Quote:
Originally Posted by CAGeoNerd
Indeed, I'd like to see some larger buildings and office space and a hotel go up, especially in a prime location like that. But down by the Barn that area continues to get built, if it all fills in with 4-5-story buildings with hopefully an anchor or two mid-high rise it will be a nice area contrasting Sac.
Realistically, what gets done in TBD is really dependent more on what happens in Sac. If Sac isn't building and filling up, TBD isn't going to.
|
Just a quick reply to many of the posts here with this general theme:
West Sacramento is still an unproven market for high-density, urban-style housing.
You can have all the "vision" in the world, but it means nothing unless you can get your project funded.
All negotiations really come down to one thing, shifting of risk and while everyone's math is the same, it's the degree of risk they're willing to assume that dictates funding. Major funding institutions cost 4.75-6.5% (Prime+) are the most risk-adverse and do not exactly embrace out-of-the-box thinking. They also typically limit their funding to a percentage of hard costs, which typically leaves a sizable gap between total project costs and loan amount.
Lenders that will fund less conventional projects ("Hard" money) cost more, often 8-11%. Money that expensive cuts into what you can spend on the project.
The result of this constant battle between vision and funding all too often results in watered-down projects, and I think you're seeing that in West Sacramento.
A prime example of that is the large complex at the corner of 3rd and Capitol (Can't remember the name off-hand). Hard to beat that location, but the project itself is utterly mundane, typical suburban style apartments with some minor touches to give it a tiny semblance of "urban" living.
It would fit right in in Natomas, Roseville or Elk Grove, but it's a shame to waste this prime site on so prosaic a project. My guess is that the development team originally had something far more "urban" in mind...
And please note hotels are even harder to fund, often requiring 40% or more in equity.
Once you get above five floors or so, construction costs simply skyrocket, so I think this is going to be the cap in West Sac for awhile. And you can't overstate West Sacramento's generations-long reputation as a less-than-desirable place to live. Much of the effort for developers is educating lenders that this is not your grandfather's West Sac.
The good news is that all the fundamentals are in place: superb location, promising lifestyle (what you're really selling), growing workforce with growing incomes, immigration from expensive locales who don't blink too hard at $2.75 and up/sf.
Bad news is that like most cities in California, West Sac still sees development as the city's ATM, and that will keep things expensive for developer, builder and resident, often prohibitively so.
So be patient, but push for excellence. We're already seeing the slow metamorphosis is Sacramento proper with more 8-11 story projects are replacing the 3-5 stories scale of the recent past.
With the caveat of course that the economy must stay strong, good things will happen, if not as quickly as we would all like.
Prev
Obviously it's a preliminary rendering for media consumption and not accurately displaying how the thing will look in context. Brings up the question though about Riverwalk and whether they plan to significantly alter it to accommodate the hotel/condo. Will have to wait for site plan/more details. As for height? Rather have this than an empty lot for another 15 years. Besides the site is designated for a hotel and the hotel industry has changed a lot. Getting a partner that will help finance a tall hotel that far away from the convention center just wasn't a reasonable expectation imo. After all Sacramento isn't a major tourist destination.
Linear Mode
