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

[innov8]

More under highrises...

[Sudden Valley]

Originally Posted by kryptos

lol...

how do they take a luxury condo / hotel development, and a new sports arena as equaling new crime? I cant remember the last time i heard of a person who can stay buy a luxury condo out doing street robberies, drug dealings and drive-bys...RIDICULOUS...

heres a plan...you want less crime? bulldoze Oak Park

Rebuild Oak Park.

[Trojan]

Even if you rebuild Oak Park, the people there now will still be there, and if you say, well they can move, then where are they going to move? Elk Grove, other areas of town?

[econgrad]

New Here..somewhat. I have lived in Sac for most of my life, lived in a few other cities as well like: SF, LA and NYC. I have been reading as much as I can from all the threads relating to the city and its new renaissance (construction, development) and find it simply amazing! I also read the nay sayers or negative comments about the new developments. I strongly believe that Sacramento has not developed in so long, and now all this is beginning that many of the people who have lived here just got used to Sacramento not changing and are simply afraid of the changes or feel compelled to critique it. Comments that include crime and new construction are a perfect example. I think (or hope) as Sacramento becomes more and more developed into more of a city, the nay sayers will be diluted. I just hope the arena tax passes....

[Sudden Valley]

Originally Posted by Trojan

Even if you rebuild Oak Park, the people there now will still be there, and if you say, well they can move, then where are they going to move? Elk Grove, other areas of town?

When you get rebuilding, new development and infill, you get an increased local tax base, which means you get better local schools, producing more citizens who have better jobs and who are able to become homeowners and desire to participate in civic affairs. Crime eventually lessens as the number of people who feel a sense of hope and purpose outnumber the disenfranchised. Oak Park used to be a vital area, with rows of houses, restaurants, theatres and retail. Then the nationwide middle- and upper class move toward Suburbia away from city centers (taking tax base with it), and the building of the freeways in the 60's which cut Oak Park off from what used to be one contiguous down- and midtown, took their toll. Freeways are always a major chasm across which the revitalization of one side (in this case midtown-downtown) slows in its expansion. The decline of Oak Park didn't happen instantly, and bringing it back won't either. As far as "the people there" I know lots of great people who live in Oak Park, and I plan to buy a house there within the year.

[Trojan]

I drive through Oak Park everyday to go to school and certain parts of Oak Park are getting better.. The city bought, and closed two markets in Oak Park, which are going to be torn down and used for housing projects. North of Broadway, Oak Park is starting to shape up, but south of Broadway it doesn't look very good... Also, I noticed that MANY houses/lots are for sale and who knows, maybe in 5-10 years, Oak Park will be the old ghetto that is "THE" area to live in.

[kryptos]

what the city should do is make oak park a liquor store free zone...no alcohol sales within the confines of oak park, then start making slumlords clean up their property and clean the streets, and those that purposely dont comply should have their property seized by eminent domain....

I heard thats how the cleaned up G-Parkway in south sac

[econgrad]

Drove by Aura and The Towers tonight after clubbin! It's going to be so different having them there....

Is this an Oak Park thread too?

[kryptos]

Originally Posted by econgrad

Drove by Aura and The Towers tonight after clubbin! It's going to be so different having them there....

Is this an Oak Park thread too?

well lets see....is this an "aura" thread either?

[econgrad]

I meant uh....the aura that surrounds the new towers...yeah...thats it....thats what I meant!

[innov8]

[Phillip]

Does the real estate slowdown around Sacramento have implications for this project? There was so much enthusiasm for Saca Tower here a month ago and two months ago. This thread has turned "quiet".

[enigma99a]

Originally Posted by Phillip

Does the real estate slowdown around Sacramento have implications for this project? There was so much enthusiasm for Saca Tower here a month ago and two months ago. This thread has turned "quiet".

