Sacramento Proposal/Approval/Construction Thread - III

[TowerDistrict]

Most of the neighborhoods surrounding downtown and midtown that were built to be suburban about 60-90 years ago, are no longer suburban at all. they may have been intentionally built to be suburban at the time - but suburbia is now a totally different animal. and urban sprawl has absorbed most of the neighborhoods built during those times.

hell, even midtown was built with much less population density in mind. those large victorians now divided into four separate units were, once upon a time, single family homes.

[TowerDistrict]

Any updates on CADA's choice(s) for the East End Gateway sites?

[TowerDistrict]

confirmation of the rumor??

June 1, 2007

Thomas Enterprises’ Vice President of Development, Suheil Totah, will join with representatives of the Sacramento City Manager’s office at the annual Industry Breakfast on Structures. The presentation will include new elements of the revised Railyard plan submitted to the City in the early spring. Sponsored by the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Sacramento Business Journal, the breakfast program runs from 7:30 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency, 1209 L Street on Friday, June 1. For more information contact the chamber at 916-552-6800 or visit www.metrochamber.org

[sugit]

Originally Posted by TowerDistrict

Any updates on CADA's choice(s) for the East End Gateway sites?

CADA selects the developer on Friday. I have the day off so I'm planning on trying to stop by for that item

[Nawlijispower]

Does anyone know what time the city council meeting is for Aura?

[sugit]

Doh

[sugit]

2:00

Also, Cathedral Square goes before the Design Review for review and comment on the 21st
Staff Report

[otnemarcaS]

Council delays Aura vote -- again

Sacramento Business Journal - 1:09 PM PDT Tuesday, March 20, 2007by Michael ShawStaff writer


Loans have not been finalized between BCN Development, developer of the 39-story Aura condominium project in downtown Sacramento, and its lenders, forcing the City Council on Tuesday to once again postpone a vote on a $10 million loan for the project.

BCN founder Craig Nassi has a tight timetable to secure financing on the project to complete a deal for the land and obtain the city loan.

The City Council will consider the loan next week, provided financing for the $175 million project has been secured.

[sugit]

Just beat me to it. Next week is his last chance....

[goldcntry]

Can I just start screaming now??? Build it, Dam it!


Uh oh... that's a copywrited phrase from the days of the Auburn Dam debate... mustn't dredge up any bad feelings from that defunct project...

[stir][stir][stir]

[innov8]

On a brighter note...







I have posted my pix from going up in tower: Click here... 621 Capitol Mall Tower

[colemonkee]

Those are some sweet pics, but this grate is totally menacing the dome...

Originally Posted by innov8

[Sacdelicious]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Railyards Newsletter
Latest News
Spring 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stan Thomas Joins Community Celebration at The Railyards

Friends of The Railyards:


In his first public appearance in Sacramento, Thomas Enterprises founder and CEO Stan Thomas welcomed hundreds of visitors at an inaugural open house celebration at The Railyards. The January 31 event was designed to introduce the community to the 240 acre property and to showcase the old paint shop which is the planned site of a new public marketplace.

Nugget Market helped transform the empty historic structure with overflowing displays of plentiful vegetables, fruits and flowers from the Central Valley. Visitors were able to take light rail to the train station and hop on a complimentary RT trolley to get to the site which has been closed to the general public for 150 years. Guests got a first-hand look at the turn-of-the-century architecture of the buildings and sampled food and refreshments from a number of generous vendors including Java City, Zocalo's, All Season's-All Reason's, Fat City, G. Rossi and Co. Florists and Ettore's. Local media personality Kelly Brothers served as emcee and entertainment was provided by junior members of the Sacramento Theatre Company and the local band Devious.



Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo spoke of the city's plan to construct a state-of-the-art intermodal transportation facility at The Railyards and the Director of the Department of Toxic Substances Control, Maureen Gorsen, pledged the support of the Governor to develop the project. "This is a public private partnership," Stan Thomas told the six hundred attendees. "We want to build something we can all be proud of."

State Housing Bond Funds Sought
Last fall, California voters enacted a state housing bond measure that includes $850 million for regional planning, housing and infill incentives and $300 million in grants to local governments to develop infrastructure associated with high-density, transit-oriented development. One of the initial challenges in redeveloping The Railyards and the City's new intermodal transit facility involves securing funding for basic infrastructure on the site. Thomas representatives have provided input to the Department of Housing and Community Development which is developing project criteria to distribute the funding. With more than 10,000 high-density housing units near an intermodal facility and light rail lines, The Railyards is perfectly suited to receive positive consideration.


Leadership Sacramento Regional Issues Day
Members of the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Leadership Class recently visited The Railyards to learn more about the development plan to create an exciting mixed-use, high-density, transit oriented development project to benefit the entire Sacramento region. Following lunch and a presentation by Thomas Enterprises Vice President of Development, Suheil Totah and City Planning Director Carol Shearly, the group participated in a 30-minute walking tour with Thomas Enterprises Development Director Richard Rich. To learn more about The Railyards specific plan, please call the office at (916) 329-4500.



Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: [email protected]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Schmoe]

Originally Posted by otnemarcaS

Council delays Aura vote -- again

Sacramento Business Journal - 1:09 PM PDT Tuesday, March 20, 2007by Michael ShawStaff writer


Loans have not been finalized between BCN Development, developer of the 39-story Aura condominium project in downtown Sacramento, and its lenders, forcing the City Council on Tuesday to once again postpone a vote on a $10 million loan for the project.

