Sacramento Proposal/Approval/Construction Thread - III

[wburg]

Originally Posted by cozmoose

Any man who is under 30, and is not a liberal, has no heart; and
any man who is over 30, and is not a conservative, has no brains
- Winston Churchhill

um, actually, no:
http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=112

"If you're not a liberal when you're 25, you have no heart. If you're not a conservative by the time you're 35, you have no brain." There is no record of anyone hearing Churchill say this. Paul Addison of Edinburgh University makes this comment: "Surely Churchill can't have used the words attributed to him. He'd been a Conservative at 15 and a Liberal at 35! And would he have talked so disrespectfully of Clemmie, who is generally thought to have been a lifelong Liberal?"

[SacTownAndy]

KCRA is running a story today on their main page about the Metropolitan. Nothing new, but at least it's making news.


Saca Planning New Condo Project
Developer Earlier Failed With Towers Development

POSTED: 5:58 am PDT June 20, 2007
UPDATED: 7:05 am PDT June 20, 2007


SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Developer John Saca is aggressively moving forward with a new plan for a high-rise condominium project in downtown Sacramento a week after walking away from another stalled hotel and residential skyscraper project.

Saca's new project is called The Metropolitan, a 40-story building that may include 200 luxury condos at the corner of 10th and J streets just across from Cesar Chavez Plaza.

Last week, the California Public Employees' Retirement System agreed to buy Saca's share of The Towers on Capitol Mall project at the corner of Capitol Mall and Third Street that saw construction shut down late last year.

Saca estimated that The Metropolitan project will cost as much as $200 million, far less than the $500 million to $600 million price tag estimated for The Towers.

The Metropolitan proposal will go before the city's design commission today. Despite the setback Saca experienced with The Towers, he said he still believes there is a big demand for condos in the downtown area.

CalPERS said CIM Group of Los Angeles will serve as lead developer of The Towers project, which will likely look much different from the 54-story condominium, hotel and retail complex Saca planned.

Saca blamed skyrocketing construction costs and a downturn in the real estate market for the demise of The Towers project. He added that he lost a "tremendous amount of money" in the early stages of the development of that project.


There's also a video on the story's page:

http://www.kcra.com/news/13535180/detail.html

[greenmidtown]

Originally Posted by travis bickle

This is not the place for this type of mindless ranting. You can PM me or, better yet, just run along like a good little buffoon.

BTW - I was born in Roseville. That makes you "0" for "2." A ratio I'm sure you're used to.

you brought this to yourself by running your mouth defending a buffoon. I don't blame you considering you were born in an uber-conservative wasteland back when it was a hillbilly railroad stop. and you still haven't answered my question. pm me with your "facts." Faux News and all the idiot demagogues on right-wing radio don't count as legitimate sources either, sorry. I guess that kills any baseless justification of the war you might have had.

[slaiguy]

After seeing what happened with Saca, I think maybe he should have gone with the Metropolitan first then for the Towers. Nothing against the Towers, I am sad to see that it won't happen the way he envisioned, but maybe he should have gone with the easier one, if there is such a thing, first. I hope this one gets off the ground.

[TowerDistrict]

You may be right about the actual product being more feasible - but I think the Metro didn't come into light until about a year after the Towers was announced. I would guess that he had so much positive feedback on the Towers, that he decided to try the middle-up market?

[wburg]

Was the plan always for 40 stories, or is this a new iteration of the building slated for that corner?

[travis bickle]

Originally Posted by TowerDistrict

You may be right about the actual product being more feasible - but I think the Metro didn't come into light until about a year after the Towers was announced. I would guess that he had so much positive feedback on the Towers, that he decided to try the middle-up market?

You know... it's very difficult to make middle-market/high-rise work. Construction and development costs are so expensive, you almost have to go luxury.

I can't commend Saca enough for his effort, but I'll be very interested to see how he makes this work.

[innov8]

300 Capitol Mall sold for $130M
By Michael Shaw of The Sacramento Business Journal

June 20, 2007

Four months after it was put up for sale, the 18-story Emerald Tower office building at 300 Capitol Mall has sold for $130 million to a joint venture between Sterling American Property Inc., of New York City, and Hines Interests of Houston.

The $339-per-square-foot price is at or above expectations from commercial brokers for downtown Sacramento space. In February, predictions suggested the building could fetch $115 million or more.

The transaction represents Hines' continued interest in Sacramento's Class A office space, after affiliates of Hines purchased an entire portfolio of buildings earlier this year from The Blackstone Group for $760 million.

