Sacramento Proposal/Approval/Construction Thread - III

[wburg]

Moving the proposal thread back from the past into the future...I'm surprised I missed this last week, but it definitely relates to downtown construction. The sale of the lot from the city to SHRA, using redevelopment funds, was approved last Thursday.

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1138598.html

UC Davis students envision apartment project as low-energy oasis
By Mary Lynne Vellinga - [email protected]
Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, August 7, 2008
Story appeared in OUR REGION section, Page B2



The apartment design that UC Davis MBA students proposed was honored by Bank of America.
RYAN BARR


A group of UC Davis MBA students wants to do more than just house the poor: They envision transforming a building near the Sacramento County jail into a sun- and wind-powered oasis.

It remains to be seen whether their ambitious ideas will make it into final plans for a single-room occupancy apartment complex at Seventh and H streets.

But the UC Davis students already have received a Low-Income Housing Challenge award from Bank of America, an honor that usually goes to universities with architecture schools.

The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency proposes to build 150 to 200 single-room apartments on the site of Sacramento's former police crime lab. It's part of the city's effort to bolster its supply of one-room units for the very poor. That supply has dwindled as SRO hotels have been torn down or converted to other uses.

Today, the Sacramento City Council is scheduled to approve using $3.4 million in downtown housing bond funds for SHRA to buy the property and demolish the existing building.

SHRA then plans to solicit developer proposals. Mercy Housing, which worked with the UC Davis team, plans to apply.

"We're going to take their work product as the jumping off point for our proposal," said Chris Glaudel, vice president of asset management for Mercy Housing.

The UC Davis team was led by Amy Barr, who graduated from the MBA program this year. Barr said she and five fellow team members tried to create an "icon" that would improve life for low-income residents while using the latest in green technology.

The team recruited Barr's husband, Ryan, who works for McCandless & Associates Architects in Woodland.

He created an eight-story, glass-clad design that provides lots of natural light and includes a perforated concrete wall to provide separation from what he described as the "negative influences" of the nearby jail.

Wind turbines and solar panels would provide much of the power needed to run the building. Residents could gather at the upstairs garden, a central courtyard and a third- floor patio. A cafe would operate on the ground floor.

Diane Luther, assistant director of SHRA, said the agency is seeking to provide residents with much more than a bed. The UC Davis students have proposed round-the-clock mental health services on site, as well as a community kitchen, computer lab and job placement service.

Mayor Heather Fargo said the city is looking to a project in Portland, Ore., called 8 NW 8th, as a model.

"They've done an amazing job with their hotels in Portland, both with historic ones they've redone and new ones they've built."

In 2006, the City Council adopted a plan that called for development of 200 efficiency apartments downtown. Luther said the number of SRO hotel rooms – housing of last resort for many people who would otherwise be homeless – has fallen from about 2,000 two decades ago to 712 at the time the plan was adopted.

[econgrad]

Originally Posted by arod74

Your welcome . And from my regular perusing of the posts, I think your claim of being "about even" with wburg on fact checking to be a bit of revisionist view on your part..

This sounds more like a revisionist view of the posts now.

[Pistola916]

Whoa. thats an interesting design...That design could have been used for a museum, a public library, or for one of midtown's luxury lofts but for an SRO??? Now thats pretty sleek. I like it though.

[arod74]

Yeah as SRO's go that is a pretty sweet setup. It looks better than the places most of the people I know live. Smart move putting it up next to the jail, no neighbors to scream about building in their backyard.

[ltsmotorsport]

I don't get it; they talk about demolishing a building for this project, but also say it's at 7th and H, and all that's there is an empty lot. I really hope they aren't gonna tear down that great looking old building across 6th from the federal courthouse. That would be a shame.

best i could find

[wburg]

itsmotorsport: The corner in your pic is 6th and H, the great old building is the old Hall of Justice. Trust me, if they were talking about demolishing that, you would have heard me blow my top already. The proposed SRO site is a block away.

In the pic you posted, just to the left of the substation electronics, the very southwest corner of the building to be demolished is visible.

Regardless of how the building ends up looking, these SRO units are going to be around 150-200 sf per unit, basically a room with a kitchenette and a bathroom.

[ozone]

I hope things move forward on the SRO. I do support modern, clean and well-run SROs. I don't support downtown flop hotels in buildings owned by slumlords. Anything to get no-incomers off K Street.