BCN founder Craig Nassi has a tight timetable to secure financing on the project to complete a deal for the land and obtain the city loan.

The City Council will consider the loan next week, provided financing for the $175 million project has been secured.

I'm a prophet.

[Schmoe]

Originally Posted by colemonkee

Those are some sweet pics, but this grate is totally menacing the dome...

I love how this joke has endured! It's been over two years since that quote, I think!

[urban_encounter]

Originally Posted by otnemarcaS

Council delays Aura vote -- again

Sacramento Business Journal - 1:09 PM PDT Tuesday, March 20, 2007by Michael ShawStaff writer


Loans have not been finalized between BCN Development, developer of the 39-story Aura condominium project in downtown Sacramento, and its lenders, forcing the City Council on Tuesday to once again postpone a vote on a $10 million loan for the project.

BCN founder Craig Nassi has a tight timetable to secure financing on the project to complete a deal for the land and obtain the city loan.

The City Council will consider the loan next week, provided financing for the $175 million project has been secured.

It wont' be..

Like i was saying lastnight; this would simply be a rubber stamp, were Nassi to have all of his financing lined up.

Originally Posted by urban_encounter

This is basically a rubber stamp (unless) Nassi hasn't nailed down his construction loans, and then it might tank...

If Nassi can't secure his construction loans by 3/31 then there will be no transfer of property from David Taylor anyway, regardless of what happens tomorrow.

A lot of things still have to happen and I'll probably remain skeptical about this project until they sign the I beam for the topping out ceremony.

Nassi has had three years to pull this together. (Nearly a year and a half since city approval.) If he doesn't have financing locked up yet, I doubt he will by next week.

This project is looking as unlikely to be built, as the one down the street..


unbelievable.......

[enigma99a]

Why is it so hard to get financing? Both 301 and Aura have a lot of buyers even though they have both yet to rise above the ground.

[BrianSac]

Originally Posted by enigma99a

Why is it so hard to get financing? Both 301 and Aura have a lot of buyers even though they have both yet to rise above the ground.

Maybe a lot of buyers have pulled-out. Also, if construction costs are so much higher now, then the developer's profit margins may have diminished so much that they really dont want to build as originally designed. Or, the banks aren't so willing to lend as the risks are greater; therefore, their requirements are tighter now.

[Majin]

I am beyond understanding this drama, this is just ridiculous.

Nassi has stated a few times in press releases that:

* Construction Loan is a lock ( )
* Construction prices are locked in and market flucations won't affect building costs
* 65% Presold
* 51% Required for loan
* Everything is in place and is just waiting for the loan to finalize


*****WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THE PROBLEM?????*****

The whole problem doesn't make any sense. The only thing I can think of is Nassi is just straight out lying to the public about the situation regarding Aura. 65% presold, 51% required, 10M loan from the city, how else can a project be handed to you on a silver platter?

I don't know if you guys remember this, but I sent Sherryl Fleeman (the Aura sales specialist) a email in January about the status of Aura, and she replied back right away assuring me Aura was "a hairs breath" from construction and she will have a ground breaking date shortly. Well its two months later and we are still in this mess. I just sent her a farily nasty email just now out of fustration. Probably something I shouldn't of done, but hey, the way things are going now it is becomming apparently clear that Nassi is blantly lying to the public.

[Phillip]

Corus Bank has troubles of its own now.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Subprime exposure costly for Corus

By James P. Miller
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 15, 2007, 5:18 PM CDT


Chicago bank holding company Corus Bankshares Inc. said its sizeable investment in the stock of troubled subprime lender Fremont General Corp. has caused Corus's position in Fremont to become "materially impaired," which will spark a hefty pretax charge that could be $14.3 million or even higher.

Corus said company officials have concluded that the trouble with its holding constitutes what's known as an "other-than-temporary" impairment, under generally accepted accounting principals.

While Corus emphasized that it has "the intent and the ability to retain its Fremont investment," the Chicago company believes that Fremont's recent travails require the company to record a charge in the first quarter of 2007, to reflect the decline in the value of its Fremont investment.

Fremont, based in Santa Monica, Calif., is a "sub-prime lender," which means, in general, it makes real estate loans to home buyers with credit profiles that are weaker than desirable, and then sells those loans to companies that package them in specialized securities.

During the height of the recent housing boom, sub-prime lenders saw their shares zoom upward. But with interest rates higher and increasing numbers of earlier borrowers defaulting on their loans, Wall Street has turned its back on the shares of most sub-prime lenders.

Fremont is tardy in filing its 2006 financial documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and federal banking officials recently issued a "cease and desist" order that restrict the California company from many of its earlier activities.

Fremont has announced that as a result of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s cease and desist order and other factors, the company will exit its sub-prime residential real estate lending.

Corus noted that as of Dec. 31, the Chicago bank owned 1.6 million shares of Fremont. In 2007, it said, and particularly since the recent disclosures and decline in Fremont's stock price, "Corus has opportunistically purchased an additional 967,000 shares, bring its total position to 2.5 million shares."

Corus said it paid an average of $12.73 for all the shares it owns. But Fremont's stock dropped from $11.65 a share on Feb. 27 to $7.40 a share at the close of trading today.

Corus will take a charge to first-quarter earnings to mark the value of the Fremont stock down from the price the bank paid for the shares to the market value of Fremont shares on March 31, the last day of the current quarter.

At Thursday's closing price for Fremont shares, the bank holding company said, the charge would be $14.3 million pretax, or $9.3 million after tax.

In the first quarter of 2006, Corus had net income of $43.4 million, or $1.50 a share.


Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune