Development

Big plans for River District

2011-02-16T06:21:01Z

Major changes are in store for the city’s River District, as the Sacramento City Council approved a set of future development plans Tuesday night.

The planning documents set a path for development of the area over the next 25 years, according to a report from city staff. The city’s plans for the River District, a 773-acre swath between the Sacramento Railyards and the American River, focus on ramping up residential, commercial, office and hotel development and moving away from industrial development.

Council members approved the plans in a 8-0 vote. Mayor Kevin Johnson did not attend the City Council meeting because he was out of town, said Johnson spokesman Joaquin McPeek.

The city wants to remodel the River District area into a “transit-oriented mixed use urban environment,” according to the Feb. 15 city staff report. The refashioned district would feature 8,144 homes, 3.9 million square feet of office space, 854,000 square feet of retail and wholesale, 1.4 million square feet of light industrial and thousands of hotel units, according to the report.

The plans would be a major change from the district’s current developments, which are mostly industrial.

City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby praised city staff’s development plans for the River District, noting that planned projects for the area would involve redevelopment funding. Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed disbanding redevelopment agencies and using redevelopment money on other local services. The city hopes to use $25 million in redevelopment funds on the River District in the future.

“One thing I do want to point out is that this is a really great example of why cities need to have control of ... redevelopment dollars,” Ashby said. “These are exactly the types of gems and pearls we’re trying to bring into our cities.”

Infrastructure upgrades, public resources and administrative costs for the River District remodel over the next 25 years will cost an estimated $323 million, according to the report. Fees paid by developers would cover $180 million of the amount.

If Brown throws out redevelopment agencies, work on the plans will slow, said Rachel Hazlewood, a senior project manager for the city’s Economic Development Department.

In addition to development, the city is also designating nine sites in the area as historical landmarks and setting up a North 16th Street Historic District. Sites that will be identified as historical landmarks include the PG&E Sacramento River Power Station at 400 Jibboom St. and Fire Station No. 14 at 1341 N. C St.

Read the city staff report here.

View River District Landmarks in a larger map

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

City Council gives final approval to Curtis Park Village

2010-09-29T05:32:29Z

The Sacramento City Council on Tuesday night unanimously gave final approval to the contentious Curtis Park Village project, which had drawn criticism from many Curtis Park neighbors.

Councilwoman Lauren Hammond, who represents Curtis Park in District 5, expressed her satisfaction with the project’s conclusion by singing the words: “This is it.”

Developer Paul Petrovich’s Curtis Park Village has raised concerns among neighbors because it involves the cleanup and development of a contaminated area.

A Sept. 28 report from city staff noted that the project could include 259,000 square feet of commercial and office space, 527 residences and a 6.8-acre park.

Rosanna Herber, president of the Sierra Curtis Park Neighborhood Association, said earlier in the meeting that the association may weigh whether to sue over the project. However, she appeared to be satisfied with the City Council’s final legal language regarding the project and said after the hearing that the association is not planning to sue.

“I think it’s very unlikely that we will sue with the added amendments,” Herber said after the hearing. She noted that the project is acceptable as long as there will be no toxins under the project’s proposed park.

Herber said she will be paying close attention to upcoming findings from the state Department of Toxic Substances Control on toxins that are found at the site. She said she is “still holding her breath” until DTSC makes its determination on the toxins.

Staff reporter Suzanne Hurt contributed to this report. Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Photo by Brandon Darnell.

West Sac mayor champions major development projects

2010-04-01T03:03:21Z

Christopher Cabaldon is at the helm of an evolving city. The West Sacramento mayor said the city should be a place where families can raise children, but also a spot where young people want to be.

City leaders are taking a positive view of developing West Sacramento, he said.

“We’re not one of those cities that has a no-growth faction on the City Council and a growth faction,” Cabaldon said. “Everyone believes that there’s a lot of potential. The shape and pace of growth is always a question everywhere, and that’s true in West Sacramento as well.”