The Emerald Tower was acquired for $76 million in 1999 by VV City USA LP, a subsidiary of a private German bank. It was built in 1984 as one of the Capital's first premier office towers. It is 80-percent leased by the State of California. The largest tenants include the State Comptrollers Office and the Department of Insurance. Overall, the building is 98-percent leased.

[fflint]

For the millionth time, do not spam the Sacramento construction threads with political arguments and ad hominem attacks.

Next one to break that rule gets suspended for a month, minimum.

[downtownserg89]

ah, i miss reading this forum everyday! every since i got a virus at my home computer and cant get online anymore from there, i've been a stranger to the internet.

anywho, i'm going on a sac photo sesh tomorrow to show y'all i still love my forum.


oh and i'm 18 now!! june 11th baby!

[BrianSac]

Originally Posted by downtownserg89

ah, i miss reading this forum everyday! every since i got a virus at my home computer and cant get online anymore from there, i've been a stranger to the internet.

anywho, i'm going on a sac photo sesh tomorrow to show y'all i still love my forum.


oh and i'm 18 now!! june 11th baby!

Happy Belated Birthday, Sergie

Did you blow out all 18 of your candles?

[goldcntry]

Happy B-Day Serg! Only Three more years before you can buy us all a round!

[Cynikal]

Originally Posted by wburg

Where are they going to meet for this tour?

Sorry for the late response. The tour will meet at Underground Books @ 6:00.

[snfenoc]

KCRA.com
Saca's New Condo Project Moves Forward
Metropolitan Faces Public Hearing

POSTED: 9:14 pm PDT June 20, 2007
UPDATED: 9:40 pm PDT June 20, 2007

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Developer John Saca's new luxury condo project moved forward after the Sacramento City Council reviewed design and material specifications Wednesday night, officials said.

Saca's new project is called The Metropolitan, a 40-story building with 200 luxury condos, and could be built at the corner of 10th and J streets.

Saca estimated that The Metropolitan project will cost as much as $200 million, far less than the $500 million to $600 million price tag estimated for The Towers.

Last week, the California Public Employees' Retirement System agreed to buy Saca's share of The Towers on Capitol Mall project at the corner of Capitol Mall and Third Street that saw construction shut down late last year.

Despite the setback Saca experienced with The Towers, he said he still believes there is a big demand for condos in the downtown area.

The Metropolitan proposal now goes before the city's planning commission for possible approval by July 26.

The city's design commission will conduct a public hearing on the project Aug. 15.

[fatchocolatecow]

Excellent reporting by another of Sacramento's top-notch media outlets (although I think KCRA usually does a decent job). The Metropolitan actually went before the Design Review Committee last night, not the City Council. It received mixed reviews and will have to return to Design Review again. Comments ranged from (these are not quotes, but summations)... it is a beautiful building with strong features, to... this design belongs on Lakeshore Drive in the 60's, but there is nothing original about it now. They also seemed concerned that the architecture too closely resembles that of Cathedral Square which is being proposed only 2 blocks away.

[sugit]

Originally Posted by fatchocolatecow

They also seemed concerned that the architecture too closely resembles that of Cathedral Square which is being proposed only 2 blocks away.

I've always thought the same thing as well, but I think they both look good (other than a couple small changes I would make at the ground level to C Sqaure), so I don't find it a problem. Kwan Henmi is the architect for both so that explains a lot.

[TowerDistrict]

Originally Posted by sugit

I've always thought the same thing as well, but I think they both look good, so I don't find it a problem. Kwan Henmi is the architect for both so that explains a lot.

Yeah... and they might as well revisit 800 K at the same time. Because they are going to say the exact same things about that project as well.

If Cathedral, Metro and 800 K all went up right now it Portland or Vancouver, noone would say anything negative (or constructively criticize). But I think Kwan Henmi might want to walk around Sacramento for a week, and revise the street level plans a bit.

[wburg]

Walking around Sacramento at street level sounds like damn good advice for any architect who wants to build something here...even "your architect."

[TowerDistrict]

In my opinion, Libeskind's design is so beyond conventional that it stands on its own. A certain level of innovation in architecture can contrst to it's surroundings and ultimately compliment the city. The problem with certain other modern architecture, is that it's not bold enough to feel inspiring, or refined enough to feel welcome.

Also Aura has the... ummm... benefit(?) of being sandwiched between 621's garage, 555's parking and Downtown Plaza. If Libeskind designed a tower made of lincoln logs it would improve the streetscape right there.

[innov8]

From the Design Review Staff report: