Development Corp. who approached Unger and the RGA to build a
48-story tower. Unger’s plans to keep the riverfront free of traffic and open
to bicycles and pedestrians. He had plans for a layered approach from the
river with shops and restaurants from the street level with mid-rises and
high-rise buildings behind with parking structures. Unger said “I want to
do something that is very, very significant, to give something of lasting
legacy to the West Sacramento community. It’s too fine a property to not
do it absolutely correctly.”

[econgrad]

Secondhand style

Plans for a 38-story condo tower at Sixth and Capitol died more than a year ago.

But pieces of the "Aura" project live on – at the funky Beatnik Studios photo gallery and artist workshop at 17th and Broadway.

At the rear of the gallery are frosted wall panels, lamps and other furnishings that once were in the condo project's sales model. There's even a glass door etched with the Aura name.

When the high-profile Aura project collapsed, D&S Development of Sacramento bought the furnishings at a liquidation sale and "recycled" them into its Beatnik property, says D&S exec Bay Miry.

Miry says the company also grabbed other Aura furniture, including a bathtub "because we thought it looked really cool."

Fittingly, D&S installed those items at its own condo project now selling at 14th and R streets.

By Bob Shallit
bshallit@sacbee.com
Published: Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2008 | Page 1B

[innov8]

Nacht & Lewis had plans for old railyards once... I think these were concepts
from back in the late 90's. Sactown Andy took these photos of the model back in 2003.

http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/6557/nachtlewis2003oldrailyaau2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/9703/nachtlewis2003oldrailyaqu8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/455/nachtlewis2003oldrailyale6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[ltsmotorsport]

Yeah, those buildings in the model are pretty hot. They remind me of the World Financial Center towers in NYC.

[innov8]

^ I thought the same thing... those would have looked sweet from I-5.

These proposals never had a chance since Mo Mohanna owned the properties.
Back in 2005 the city took several proposals for how to develop the 700 block
of K Street and the corner of 9th and L Street. The city choose Joe Zidens proposal
which never came to be because a land swap dispute with Mo.
Any bets on when something will be done to the 700 block of K Street?

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/4744/1000688yw9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

700 block of K Street

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/5937/1000677ll2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

700 block of K Street

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/7062/1000676fd2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Corner of 9th and L Street

[wburg]

That project never had a chance because it was contingent on fairly massive city subsidies ($70-90 million at the time, as I recall) and the free gift of the Marshall, the Capitol Park, the Greyhound station, the Berry, and several other properties that were not the city's to give. The Zeiden proposal was supposed to require far less city investment, and based mostly on trade of land between existing landowners.

I can only imagine how much higher that $70-90 million would have gone, if we had been foolish enough to choose that proposal, and what kind of legal battles we would be faced with. As horrid as the 700 block fiasco has been so far, with this plan it could have been even worse.

[JeffZurn]

Its sad to hear, all this goodness down the drain!

[innov8]

I don't think the city subsidie was that much wburg, I beleive it was maybe
half that amout the developer was asking for... in any case, it never had
a chance with Mo still owning the property.

I prferred the second one down where the facades of the current buildings
were left and the residential midrise was built behind.

[daverave]

I prferred the second one down where the facades of the current buildings
were left and the residential midrise was built behind.

I think that it's a shame that local developers have apparently fallen in love with Ankrom Moisan Architects for some reason... there is plenty of talent locally that could handle these projects. The love affair with all things Portland is grating. :yuck:

[daverave]

I'm a noob at posting images in forums so bear with me. My first attempt at an ImageShack linkage.
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/7882/benvenuti2gs2.jpg

Bet you can figure out where this is!

[innov8]

Looks like a Benvenuti proposal behind the Hotel Berry. Was this proposed in the last 80's and why did it fail?

[daverave]

Looks like a Benvenuti proposal behind the Hotel Berry. Was this proposed in the last 80's and why did it fail?

Nicely done! It's on the Greyhound terminal site and was done in 1989 and failed as the construction economy went into its most recent recession (before the current one.) That and Benvenuti would never have pulled it off anyway, IMHO. He just wanted a pretty picture to try and get investors excited. The third through ninth floors were all parking. :slob:

[innov8]

Yeah, Benvenuti had about 7 or 8 towers proposed back then and this looked
like one of them... when I have some time, I'll try to find some of the others
he had in the works from the late 80's. Do you have any others Daverave?

[daverave]

Yeah, Benvenuti had about 7 or 8 towers proposed back then and this looked
like one of them... when I have some time, I'll try to find some of the others
he had in the works from the late 80's. Do you have any others Daverave?

Nope, this is the only one he let me do.
It was fun although I knew it would never go anywhere. Actually it's my favorite project type: all design, no CDs, no risk, except for the risk of not getting paid. I recall it took a looong time to get the money from him. :whip:

[innov8]

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/9241/sactowersadsk6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The Towers on Capitol Mall

One of Sacramento's most ambitious and largest construction project
proposals since Centrage in the late 80's early 90's.

Developer: Saca Development
Architect: Mulvanny G2
53-Stories 615 ft, 834 Condo Units, 65K Two Levels Retail
2.1 Million Square Foot
230 Rooms Intercontinental Hotel
1,140 parking stalls above grade
11-story podium
10K The Spa at La Borgata
40K California Family Fitness Gym
Original cost to build: $400 million
Expected final costs to build between $600 and $700 million
Cost overruns estimated at least $70 million
City of Sacramento taxpayer subsidy $11 million
Deutche Bank's loan $480 million
CalPERS investment fund $100 million
$21 million to buy land
383 pre-sold condo units
Condo price range from mid-$350s to $4 million
2,900 piles 70 feet into the ground
Proposed Oct. 2004 and died Jan. 2007

Proposed on October 2004 the Towers on Capitol Mall was expected to be built
at 3rd and Capitol Mall. Towering 22 stories over Sacramento’s current
tallest, the Wells Fargo Building, it seemed like downtown's housing market
was ready to go vertical. If built, it would have be Sacramento’s first
high-rise to use a "performance-based" concrete design. The Towers drew
more than 4,000 pre-qualified potential buyers from an interest list of 17,000.
In the first sales event for the Towers Saca invited 250 to put a deposit
down and sold 280 units, making nearly $2 million in one weekend. Many of
the piles hit solid ground at different depths, leaving a hodgepodge of
different length piles sticking out the ground. Saca previously told The Bee
these piles would have to be sawed off -- an unexpected expense. Saca
was very close to meeting the Deutsche Bank requirement that he presale
400 units and had collected non-refundable deposits on 383 units as of
November 2006 since sales began, there were 27 cancellations.

The project stopped construction in January 2007 when a former contractor
and the buildings' architect filed liens against John Saca for $7.3 million in
unpaid bills. Saca’s efforts to reconstruct a workable budget and secure his
construction financing failed. Skyrocketing construction costs were also to
blame for the shutdown.

Mayor Heather Fargo expressed reservations about whether the western end
of Capitol Mall was right for such lofty structures.

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/6629/scan00011hh6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/9708/main3ppfo6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/642/towerscm5ty9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/610/towerscm3hm1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/5549/dsc01620001towers92006tw9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/2862/auratowersskylinerenderbq8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/8159/towersmodelsb9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/43/301cmsouth6lrto7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/7492/301extra8ofmc6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/9931/301towers49lf15xdcc9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[innov8]

Capitol Plaza
Northeast corner of 15th & L Street of the current Marriot Residence Inn
Was to be Stagen Hotel
13 stories 177ft
240 rooms
190 underground parking spaces
266,000 sf
Proposed 1989 Died 1991

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/3637/capitoltower1989l15thst.jpg (http://img145.imageshack.us/my.php?image=capitoltower1989l15thst.jpg)

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/3637/capitoltower1989l15thst.jpg (http://img9.imageshack.us/my.php?image=capitoltower1989l15thst.jpg)

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/3738/capitoltower1989l15thsta.jpg (http://img145.imageshack.us/my.php?image=capitoltower1989l15thsta.jpg)

[innov8]