In one major example of West Sacramento’s growth, the City Council in February approved a 386-unit housing project that will be located in the city’s Bridge District at the riverfront.

The housing project is part of West Sacramento's plan to eventually bring housing and commercial development to 188 acres that make up the Bridge District. The development project could span 12 million square feet, a city staff report said.

Cabaldon, 44, is a single and openly gay leader who said he enjoys urban nightlife. As someone who is not married with children, his perspective is useful because the city and region are trying to attract creative people and young people, he said in a March 24 interview.

He credits recent Sacramento growth for paving the way in West Sacramento.

“Sacramento has changed dramatically, particularly in Midtown, and to some extent in downtown, over the last decade," Cabaldon said.

The Sacramento growth in the central city means that West Sacramento's Waterfront and West Capitol Avenue have potential, he said. "Because it's already been proven that this region can support and make successful that kind of development," he said.

Cabaldon said West Sacramento wants to make major upgrades to its downtown.

The city’s downtown is ripe for development, according to Cabaldon, because it “never really existed.”

Cabaldon said he wants the city’s future downtown to be walkable — a place where people can buy flowers and bump into people they know.

“We want to grow and create a real urban, but small-town downtown,” he said.

At the same time, the city is focusing on practical development projects, such as levee upgrades , said West Sacramento City Councilman Oscar Villegas.

The city is working on strengthening its levees to meet federal 200-year flood protection standards, Villegas said. The levee work is useful in the city’s efforts to bring in businesses, homebuilders and commerce, he said.

West Sacramento will have a competitive advantage when it can tell companies that may move to the city that the levees are secured, Villegas said.

Meanwhile, the city also wants to make subtle upgrades in its historic Bryte and Broderick neighborhoods, Cabaldon said.

“In the Bridge District, I’m trying to get ... $100 million for infrastructure,” Cabaldon said. “In Broderick, it’s just as important to find somebody to open up a cool, independent coffee house with some couches that local neighbors can sit around and gossip with each other at. There aren’t that many places like that.”

Image of developer Mark Friedman's planned 386-unit West Sacramento housing development courtesy of Friedman and the Fulcrum Property Group.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Local agency backs developer's plan to build in Alkali Flat

2010-03-03T05:48:41Z

A San Francisco development firm hopes to start work this year on a $28 million housing and commercial project at a downtown Sacramento location. The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency has struggled with the proposed project's site for years.

Domus Development wants to build commercial buildings, parking and affordable housing in the space between D and E Streets bordered by 12th Street. More affordable housing would be built at the other site of the project, between the C Street Alley and D Street at 12th Street.

Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency staffers are strongly supporting the project.

SHRA officials note in a March 2 report that the agency and three separate development groups have tried and failed to improve the site for more than 18 years. “As a result, the site remains vacant and unimproved,” the report states.

The site of the project is contaminated and will be cleaned, said Meea Kang, the president of Domus Development who is also affiliated with the 12th Street Partners L.P. partnership.

“These sites have been vacant for about 20 years,” Kang said, adding that the project will bring “new life to the area.”

At this point, Domus Development is working to pull together financing for the project, Kang said.

None of the funding for the project would come from the city’s general fund, said Christine Weichert, SHRA's assistant director of housing and community development.

The SHRA report says the project between D and E Streets would incorporate 63 affordable apartments, 5,000 square feet for commercial use, a property management office, a 1,300-square-foot cafe, a 2,000-square-foot community room and parking for cars and bicycles.

That part of the project will be near the Alkali Flat/La Valentina Light Rail Station.

Domus Development also wants to build 18 affordable town homes between the C Street Alley and D Street.

There would be environmentally friendly elements in the project, including energy-efficient operations, rooftop photovoltaic solar panels and solar water heaters, according to the SHRA report.

Read SHRA’s report on the proposed project here.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Building industry balks at city's fee proposal

2010-03-02T06:53:31Z

Representatives from the building sector are fighting a proposal from the city to charge developers fees for transportation-related construction.