BTW I will agree that acronyms are very much overused -or stupid as the blue tron pointed out. I hate them. When I typed them I knew that someone would have to say somthing about them. Though I would not go so far as to say we are "lucky" to have such Mexicali sounding names as Poverty Ridge (my old hood) or Alkali Flats.

[ltsmotorsport]

Thanks for clearing that up wburg. I didn't think it was the case, but the article wasn't very clear as to what corner of 7th and H it was gonna be on, and how large a footprint it would have.

Speaking of the empty lot next to the jail; are there or has there ever been any plans for it? Seems like a good place for a new downtown police hq, or maybe even combine that with a new county center (to replace the old crowded one across the street). I assume the county owns that land?

[sugit]

http://www.cityofsacramento.org/econdev/...c-Development-Newsletter_August-2008.pdf

Interesting, on page 1 is says that Broadway Lofts received 4.4M in State funding.

That's the first I've even heard they were looking, or even in the running, for something like that.

Anyone heard anything new about this one?

[Majin]

Broadway does need some major help. I wish the city would put some money into completely redoing the entire broadway corridor (sidewalks, landscaping, and median). Sadly right now after the money the city put into the Del Paso Blvd strip looks a hell of a lot better than Broadway.

[innov8]

Approval was given on July 31st to demolish the 424 L Street building for a
new parking lot. They did not say when the process would start.

http://www.cityofsacramento.org/dsd/meet...r/2008/documents/ZA_MINUTES_07-31-08.pdf

Also, TowerDistrict, I noticed today that a house at the corner of Burnett and Freeport
was getting demolished... what's the plan for that corner?

[wburg]

Oh boy, more parking lots!

That building has some symbolic value...it was the first private building constructed for the "redevelopment" of the Capitol Mall area back in the sixties. When it was built, it was hailed as the first wave of a bustling, urban central city, free of "blight" and filled with busy pedestrian malls and high-rise condo living, connected to the suburbs with a great new superhighway. Now it's just another future hole in the ground.

[innov8]

Originally Posted by wburg

That building has some symbolic value...

Why aren’t you raising hell tring to save this has-been of a building?
Why doesn’t it meet your criteria for preservation wberg?

[sugit]

Via the Permit Manager on the city website, it looks like it's going to serve as a parking lot for the 455 Capitol Mall building. Once that happens, I can't imagine that is going to change anytime in the near future.

[Majin]

Why in the world would you ever intentionally build a parking lot?

[tronblue]

Hey all, I got some great plans for the old site of Cap towers. Lets put in an in and out burger joint and use the rest of the lot for parking. Better yet lets tear up the strip of weeds on Cap mall and turn that into parking. While we are at it, who else has some stupid ideas for land use that go agianst a walk/bike/transit friendly city. why? I'm so sick of parking lots and parking garages. Even though I used to use them for skating, but you can't really do that anymore without being harassed. But that is beside the point and I'm too old for that anyway. Why build something in 2008 that is not multi use through out the day. Its pathetic that people in Sacramento will pay 5 bucks + for parking at night. Just walk, there is plenty of parking through out downtown. The average waistline needs it.

[tronblue]

Hey Majin, it looks like he left his Phone number. Why not give him a personal call and find out why he would "intentionally" build a parking lot. This guy needs some nimby grief.


Jamie Broker, Planner, 916-808-1928

[innov8]

Jamie Broker is a Junior Planner with the Zoning Administrator for the City of
Sacramento... so calling him would do no good.

That lot will be prime for development when the next wave of proposals comes
around again. That place has been broken into numerous times and I'm sure is
a big liability, so it might be in the owners best interest to remove it instead of
watching it go to crap since it has no historical reference... I won't miss it

[sugit]

Originally Posted by tronblue

Its pathetic that people in Sacramento will pay 5 bucks + for parking at night. Just walk, there is plenty of parking through out downtown. The average waistline needs it.

I feel the same way. I never understood people paying $5 to park, when they can park 2 blocks away and walk. It's not like walking a couple blocks after a big ass meal and drinks won't do you a little good.

I personally think the walk from my place and back is half the fun...to each his own though.

Also, I have to think the state garage on 17th and Capitol Ave that the city is running and charging $2 to park is eating into surface lots operators money in the midtown area popular areas. On 2nd Saturdays, that thing has a line wrapped down the block to get in, and seem busy every weekend as well. I'd love to hear if there has been anything recent about that.

Hopefully this encourages them to starting looking at developing the property, esp that 16th and J corner lot (both of them).

[Fusey]

Originally Posted by innov8

I won't miss it

Same here. A parking lot would look better than that building, anyways.