Downtown Sacramento Proposals & Construction

Sutter Medical Center – Update

2010-02-09T18:34:42Z

Later this month the next milestone in the expansion of the Sutter Medical Center in midtown will be the switchover from the existing Energy Center off of 29th Street to the new Energy Center in the basement of Sutter Capitol Pavilion on 28th Street. Demolition of the existing Energy Center is slated to begin later that month with steel expected to rise up for the Anderson Lucchetti Center site later this year

Concept for 8th & K Hotel Design

2009-06-12T02:03:53Z

There appears to be a proposal or two in the works for 8th & K Streets in downtown Sacramento for when the market starts to recover and developers have better access to financing. The architects of Fletcher Farr Ayotte of Portland has recently completed concept designs for a new 409-room Hilton hotel at 8th & K Street along with a seven-story parking garage for the corner of 8th & L Street in downtown Sacramento.

This current proposal really bugs me in that there’s a massive parking garage planned for the corner of 8th & L Street. The hotel tower portion of the proposals decent and it would be great to see Hilton on K Street, but the massive parking garage planned next to the tower would be a horrible mistake divesting another pedestrian friendly corner of the city. This is the same design flaw that was used when the Library Tower was built nearly twenty years at the corner of 8th & J Streets. The Library Tower included an eight story parking garage next to the office tower leaving much to be desired for what could have been an awesome block. This current parking garage proposal only two blocks away from the Library Tower garage and it would be a shame to see another corner in the central city wiped out and turned into another enormous parking structure. I would recommend that the developer somehow tuck the parking into the structure like what has been done with a majority of other high-rises in downtown Sacramento. Incorporating the parking into the structure or underground would make the street appearance of the project much more attractive and would also avoid making the same mistake that the Library Tower made which is now a daily reminder of what poor city planning can produce.

As of now, this is just a concept and has not been through any of the cities Planning or Design Committees where I would hope that they will also see this design error in wiping out another corner of the central city for a parking structure. If this current choice of design is acceptable and built as planned, downtown Sacramento will soon resemble downtown Phoenix where huge parking structures are prominent on every other block.

$550 Million for New Sacramento County Courthouse

2009-02-26T07:03:22Z

Today on Ninth Street in front of the Gordon D. Schaber Courthouse, Assemblyman Dave Jones unveiled a new deal for Sacramento County to build a courthouse expected to cost $550 million. The new site of the building has not chosen yet but court officials would like it to be on the site of the two-story parking lot across Eight Street from the existing facility. It would house 35 to 49 new courtrooms for criminal proceedings. and funds to build the new court house will come out of the $5 billion lease revenue bond that was enacted buy the legislature last year.

$550 million is alot of money…here's the costs of some other local State projects and what we got for the money.

Federal Courthouse, 6th and I Streets
Project Description: Construction of a 16-story, 380,000 sf office building forthe United States Federal Courts. 19 courtrooms.
Total Project Cost: $134 million
Date of Completion: 1999

State of California East End Project, 15th and Capitol Mall
Project Description: Construction of 1,470,000 gross sf of office and retail.Approx. $4.2 million was allocated for housing, preservation, lighting and park enhancements.
Total Project Cost: $392 million
Date of Completion: 2003

Cal EPA Building, 10th and I Streets
Project Description: Construction of a 25-story, 765,000 sf office building forthe California Environmental Protection Agency. The building houses approximately 3,500 employees.
Total Project Cost: $170 million
Date of Completion: 2000

Swanston Station Transit Village

2009-02-28T05:30:59Z

The proposed Swanston Station Transit Village is a long-range urban design that would guide public and private improvements in the Swanston Station Transit Village Specific Plan area. Encompassing roughly a ½ mile radius around the Swanston Light Rail Station, the plan includes mixed use land that promotes a mixture of office, commercial, open space, and medium and high-density residential uses with 36 units per acre.

The Long-Term Plan includes approximately 213 acres of the Swanston project area and would result in approximately 2,596 new dwelling units and 505,515 sf of new commercial space. The project could increase the population within the City by up to 6,670 residents at buildout in 2030.

