Sacramento: 301 Capitol Mall: A New Plan for The Towers Site

[TowerDistrict]

damn... that 18 months is going by pretty slow innit?

[innov8]

[COASTIE]

Originally Posted by innov8

I didn't get this photo at first ...then I had to laugh at myself
Great photo mike

[kryptos]

Originally Posted by innov8

what an addition to the skyline

[innov8]

Originally Posted by COASTIE

I didn't get this photo at first ...then I had to laugh at myself
Great photo mike

Yeah, quite a contrast... growth continues despite the end of the Towers

Thanks COASTIE

[g-man435]

So, are they built yet?

[JeffZurn]

Question for everyone

Once the Metropolitan gets built, does anyone think Saca might make another run at building the Towers in a different location?

I know its a little off base being the current situation, but I was talking with one of my friends about it, and he had the feeling that since the Towers was Saca's baby, that he might later on down the road pull the triger and propose them again. What are your thoughts?

[Majin]

My thoughts are lets wait and see if the Metropolitan gets built.

[Ryan@CU]

Originally Posted by JeffZurn

Question for everyone

Once the Metropolitan gets built, does anyone think Saca might make another run at building the Towers in a different location?

I know its a little off base being the current situation, but I was talking with one of my friends about it, and he had the feeling that since the Towers was Saca's baby, that he might later on down the road pull the triger and propose them again. What are your thoughts?

I really hope it's not an empty lot for that long

[arod74]

That's a big IF as to the Metropolitan being built but going back to your question, I would say no. I doubt we will see something that ambitious proposed again anytime in the near future. The project in its planned incarnation is toast IMO. Considering how things turned out, I suspect Saca will be much more conservative in his future proposals..

[goldcntry]

Exactly arod... Let's see if the Metro gets built, though it does appear to have better footings to stand on then the Towers did. Now I just get to watch the workers backfill dirt in around the retaining walls on the north and east sides of the lot. This leads occasionally to some humor watching this poor worker handle the hose around the lot... she is constantly getting it tangled in various worksite protrusions... she yanks one way... her helmet flys the other way... blonde ponytail unravels... hilarity ensues...

[mechanico]

With the Real Estate market expected to remain in turmoil for the next couple of years will calpers even considering building condos?

[thekid@455]

With CalPers bringing in CIM Group - my assumptions is they are going to try two scaled down versions of Saca's orginal proposal, that is of course minus the Intercontinental Hotel. I personally am not in favor of CIM Group taking over the project, they will not create any type of iconic structure on the site. CalPers is looking to asses their position in the market. With the residential market not able to support the $300+ per sqft cost it takes to build a mixed use project - I doubt we will see anything for 1-2 years.

HanleyWood and several other market reports say we will see a revival of housing in late 09. I can't attest to the truth of those reports - let's home something get's done or else we will have a very large water feature on Capitol Mall.

[quevinh]

I'm a long-time "lurker" who's really enjoyed keeping up to date on the progress (or lack therof) on this project via this forum. I just have to say that if CIM develops ANYTHING at all on this block, Sacramento will be lucky. We're all reading the same news right? We're in the middle of a worldwide financial crisis. This whole sub-prime mortgage collapse isn't just going to go away overnight. Expect years of federal bailouts and debate over how to solve this HUGE problem. I'm surprise anyone is trying to build any type of residential structure anywhere.

[goldcntry]

.... and to add a little sidebar to this truckload o' doom, I'm here (thankfully STILL here) to report that the base of the crane was taken away on Tuesday afternoon. This event also almost became the last event I ever saw: I was almost run over by the big rig carting the segment away. The driver failed to realize (or didn't care) that there was a crosswalk full of people as he made his turn onto N street from 4th (ignoring his stop sign to boot).

[mechanico]

Bob Shallit: Downtown's big hole getting 'aesthetic' facade
By Bob Shallit - Bee Columnist
Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Story appeared in BUSINESS section, Page D4

Print | E-Mail | Comments (3)| Digg it | del.icio.us

There's a flurry of activity at the defunct Towers condo site in downtown Sacramento.

No, the high-rise project at Third and Capitol Mall hasn't been revived. Nor is anything new rising from the site quite yet.

What's under way is stabilizing work on the sidewalks surrounding the site's gaping hole, says Assistant City Manager John Dangberg. Eventually, contractors will put up an "aesthetic" facade around the excavation site and may do some landscaping, Dangberg says.

What's ahead for the prominent corner, where developer John Saca bailed on his vision of building the West Coast's tallest luxury condo building? Dangberg says he's heard that CIM Group of Los Angeles is working on long-term plans with property owner CalPERS, Saca's former partner on the project.

Michael Ault, director of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, also has heard that various alternatives are under review.

"But I don't know if we'll end up with some smaller residential project or whether it will be offices," he says. "But clearly it will be less significant than 53-story (condo) towers."

* * *

Moving on: Downtown's Travelodge Motel, a fixture at 11th and H streets for the past 40 years, has closed suddenly and will be converted to office space.

A spokesman for San Diego-based Westlodge Hospitality, operator of the 80-room inn, says its lease ended Oct. 1 and the land owner -- who was not identified -- plans to put "affordable" offices there.

"There are no plans for (us to open) another Travelodge in Sacramento," says Westlodge operations director Joe Maddux. A Travelodge in Rancho Cordova, operated by a different company, remains open.

Sandy Parker, an owner of the 95-room Best Western Sutter House that sits across from the downtown Travelodge, says the hotel had long been neglected.

"It was a sad property," she says, adding that plans for new office space "will be a nice improvement for the neighborhood."

* * *

Birds of a feather: There was a moment of consternation Sunday when freeway contractor C.C. Myers released two baby owls at his Winchester Country Club as part of a local wildlife rescue program.