Even with the real estate slowdown, this project has been selling fine. The downtown market is really stong as people from the burbs get tired of paying $3-4 a gallon. (And huge commute time)

[mechanico]

I haven't seen a press release or an article on any of the big projects in a long time.When was the last time you heard anything at all on the Aura project? With all the sky is falling hype floating around you would think these developers would say something. The Sac Bee keeps giving reports on Condo projects that aren't doing well, Saca should stop this nonsense by showing the projects with substance are doing great.

[brandon12]

I was in the sales office last week and saw that the availability has shrank rather dramatically, even just since the official groundbreaking party. I would be surprised if the building isn't 60% sold now.

[mechanico]

I was looking at one of the pictures posted here, Is it all above ground parking in these buildings?That is, are first levels parking? How much parking will be added?

[ltsmotorsport]

Originally Posted by brandon12

I was in the sales office last week and saw that the availability has shrank rather dramatically, even just since the official groundbreaking party. I would be surprised if the building isn't 60% sold now.

I'm sure a big part of that is cause people can HEAR the progress being made, and stopping by to see what it's all about.

[innov8]

A look at the present... dreaming about the future

[Phillip]

I was a disbeliever at the start. When the financing fell into place, the deposits started rolling in, and especially when the cranes went up and the piledrivers went to work I converted and became a believer.

But I was only a believer for a month. Now I'm a doubter again.

60% sold was a solid foundation for building this a year or two ago. But is it a solid foundation today? So many things have changed in Sacramento so quickly. How many of those 60% were going to pay with proceeds from a house sale in Granite Bay or El Dorado or somewhere in the Bay? Every homeowner in California is poorer today than they were a month or two ago. Where's the bottom? So much uncertainty. Some of those 60% have got to be second guessing.

60% sold means 40% not sold. That's over 300 units. What if they don't sell? What will happen to values of the other 60%? Is there a basis for thinking that when values are falling in every Sacramento neighborhood and suburb that this one building won't be touched?

I'd feel better about Saca Tower if I was seeing posts from people who decided to make deposits in the last month, after the sizzle from the grand opening parties wore off. Or if more posters who were chatting about their unit selections in this thread a month ago were still here reaffirming their confidence and commitment today.

I'd feel better about Saca Tower if it looked like the Stadium initiatives were going to pass in November. Prospects look dim. Will people move Downtown to live near an empty railyard site where a new Kings stadium was once proposed? What about to live near a new Target (maybe)?

The big item that flipped me back to nonbeliever status though was last week's Bee article about poor sales at the 500 N condos. They're two blocks from Saca. It's a different price point but the same neighborhood. 500 N is ready for movein and people won't pay $350G to live there. (Although it did just fine as $1000/month rentals.) There's no apparent spillover excitement about being near the Saca Tower, or being part of this "new urban neighborhood".

It makes me wonder how deep Sacramento's "Back to Downtown" movement really is. If any building in Downtown/Midtown was ripe for being a successful condo conversion it was 500 N. Capitol Towers at 7th and N looks to have a lot of vacancies too, especially in the two-story villas. Most of the "Back to Downtown" excitement seems to be for living near the restaurants and clubs along 15th and 16th.

I'm not a stakeholder in Saca Tower's success or failure and I'm not hoping to see it fail. But I have to admit I'm still having trouble believing it can work, even as I watch the piles going down.

Anyone want to try and make a believer of me again?

[innov8]

Well, 60% sold is by design. They at the Towers sales
office are selling the condos in phases, this will happen
through out the two years while building of the towers.
Phase four is next, then five and so on. Reading the Bee
does not give you a true perspective... try reading the
Sac Biz Journal to get a more in-depth view of the whole
situation. Have you been to 500 N street? I have and I
was not impressed. They did a half-ass job converting
the apartments into condos. The workman ship was not good.

Right now the real estate market in DT is good... if you go
to Natomas there are 450 homes on the market. Two
totally different worlds and many people are now choosing
to move DT.

You can "what if" about anything… nothings certain, but nearly
a billion dollars are being spent on Capitol Mall alone in
development, and if you count the rest of mid-town and
DT were talking close to 5 billion. To much is happening
from so many different people in DT how can you not invest?