Last week a Draft Environmental Impact Report was submitted to the City for review.

http://www.cityofsacramento.org/dsd/planning/environmental-review/eirs/documents/Swanton-DEIR.pdf

The NEW Cal Expo

2009-02-28T06:39:01Z

Today plans were submitted by the NBA to totally redo CalExpo and turn it into a mixed use, pedestrian-friendly, and transit oriented regional destination. The plan is to raze all 350 acres and over the next 27 years transform the CalExpo facilities into successful mixed –use development. No source of funding has been found to construct the new CalExpo and make infrastructure improvements for the entire site. There was also no cost given by the NBA as to how much the proposal will cost if the plans are well received and funding can found. Proposed changes to the Cal Expo programs would be ending live horse racing in 2012 and the water park would close in 2016.

http://www.calexpo.com/PDFs/nba/CalExpo%20Presentation.pdf

Renaissance Tower 20 Year Anniversary

2009-05-14T21:25:40Z

Back in 1989 twenty years ago, Sacramento completed a landmark structure that engulfed many of the nondescript low-rises strung around downtown and became the first high-rise to reach past the 20th floor becoming the cities tallest. Many locals like to refer to the building as “Darth Vader” because of its menacing shape and dark color. This tinted-glass high-rise was originally proposed at 25 floors but was amended to be 28 floors, which put the tower 160 feet above the Capitol dome. With much applause and hope, city leaders at the time expected the Renaissance Tower to represent a rebirth of downtown and K Street. At 372ft tall, this was the cities tallest building constructed during the 1980's. This gem-shaped tower at the corner of 8th and K streets was counted upon to help revitalize the downtown mall and bring badly needed jobs and revenue to the central city.

In 1986 Mo Mohanna sold the old Clunie Hotel site to the Benvenutis (where the 28-story Renaissance Tower now stands) and after 60 years of use and being closed since March of 1980, the hotel was demolished to make way for the new high-rise. In 1987 developer Joe Benvenuti threatened to kill construction of the tower if the Sacramento City Council voted to impose stiff fees within the R Street corridor where several other proposals by Benvenuti were also on the drawing board. The council choose not to vote on its elaborate fee proposal that was an effort to raise money for downtowns revitalization. At the time, City Councilman David Shore was eager about the proposed tower saying “I think it's going to be of immense value in cleaning up the Downtown'' while at the same time city planning officials said that it could spark a revitalization of the city's central business district.

I personally love the tower. Its gemlike shape has a nice shimmer late in the day when the suns setting and looks really impressive when storm clouds are rolling through reflecting slivers of light off the dark glass.

Architect: Daniel, Mann, Johnson, & Mendenhall (DMJM).
Developers: Joseph and Richard Benvenuti.
372 Feet Tall
28 Stories
$45 million to build.
336,000 square feet.
Ground-breaking August 24, 1987 and finished in 1989.
23,467 square feet of lobby and retail space
Seven-story parking garage with 510 spaces.
Glass-and-Granite exterior.
Last sale of tower in Jan. 08’ was just below $90 million.
The towers also know as 801 K Street and "Darth Vader" for it's shape and color.

Since the Renaissance Tower was built, ten other high-rises over 300 feet have been erected in downtown Sacramento.

EEG Site One Developer Selected

2009-03-21T02:17:23Z

EM Johnson Interest and Nehemiah Community Reinvestment Fund Holdings (NCRFH), a member of the Nehemiah family of companies, has been selected as the developer for East End Gateway Site 1. Located on the northwest corner of 16th and N Streets, the site is currently occupied by a parking lot and a small apartment building.

The selected proposal identifies sources of equity and construction financing and emphasizes the development of mid-rise entry-level “workforce” housing. The structure was designed by Devrouax + Purnell Architects and will be 8 floors (7 floors over a concrete podium). The structure will contain 98 condominiums, 6,000 s.f. of retail and 120 parking spaces. Construction is scheduled to begin in October 2010 and be completed by January 2012. The total project development cost is estimated at $37 million.

Projects completed by Em Johnson Interest include the Fillmore Heritage Center and North Beach Place in San Francisco (in partnership with Bridge Housing), Richmond Village, and Palm Villas in Oakland. NCRFH was the joint venture partner in developing over 1,900 units of housing in California, is the developer of the Township 9 project in Sacramento's River District, and provides community lending throughout the United States to help revitalize economically stressed neighborhoods.

http://www.cadanet.org/eeg.php

8th & K Street Hotel Proposal Update

2009-12-04T03:15:04Z

A revised proposal by USA Hospitality, Inc. and their equity partners Consus Asset Management and Industrial General has been submitted for building a Marriott Renaissance Hotel at the corner of 8th & K Street. The new proposal includes a decrease in the number of hotel rooms from 409 to 300, and a decrease in the number of parking spaces from 372 to 350 while adding 100 condominiums on top of the parking garage as a second phase of the project. The total cost to build the project went up from $137 million to $162 million along with the needed city subsidy to build from $31.5 million to $33 million. The developer has asked that the city give them the land which is city-owned for free, and to forgive taxes on the hotel for the first few years of its operation as part of their needed subsidy deal.

The property has been tied up for 14 months in an "Exclusive Right to Negotiate" with USA Hospitality, Inc., but on December 8th the city staff will recommend releasing the Request for Qualifications for the 700 and 800 blocks of K Street with a due date of February 12, 2010. It’s anticipated that the city staff could return to the Redevelopment Agency by early April with several other proposals for the 8th & K Street site. In that time USA Hospitality must do three things.

1) Obtain stronger financial commitments from all equity financial partners.
2) Developer conduct an assessment of the Bel-Vue to determine the costs associated with preserving the façade.
3) Complete negotiated business terms for inclusion in Disposition and Development Agreement.

I still don’t see the value in the city giving away $33 million in land and future taxes when just two blocks up the street at 10th and K Street Toni Giannoni is asking for $10 million to build a 165-room hotel that better fits our market. Toni also has an excellent record of finishing projects downtown where there are more development regulations that can tie up a proposal. In the case of the 8th and K Street design, the developer has a half block to work with, so instead of a massive parking garage the parking should be spread out over the entire half block above the lobby and ground floor retail but below the hotel rooms like has been done with ten other high-rises in downtown. If the city can nudge the developer to do this sort of design instead, the proposal would actually be shorter but the curb appearance would be far nicer. We don’t need another 6 story car garage at the corner of 8th & L Street; car garages have a history of deadening side walk activity for entire blocks and devaluing distinctive corners in our city. I hope both our City Council and planners consider the consequences, there is no need to repeat mistakes of the past again.

(The photo above is a city owned parking garage across from City Hall at 10th & I Street)

Report to the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Sacramento

Five Hundred Capitol Mall

2009-02-23T06:26:09Z

Last Friday I was invited to go up into 500 Capitol Mall (The Bank of the West Tower) and get a few photos of the 4-story lobby off Capitol Mall and the shared 25th and Penthouse windows at the top floors. The building is currently experimenting with interior lighting in the lobby and soon the pinnacle at the top of the tower. By mid-March exterior lighting facing Capitol Mall will be turned really making the building stand out.

I have attached 12 photos to view.

Restoration of Historic Mayes Jewelers' Street Clock

2010-03-08T19:44:46Z

This Tuesday the City Council will recommend the preservation and restoration of the Fred Mayes Jewelers' Street Clock at the corner of 10th and J Street. With the efforts of both Greig Best (an interested citizen), the City's Historic Places Grant Program, Council Member Tretheway's office, and the Redevelopment Agency, designated funds will be used to restore this City designated Landmark. Its ownership will also be formally transferred to the City through the Department of Transportation since the street clock is located within the public right-of-way.

The clock will be restored to the style as modified while at its' original K Street location by Tom Monk (the neon ring addition) before the clock was moved to its current location in front of the former Fred Mayes Jewelers store on J Street and then designated as a City historic Landmark. Mr.Best of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors have committed to assist in the project and to install the new timepiece (the"movement"). The Department of Transportation will contract for the clock removal and repair work, and will extend an electrical line so that the clock face and neon lights can be illuminated at night.

It’s estimated that the removal, repair and reinstallation of the Clock could be completed in the amount of $24,000. The restoration of the clock would be funded with $12,000 from the Historic Places Grant Program, $6,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds (per recommendation from Council Member Tretheway, District 1), and $6,000 from Merged Downtown Redevelopment Project tax increment funds (from funds allocated for J,K, and L Street Enhancements). The Clock was originally manufactured in Seattle, likely in the early 1900s and was once owned by a former Mayor of Sacramento, Tom Monk, and was located in front of 1009 K Street near the current site of the Crest Theater.

The River District Overview

2009-07-15T03:20:30Z

With 773 Gross Acres 675 Land Acres, the River District has a lot of room to develop it own identity becoming a mixed-use urban environment featuring residential, office and commercial services. Currently both Township 9 and the California Lottery Headquarters are breaking ground in an effort to revitalize the area. These major projects and others will serve as catalysts bring development, jobs, public transit and cultural amenities to District and paving the way from a primarily light-industrial commercial district to a distinctive, mixed-use neighborhood that will connect Sacramento to its rivers.