The Jibboom Street Power Station project
Proposed Feb. 2006 and died Oct. 2006
Developer: D.R. Horton
Architect: Mogavero Notestine Associates
Owner: City of Sacramento
# Of Units/Density: Total Units: 203 / Units/Acre: 81
15-story condominium tower
Along the Sacramento River just north of Old Sacramento
Cost to build $130 million
295 condos
400 Parking spaces
1,400 civic amphitheater
Major park component
Subsidy for rehabilitation of Power Station Building
Subsidy for parking structure
City owned amphitheater

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/2883/jibboomstreetprojectima.jpg (http://img141.imageshack.us/my.php?image=jibboomstreetprojectima.jpg)

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8776/jibboomstreetprojectimar.jpg (http://img141.imageshack.us/my.php?image=jibboomstreetprojectimar.jpg)

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4487/jibboomstreetprojectimay.jpg (http://img141.imageshack.us/my.php?image=jibboomstreetprojectimay.jpg)

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/2649/jibboomstreetprojectimaa.jpg (http://img141.imageshack.us/my.php?image=jibboomstreetprojectimaa.jpg)

The former power plant was built in 1912 and has not been used for nearly
half that time. The building’s oil-fired turbines ran until 1954, when the
facility was closed. Shortly thereafter it reopened as a junk yard. The State
closed the junkyard in 1965 after it acquired the site as part of the
construction of I-5. Cost of renovating the power plant in 2000 was
estimated at $6.5 million and the cost has surly risen since then. The cost
would have been much higher if the State and Federal Government hadn’t
already spent $5.2 million to clean up the former Superfund site. Much of
the money to clean up the site was recouped from former customers of the
junkyard which caused the contamination with lead, copper, zinc and low
levels of polychlorinated biphenyls.



The Library Lofts project
Proposed Feb. 2006 and died Oct. 2006
Developer: D.R. Horton
Architect: Mogavero Notestine Associates
Owner: City of Sacramento
# Of Units/Density: Total Units: 295 / Units/Acre: 227
On I Street between 7th and 8th
21-story condominium tower
Cost to build $120 million
450-space parking garage
295 condos
40,000 sf office space
5,000 sf ground-floor stores.

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/7430/libraryloftsprojectimag.jpg (http://img141.imageshack.us/my.php?image=libraryloftsprojectimag.jpg)

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/489/libraryloftsprojectimagu.jpg (http://img141.imageshack.us/my.php?image=libraryloftsprojectimagu.jpg)

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/7539/libraryloftsprojectimagz.jpg (http://img141.imageshack.us/my.php?image=libraryloftsprojectimagz.jpg)

[Ryan@CU]

I'm glad to know that whenever I feel like I'm not depressed enough I can always come to this thread. ;)

[sactown916]

If all of these building’s were built what would our skyline look like today_can any one put that together

[innov8]

If all of these building’s were built what would our skyline look like today_can any one put that together

I guess if someone had the time they could work up something in Google Sketchup? http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=140789




Capitol Towers
September 1988
$300 million development
Four 26-story Office/Residential/Retail/Hotel towers
7th & O Street
1.4 million square feet
200,000 sf office tower
70,000 sf retail
3,000 parking spaces
250 room hotel tower
200 unite apartment
Proposed by an east coast family: The Scheuer Family Trust
Construction was expected to start in 1990 with a new tower built every two years.

As part of the project, the trust would have given $100,000 to community
housing groups to spend as needed on city housing projects. The project
got the typical objections by current residents in the Capitol Towers as well
as City planners concerned with traffic problems with other developments
planned near by. The Proposed California Capitol Center on R Street was also
in the planning stages and also had plans for both office and hotel at a cost
of $250 million. The Capitol Towers proposal failed due to not landing a big
state office tenant which would have qualify the project for a loan to start construction.


http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/2161/capitoltowers1988.jpg (http://img222.imageshack.us/my.php?image=capitoltowers1988.jpg)

As recent as March 2008, a Los Angeles based developer proposed five
residential towers ranging from 15 to 33 stories and 1,646 housing units.
Financing for the newest proposal was to come from the financial giant AIG Inc.

