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

[bennywah]

yeah, thats been my other question, about aura. it states its a glass and steel building and just looking at the angles involved i've been wondering if its going to be all concrete, or like tower district/innov8's article point out about the concrete core, steel building? concrete constructed buildings of course use a concrete core because they are all concrete, trump tower chicago, one rincon in sf as examples.

[urban_encounter]

Originally Posted by ltsmotorsport

Freudian slip?

LOL

and for good measure i wont even bother to correct my typo....

[ltsmotorsport]

Good man.

[brandon12]

I was out last night with a friend who works for the concrete company that will pour the pads for the towers and he said his boss told him that the pads will now be poured in May. That would suggest to me that remaining excavation/pile driving etc. would have to resume by sometime in April.
From what my buddy told me, his boss knew a lot about the project and wasn't just pulling a month out of his ass, although I have to take his prediction with a grain of salt since so many things remain to be worked out with financing before construction can resume. Let's just say I have less confidence in this "source" than the other source I referred to last week.

[Los_Lobo]

Originally Posted by brandon12

I was out last night with a friend who works for the concrete company that will pour the pads for the towers and he said his boss told him that the pads will now be poured in May. That would suggest to me that remaining excavation/pile driving etc. would have to resume by sometime in April.
From what my buddy told me, his boss knew a lot about the project and wasn't just pulling a month out of his ass, although I have to take his prediction with a grain of salt since so many things remain to be worked out with financing before construction can resume. Let's just say I have less confidence in this "source" than the other source I referred to last week.

Thanks for the inside info, Brandon. I'm always glad to hear of plans for the project moving forward, and I think May would be a lovely month for a cement pour.

[urban_encounter]

Originally Posted by brandon12

I was out last night with a friend who works for the concrete company that will pour the pads for the towers and he said his boss told him that the pads will now be poured in May. That would suggest to me that remaining excavation/pile driving etc. would have to resume by sometime in April.
From what my buddy told me, his boss knew a lot about the project and wasn't just pulling a month out of his ass, although I have to take his prediction with a grain of salt since so many things remain to be worked out with financing before construction can resume. Let's just say I have less confidence in this "source" than the other source I referred to last week.

As the clock continues to tiick, there's still been no announcement that a new equity partner has been identified.

Most of you know how badly I want to see Sacramento prosper and how badly I want to see Saca succeed with the Towers. But objectively speaking, this just isn't going to pencil out...

Plus as Mike already pointed out...........

Originally Posted by innov8

I believe the Towers have to top out by May of next year so that contracts signed with condo owners don't have the option
to bail out. Man, to do that at this stage, work would have to happen at the
site 16 to 18 hours a day. And because the foundation is not done ,floors
would have rise at a rate on 1.5 a week.

On a project that has seen cost estimates escalate from a $400 million to $600 (+) million, I would imagine that the the additional costs associated with trying to match such an aggressive construction deadline, will push that figure well above $600 million...

The contracts are as good as void, because there is virtually no chance that they can pour the foundation in May of 2007 and have the Towers topped out in May of 2008.. None!

Things are not looking good for the Towers and perhaps that is part of Cal Pers plan; to delay the project long enough that contracts will not be worth the paper they're written on, thus killing the project.

[brandon12]

^wow Urban! So pessimistic. We'll just have to wait and see...

[brandon12]

deleted

[brandon12]

deleted

[Grimnebulin]

Originally Posted by brandon12

don't click on that one either. I'm doomed.

just look http://postcardsbargain.com/clip.html

Doomed! Let's hope you can fix it.

If you haven't used it already, try AVG Free 7.5 - it's a very good anti-virus program. Plus you may as well run Spybot and Ad-Aware SE too while you're at it. PM me if you need some help...I've done a bit of virus fighting over the last few years.

[Fusey]

I've been using NOD32 for about a year now and never had an issue with a virus. It's much better than anything else I've ever used before (Norton, Mcafee, Zone Alarm, etc.).

[POGO]

Originally Posted by urban_encounter

On a project that has seen cost estimates escalate from a $400 million to $600 (+) million, I would imagine that the the additional costs associated with trying to match such an aggressive construction deadline, will push that figure well above $600 million...