Process & Timeline
April – August 2009
Community Outreach
Chapter Writing for Specific Plan
Policy Development
Special Planning District Update
Historic Resources Survey
September 2009 - Infrastructure Finance Plan – Public Review
October 2009 - Public Draft EIR
January - 2010 Final EIR
Jan-Feb 2010 Public Hearings

Vision & Guiding Principles
- Maximize Connectivity –North/South and East/West.
- Create a Sense of Place.
- Encourage Sustainable Development.
- Build Infrastructure that Provides a Balanced Approach to Regional Traffic Issues.
- Stimulate Economic Growth.
- Provide a Variety of Urban Living Options.
- Support regional strategies that seek to improve social conditions
- Encourage Mixed-Use Development.
- Provide Enhanced Community Facilities and Amenities.
- Engage the Rivers and Foster Open Space Opportunities.
- Create a Walkable District.

Goals for the River District Specific Plan
- Specific Plan will include the following:
- Land Use Plan and Zoning with Heights
- Circulation Plan
- Infrastructure / Public Facilities
- Financing Plan
- Nexus Study (Downtown/Railyards/River District Costs)
- Program Level Environmental Impact Report Design Guidelines (Central City Urban Design Guidelines)

La Valentina Station

2009-02-14T04:31:35Z

This project consists of developing several vacant lots into a four story structure, 63 apartments, 7 live/work apartments, 6 commercial spaces, and 63 parking spaces. The building is adjacent to the light rail station located along the north edge of the site. Contemporary in design the project uses a large amount of fiber cement board oriented as a horizontal rain screen along the façade of the North building and vertically as the main finish material. Cement plaster is proposed as a secondary material on the building. Fiberglass windows and doors have been proposed for durability and efficiency in lieu of vinyl. Water jet cut Corten steel railings are proposed at the south building as a decorative element. The project has been designed to incorporate sustainable design techniques including passive solar design, photovoltaic systems, a green roof area, and vegetated swales along the rear property line.

The project will require Planning Commission approval of entitlements for Environmental, Special Permit to allow reduction in required parking, Special Permit to allow building to exceed maximum height allowed by the zone, Special Permit to allow gated development, variance to reduce interior side setback, variance to allow compact stalls to exceed a maximum of 40%, variance to allow a roof structure to exceed the maximum allowable height. The Planning Commission is scheduled to hear this project on March 12, 2009 for final action.

Rezoning the Docks Properties

2009-10-05T05:33:00Z

The proposed Docks project nested between Interstate 5 and the Sacramento River, will be heard by the City Planning Commission on the 8th for a motion to pass the rezoning for future urban development consistent with the 2030 General Plan. City Staff will also recommend that Option B to be chosen in how the 29 acres are developed which including 1,000 residential units, 200,000 square feet of office space, and 43,300 square feet of retail space. A formal recommendation for Option B will be made the City Planning Commission next month and then the City Council for approval in December. Option B was determined to be the most cost effective plan to retain Pioneer Reservoir and build the park over the reconstructed roof. The plan proposes constructing a parking facilities underground and elevate the finished floor of the buildings to be level with the existing levee, so the natural feature of the Sacramento River will be visible to the tenants in the future buildings and to area visitors.

Sacramento River Crossing Study

2010-01-07T02:42:10Z

The new City of Sacramento General Plan includes additional Sacramento River crossings without specifying the location or number of crossings or the transportation modes served by new crossings. The cost of the study will be $260,000 with both The City of Sacramento and the City of West Sacramento sharing the costs for the planning study with West Sacramento contributing $60,000 to that total. The study is expected to be completed in one year, starting in January and ending in December 2010.

The study will include:
• A transparent and proactive public outreach process;
• A purpose and need statement which is grounded in the community values stated in the two cities' General Plan policies and expressed by stakeholders;
• Development of alternatives to include build and no-build scenarios that consider various bridge cross sections types (i.e. types of travel modes that are served), various locations, and number of crossings;
• Planning level analysis of opportunities, constraints, land use implications, impact assessments, travel demand modeling, and costs estimates to inform the process.