The complex is now 93 percent leased with rents from $875 for a studio to
$2,165 three bedroom unit.

[arod74]

I'm glad to know that whenever I feel like I'm not depressed enough I can always come to this thread. ;)

Too funny Ryan. I get the same type of vibe on those occassions when I reminisce about girls past that I had a chance with and somehow botched the opportunity. Ugghh the heartache. Let's see you turn that into a thread innov8 :haha:

[econgrad]

Too funny Ryan. I get the same type of vibe on those occassions when I reminisce about girls past that I had a chance with and somehow botched the opportunity. Ugghh the heartache. Let's see you turn that into a thread innov8 :haha:

Its an interesting thread, and depressing to me as well. I wish we were posting more stories of progress...

[innov8]

Too funny Ryan. I get the same type of vibe on those occassions when I reminisce about girls past that I had a chance with and somehow botched the opportunity. Ugghh the heartache. Let's see you turn that into a thread innov8 :haha:

Botched opportunities... that's for sure. Both R Street and the corner of
15th & K saw a total of five major towers fall due to the city changing the
rules with height and zoning requirements while the developers were in the
entitlement process. I'll dig up some info and rendering to post later.

[innov8]

K Street Towers
8th and K Street
2 300 foot buildings
Developers John Saca, Mo Mohanna, and John Lambeth
Architect Kwan Henmi
600 loft style condos
17,730 sf ground floor retail
Proposed 2005 and died 2007

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/3706/8thandk22and25storytowe.jpg (http://img512.imageshack.us/i/8thandk22and25storytowe.jpg/)

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6193/kstreettower8thandkstre.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/i/kstreettower8thandkstre.jpg/)

[innov8]

Back in 2005-2006 the County invited a limited number of architects to
compete for a significant site on I Street between 7th & 6th street in
downtown Sacramento. The Library Lofts ended up winning the Counties
support for the location. At the time, the county thought residential was a
good direction - only to have DR Horton pull out soon after.

With this proposal 700i, a proposed substation at the base would have gave the
Sacramento Police Department a presence in the Central Business District
and an approachable identity for the department. The generous public plaza
provides large pubic art for people to enjoy. I really dig this design and shape,
it's to bad it never saw the light of day.

700i
Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/9738/700istreettowerproposal.jpg (http://img228.imageshack.us/i/700istreettowerproposal.jpg/)

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/9738/700istreettowerproposal.jpg (http://img263.imageshack.us/i/700istreettowerproposal.jpg/)

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/3809/700istreettowerproposalj.jpg (http://img263.imageshack.us/i/700istreettowerproposalj.jpg/)

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/9738/700istreettowerproposal.jpg (http://img193.imageshack.us/i/700istreettowerproposal.jpg/)

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/6703/700istreettowerproposalr.jpg (http://img193.imageshack.us/i/700istreettowerproposalr.jpg/)

[ltsmotorsport]

Damn, that was a really nice looking proposal; hadn't seen it before. I almost wish it was chosen instead

[innov8]

April 20, 1986

This one would have been sweet across from Cal Expo. This one also did
not get off the ground fast enough before the market collapsed.
Below is a photo of what's there now, Kaiser Hospital.


http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1917/expositioncorporatecent.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/i/expositioncorporatecent.jpg/)



http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/1196/expositionblvd.jpg (http://img205.imageshack.us/i/expositionblvd.jpg/)

[wburg]

I still think the Expo/Arden area is a great place for a "second downtown" of high-rise projects--something like Century City in Los Angeles. Consolidate all those parking lots into one parking structure, put up a couple towers, add residential mid-rise/high rise nearer the freeway (and thus nearer to the dramatic views of the river) and a fixed-rail transit loop up Expo and down Arden to link it to Light Rail and downtown. Think of it a bit like Century City.

To contribute, here's a drawing from an early 20th century plan for a civic center around Plaza Park (now Cesar Chavez Plaza) from 1916 that never got built:

http://static2.px.yelp.com/photo/o7TwQd3hoA2f9cYCTfdNjw/l

[TWAK]

what about the proposed freeways?