The contracts are as good as void, because there is virtually no chance that they can pour the foundation in May of 2007 and have the Towers topped out in May of 2008.. None!

Things are not looking good for the Towers and perhaps that is part of Cal Pers plan; to delay the project long enough that contracts will not be worth the paper they're written on, thus killing the project.

I agree 100% with Urban up until he implies that CalPers has some diabolical plot up their sleeve to ruin this project. I don't think the problem with the project is CalPers, it is Saca. CalPers has the money, its up to Saca to meet his contract obligations and committments before they release any more money. He needs to sell the units he said he could sell, and demonstrate that he has the staff, the experience, and the knowhow to bring this project to fruition within budget. Therein lies the problem.

[innov8]

The Dooms Sayers are out in force today... there must be the low pressure system over the area

POGO wants this project to fail... he speaks the same way when AURA is the topic.

[sugit]

Originally Posted by urban_encounter

The contracts are as good as void, because there is virtually no chance that they can pour the foundation in May of 2007 and have the Towers topped out in May of 2008.. None!

Correct me if I am wrong, but the contracts are not void come May 2008 if they don't top out, buyers simply have the option to back out of the purchase. That doens't mean all the buyers going to do that either, I'm sure there will be some that will, but I'm sure most of the few buyers that aren't counting the days down until they can get their money back, but instead are counting the days down until they can move in.

[brandon12]

Saca has two years from the time that each contract is signed (plus an additional day for every rain day or other "act of God" type delay). I was the second person to sign a contract, so that means I would be able to opt out by about August of 2008. Somebody who signed on Jan 1, 2007 wouldn't be able to opt out until about April 09.
In other words, all 400 contracts won't expire on May 1, 2008.

I wouldn't worry about everyone trying to get their money back. Sure some will want to, but once this thing starts coming out of the ground and certainly by the time it's the tallest building in Sacramento, others will get off the fence and buy in.

I'm not worried at all.

[arod74]

Originally Posted by sugit

I'm sure most of the few buyers that aren't counting the days down until they can get their money back, but instead are counting the days down until they can move in.

I agree with you sugit. I think most people who have deposits down are already sold on the lifestyle. As long as they see progress towards completion they will stay with the project. Sure its easy to walk away in frustration when you have a hole in the ground but when you see 2 towers going up and the synergy builds from having the project go vertical I think most people will stick with it. We tend to be sheep-like by nature.

[sugit]

Even better, thanks Brandon. That should put to bed all this talk about May 08 being doomsday.

[innov8]

Thanks Brandon, that clarifies things much more. I guess
when you and Los Lobos signed contracts, it was said that
the towers time line was that it should top out by May 07'.
But that's a deadline for your contract, not everyone’s.

Good to hear

[foxmtbr]

Yeah, we just need progress and rising steel by May '08 to assure the buyers that their product is certainly on its way.

[urban_encounter]

Originally Posted by brandon12

^wow Urban! So pessimistic. We'll just have to wait and see...

And with my apologies Brandon.

You certainly have a vested interest in seeing the Towers succeed, but I can honestly say that I don't believe that there's anybody on this forum that has any more passion for seeing Sacramento propser than me. The idea of a vibrant downtown that serves as the region's transportation, cultural and entertainment center was a dream of mine when i was a kid. (You've heard the story)...

Listen, it absolutely kills me that I'm forced to O B J E C T I V E L Y agree with some of the 'naysayers'. But nobody can say that I haven't believed in this proejct from the beginning, nor can they say that I haven't supported this project while it worked it's way through the city design review and planning commission meetings. Granted there are some people here that have poured cold water on this project, and are probably glad that it has hit a brick wall. I assure you though I'm not one of those people.



Currently the facts are...

• Saca has liens filed against him totaling $35 million

• He has an equity partner that wants their $25 million (Plus a return on their investment)

• The construction budget has escalated 50% (+) since it was first proposed.

• He's gone through (I think it's 3) contractors???

• Sales have slowed considerably over the past 6 months (granted I believe they will go up should construction commence again)..

Brandon, you know that I highly respect you and value your opinion.
But the problems facing Saca aren't just pessimism on my part. They represent the facts as to where this project currently is.