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

[POGO]

As I understand it, one of the conditions for Saca to receive any more funding from CalPers and any funding at all from the bank loan is that he is required to demonstrate that he has presold at least 50% of the condominiums. He has not met this threshold yet, therefore no more money until he does.

[innov8]

Well Majin, if both the Towers and Aura fall through, I will
be singing a different tune. I will have come to realize that
even with so much excitement and support from the community
in selling out 50% or more of Aura and 13 units away from the towers
meeting that goal before they are even out of the ground yet... this
river city just can't make it happen.

The next opportunity to pull something this large off could be
15 to 20 years from now when investors believe things
have changed or they believe they have the right stuff to make it happen.

Saca’s got the passion to make this happen… I just hope he
get others to see it his way too.

[rtgeisreit]

Magin:
The main issue is the project budget. The budget has to be balanced before all the players commit. If Calpers is on for $100M, bank loan of $375M, Saca equity of say, $25M, this totals $500M. If the project costs total $600M, they are $100M short. Calperrs and the bank are not going to let the proeject out of the ground until the $100M is identified, else the project would get 5/6th complete and run out of cash.

[ltsmotorsport]

Last count was the project costing $500 million. Where'd you get $600 million from?

[sugit]

Double Post

[sugit]

Double Post

[sugit]

The budget was 500M, but the Biz Journal article that came out a few months ago said he was 70M over that.

http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2006/12/04/story5.html

I think rtgeisreit is just using 600M as an example as to why they project is at a standstill, but he is still over.

[sky Mike]

Hi i am the new guy on the board! I wanted to put my two cents in.. I would think that building one of the towers or one 54 story tower and a mini me 20 story would be better then letting the project fall apart Even one 54 story tower in SACTOS skyline would be a very huge thing for Sacramentos skyline!!

[innov8]

welcome sky Mike, but would the five star hotel still want
to be part of a project that is only half of what it use to be?
I would think that many of the people who are invested in
a condo or other wise are buying into an image... I don't
think a mini tower would fit that image. But hay, that's just
my opinion

[foxmtbr]

^ Is the Intercontinental really 5 stars? I thought it was four, but maybe I am wrong...? (hopefully I am)

[urban_encounter]

Originally Posted by ltsmotorsport

Last count was the project costing $500 million. Where'd you get $600 million from?

The new $600 million estimate was also reported on News 10...

But they also said Cal Pers had made no decision yet as to whether or not to commit to addtional funds...

I'm a 'glass half full' kind of guy, so I read that as, they haven't said no....

[ltsmotorsport]

With almost half the units sold (350+) before a foundation has even been poured, and so much having been invested, I would think CalPers has no reason to say 'no'.

[reggiesquared]

2006 domestic real estate investment report.


http://www.calpers.ca.gov/invest/investm...l-estate.asp?report=domestic_real_estate

[brandon12]

^Interesting. Thanks Reggiesquared.

It shows that CALPERS has only released about $9.6M so far.

[reggiesquared]

Originally Posted by brandon12

^Interesting. Thanks Reggiesquared.

It shows that CALPERS has only released about $9.6M so far.

well up until june 30th anyway...

[Dieler]

Originally Posted by reggiesquared

well up until june 30th anyway...

Thanks for posting the link to this report. Very interesting

Any chance you know and could share how much Calpers has invested in the Towers project SINCE 6/30/2006?

[reggiesquared]

i wish i did! ^

[downtownserg89]

any word on when construction is supposed to resume???

[sugit]

D'oh!

Towers project developer defaults on loan
By Mary Lynne Vellinga - Bee Staff Writer

Developer John Saca Wednesday said he has defaulted on a $22 million loan he used to buy the downtown land where he broke ground last year for two 53-story condominium and hotel towers.

The default - the first step in a foreclosure - doesn't necessarily mean the development is dead. Rather, it's a public exposure of the months-long private struggle between Saca and his equity partner in the Towers, the giant California Public Employees' Retirement System - CalPERS.

Construction on the prominent site at Third Street and Capitol Mall stopped in January, leaving a hole in the ground, studded with piles, a few blocks down from the state Capitol.

Nearly 400 buyers have paid deposits on condominiums in the Towers. That money is in a special escrow account and will be refunded if the development collapses.

Saca sent an e-mail Wednesday to all the buyers, assuring them he is "working diligently and doing everything possible to move this forward."

[urban_encounter]

Well I hate to say it, but it looks like 301 CM (Saca's Towers) are gasping their last breath of air. This project is effectively dead unless CalPers steps up to the plate in the next couple of days.

While it wont go down in history as the largest project that (almost) got built, it is a close second.. (The first being Arco Park)...

The most unfortunate thing is that 301 CM will most likely end up being another surface parking lot for another 20 years...