City staffers said that Sacramento must address how the city’s transportation infrastructure will be affected by population growth. The fees would partly pay for upgrades to infrastructure, according to the plan created by city staffers and consultants.

But developers voiced their opposition to the idea at a Monday meeting of the city’s Development Oversight Commission. The commission examines development in Sacramento and presents its views to the City Council.

“We cannot afford this right now,” said Matt Hedges, public affairs director for the Sacramento Builders’ Exchange. “There’s absolutely no way. We’re going out of business left and right.”

Dennis Rogers, senior vice president of governmental and public affairs for the North State Building Industry Association, said he hoped for a discussion of all cost structures associated with all kinds of development. The transportation fee proposal is being made in a “vacuum,” he said.

Meanwhile, a consultant for the city said the fees proposal is an investment program. Transportation infrastructure supports future economic development, said Robert Spencer, the consultant from the firm Urban Economics. “This is not about stifling growth,” he said.

Developers of single-family homes, apartment buildings and retail stores would pay the fees.

Hotels and motels, offices, industrial buildings, schools and churches would also be covered under the proposed fee plan.

“The purpose of an impact fee is to fund new development’s fair share of additional infrastructure and public facilities,” according to a March 1 report from the city’s Department of Transportation.

City representatives presented a breakdown of how the fees would be calculated for development in many parts of the city, with some exceptions. The fee for a single-family home would be $6,251, according to the presentation from Willdan Financial Services, which is consulting with the city on the fee program.

The fee for each multi-family residence under 10 stories in height would be $3,572.

For retail buildings, developers would pay $8,427 per 1,000 square feet. Constructing an office building would involve a transportation fee of $10,213 per 1,000 square feet.

All parts of the city are covered by these figures with the exceptions of North Natomas, Delta Shores and the River District, the railyards and Downtown, according to the presentation.

A different fee schedule is proposed for North Natomas, Delta Shores and the River District, the railyards and Downtown, Spencer said at the meeting.

Projects built close to light rail stations and affordable housing will qualify for discounted fees, according to the report.

An option that city staffers are placing before the City Council is to increase the fees over a period of three or four years.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Hundreds of homes to be built at West Sac's riverfront

2010-02-23T05:27:23Z

It's a big hunk of a triangular-shaped pie. West Sacramento city officials want a large piece of a planned 12-million square foot development to move ahead.

City leaders decided last week to back a 386-unit housing project that will be led by Sacramento developer Mark Friedman.

Friedman’s project is part of a much larger development being planned for West Sacramento. The city plans to eventually transform a 188-acre expanse into a development project that could cover 12-million square feet, according to a Feb. 17 report written by West Sacramento city staff.

The 386 homes will be built at the city’s riverfront in the Bridge District, according to the report.

In the past, the Bridge District was called the Triangle District.

“This is a long-term development plan that we’re starting now,” West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon said in an interview Monday. “Virtually everyone that lives around here knows that the Riverfront is our area’s greatest untapped asset.”

Cabaldon said he thinks Friedman’s homes will attract buyers despite the dismal economy. He said that young homebuyers, and buyers who are downsizing to smaller homes, would be interested in moving to the Bridge District to be close to attractions such as restaurants, shops and theaters.

The West Sacramento City Council unanimously approved Friedman’s project at its Feb. 17 meeting.

Friedman's company, Fulcrum Property, owns Arden Fair Mall in Sacramento.

Friedman said in an interview that he is putting $100 million toward the development and plans to start construction on the homes next spring. He used the words “green” and “smart” to describe the project.

“It has unobstructed views of the water,” he said, as well as views of Sacramento’s skyline.

Work on infrastructure will start this spring, Friedman said.

The city will be responsible for setting up infrastructure for the 386-home development, said West Sacramento Community Development Director Tina Gontarski.

The city is applying state funds toward its share of work for Bridge District development, according to the report from city staff.

Read the Feb. 17 report here.

Image courtesy of Mark Friedman and the Fulcrum Property Group.

Kathleen Haley is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.