The burly Myers took the first owl -- named Sweet Pea -- and gently tossed her into the air. But instead of heading for the nearby trees, as was hoped, the young owl circled around and perched on top of a large, inflated eagle -- the mascot of radio station 96.9 FM, which was covering the event.

Sweet Pea eventually departed -- but only after the eagle was deflated. Sweet Pea's sibling -- Grumpy -- soon joined her. Beth Ruyak, who helped promote the event, reports the two birds eventually settled in one of the nearby pine trees and could be heard whistling to each other late into the night.

* * *

Toy story: An Elk Grove grandmother got a shock this week when she decided to do a little online Christmas shopping.

She went to the Amazon.com Web site, typed in "toys" and started scrolling.

There, among the Fisher-Price Learning Puppies and Disney Co.'s Mack Truck Playsets, was a listing for, well, an electrical device with a decidedly adult purpose.

That listing linked to a page that she says was full of "even more explicit" sex toys.

"At first, I thought, 'No, I must be dreaming,' " says Lissette Almodovar-Kline. Then she grew concerned, worried that her three young grandkids -- or any youngsters -- could easily stumble onto the adult site while innocently looking for kids' toys.

Almodovar-Kline has no problem with sex toys being sold online to adults. But, she notes, such merchandise shouldn't be in a place that's so easily accessed by children.

She suspects Amazon simply made a mistake.

That's sort of what happened, says Amazon spokeswoman Patty Smith.

The offending item does not appear when you go to the company's toy store section, she says. But it does appear if you do a general search under the word "toys," as Almodovar-Kline did.

"That shouldn't happen," Smith says. "We'll be making some tweaks so it doesn't happen again."

[jsf8278]

Well that's nice...So they're going to plant some shrubs and bushes to mask a whole the size of an entire city block.

[RichmondMitch]

That's a funny story that you posted at the end Mechanico


..........
* * *

Toy story: An Elk Grove grandmother got a shock this week when she decided to do a little online Christmas shopping.

She went to the Amazon.com Web site, typed in "toys" and started scrolling.

There, among the Fisher-Price Learning Puppies and Disney Co.'s Mack Truck Playsets, was a listing for, well, an electrical device with a decidedly adult purpose.

That listing linked to a page that she says was full of "even more explicit" sex toys.

"At first, I thought, 'No, I must be dreaming,' " says Lissette Almodovar-Kline. Then she grew concerned, worried that her three young grandkids -- or any youngsters -- could easily stumble onto the adult site while innocently looking for kids' toys.

Almodovar-Kline has no problem with sex toys being sold online to adults. But, she notes, such merchandise shouldn't be in a place that's so easily accessed by children.

She suspects Amazon simply made a mistake.

That's sort of what happened, says Amazon spokeswoman Patty Smith.

The offending item does not appear when you go to the company's toy store section, she says. But it does appear if you do a general search under the word "toys," as Almodovar-Kline did.

"That shouldn't happen," Smith says. "We'll be making some tweaks so it doesn't happen again."[/QUOTE]

[leftopolis]

Originally Posted by quevinh

I'm a long-time "lurker" who's really enjoyed keeping up to date on the progress (or lack therof) on this project via this forum. I just have to say that if CIM develops ANYTHING at all on this block, Sacramento will be lucky. We're all reading the same news right? We're in the middle of a worldwide financial crisis. This whole sub-prime mortgage collapse isn't just going to go away overnight. Expect years of federal bailouts and debate over how to solve this HUGE problem. I'm surprise anyone is trying to build any type of residential structure anywhere.

There's hardly a worldwide financial crisis...it's a US dollar crisis. The US dollar has dropped sharply in the past 5 years vs most worldwide currencies. The housing/ subprime blah-blah-blah is largely a domestic issue as well, and it is not universally gloomy throught the country. In much of the country it's more of a mild slowdown which is expected as real-estate has always been cyclical. Finally, the market for downtown luxury condos is competely different than detached suburban homes--so it's possible to be experiencing a general real estate downturn(as is the case currently in Sacramento), yet still have buyers for downtown condos. San Jose has 4 separate downtown condos under construction(20 floor range approx.), and another 1/2 dozen or so still expected to start next year.

BTW, one of the San Jose projects under cunstruction is a CIM project:Tower 88 at Central Place. While not as stunning as the original plan, imagine this project in it's place but with another 5-10 stories(San Jose's had to stop at 22 due to the airport). I'm confident that CIM will have some preliminary drawings by early next year.

Great pictures from ther builder's website:
http://www.webcor.com/complete.html?proj_id=232

[urban_encounter]

Originally Posted by leftopolis

There's hardly a worldwide financial crisis...it's a US dollar crisis. The US dollar has dropped sharply in the past 5 years vs most worldwide currencies. The housing/ subprime blah-blah-blah is largely a domestic issue as well, and it is not universally gloomy throught the country. In much of the country it's more of a mild slowdown which is expected as real-estate has always been cyclical. Finally, the market for downtown luxury condos is competely different than detached suburban homes--so it's possible to be experiencing a general real estate downturn(as is the case currently in Sacramento), yet still have buyers for downtown condos. San Jose has 4 separate downtown condos under construction(20 floor range approx.), and another 1/2 dozen or so still expected to start next year.

BTW, one of the San Jose projects under cunstruction is a CIM project:Tower 88 at Central Place. While not as stunning as the original plan, imagine this project in it's place but with another 5-10 stories(San Jose's had to stop at 22 due to the airport). I'm confident that CIM will have some preliminary drawings by early next year.

Great pictures from ther builder's website:
http://www.webcor.com/complete.html?proj_id=232

Well stated leftopolis.

I also suspect that CIM and Cal Pers will come forward in the next 12 months with a mixed use proposal.

(Or that's my hope for the 301CM site.)