Streetcars Proposed for Capitol Mall

2009-04-02T01:35:30Z

Today the Preservation Commission will meet to discuss a study of bringing Streetcars onto Capitol Mall and back to downtown Sacramento. Over the past 30 years, public and private interests have examined the feasibility of streetcars and other services that could travel between West Sacramento and downtown Sacramento, but in May 2007 West Sacramento became the lead agency to prepare a draft environmental impact report for the project in order to gain permits for the project.

With the partnership of West Sacramento, Sacramento, in cooperation with Sacramento Regional Transit (RT) and Yolo County Transportation District (YCTD), a partnership was formed to study the reintroduction of the streetcar and connect the cities and their shared riverfronts. The partnership was also aided by funding from the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) Community Design Program to perform a thorough analysis so elected officials, public agencies, citizens groups, and other stakeholders could make an informed decision on the proposed transportation investment.

The feasibility study includes a discussion of the technology, alignment, financing opportunities, and operating plans. The 2.2 mile proposed streetcar alignment would go from Washington/Triangle/Civic Center areas of West Sacramento and cross the Tower Bridge. From there the tracks would travel down Capitol Mall and cross over to K Street where it would then make a loop around the Convention Center heading back to West Sacramento.

The purpose of the proposed project is to improve transit service and local circulation by connecting both West Sacramento and downtown Sacramento with an alternative (non-auto) mode of transit in supporting existing and future development in the Cities of West Sacramento and downtown Sacramento. Approximate cost to build the Streetcar system is between $50 and $60 million.

Click here to see Video of Proposed Steetcars in action.

K Street Subsidies

2009-04-27T06:21:42Z

With a 45% ground floor vacancy rate, K Street’s health is currently struggling. In an effort to help the street improve the blocks between 7th and 13th streets, the city has been pumping million upon millions of dollars into projects to then watch little to no improvements in foot traffic, empty store fronts and public safety. The list of subsidized projects is getting longer every year and I am beginning to wonder if spending all this money to clean up J or L streets might give us more to be proud of.

Right now the city has loaned Crest Theater $413,839 for capital improvements but the loan won't have to be repaid if the theater makes structural, safety, and aesthetic improvements as part of scenic easement to the Crest Theater marquee by 2019. The IMAX theater is getting subsidized at the rate of $425,000 since 2006 to help pay the rent till 2010.*Correction: The IMAX theater has a reduced rent. The city subsidy is $75,000 a year until 2010.* When the theater was first built in 1999 the city gave $6 million to the Esquire Plaza's previous owners - led by developer David Taylor.

In the last 5 years the city has gave out millions in an effort to revitalize K Street Mall. To name a few, the Cosmopolitan received a $9.8 million subsidy, The Cathedral Building received a $3 million subsidy, Ella Restaurant received a $750,000 subsidy, Pyramid Alehouse received $650,000 subsidy, and 717 K Street with retail and a restaurant (3 Monkeys) that has gone out of business $594,000. Last month the city approved another subsidy of $5.4 million to rehab buildings at 1012–1022 K Street in a partnership between David S. Taylor Interests Inc. and CIM Group to bring a vintage Dive Bar, pizza restaurant and upscale night club to three building that have been vacant more than eight years.

With the K Street Streetscape improvement project just kicking off at $4 million and Westfield Mall expecting to begin renovations at $40 million, as well as a proposal to open up K Street to vehicle traffic again, you might think things are on the up swing. But if you look back at the history of the street over the last 40 years, expensive improvements to upgrade the street have done little to make it an achievement.

If the goal is to get more foot traffic downtown then the city should only subsidize projects that add housing downtown. It now seems like nothing can be built downtown unless subsidies are part of the deal while at the same time city staff are waiving fees... the call for subsidies has become more rapid and will only falsely create a market that can't support it's self.

Editor's Note: The Sacramento Press editorial department found an error regarding the amount of subsidy received by the IMAX theater on K street and has corrected this article.

Community Theater Renovation

2009-10-20T04:39:41Z

The Sacramento Community Theater has been in use for 35 years and has not upgraded since it’s opening in 1974. The Theater still hosts world-class events but a renovation is needed by adding additional restrooms, concessions, lobby space, and infrastructure to meet the needed of and expectations of today’s audiences and clients. On Tuesday the 20th, the City Council/Financing Authority will accept the current Community Center Theater Renovation Project conceptual design and issue a Request for Qualifications for architectural services to complete the design work. A contract for construction could begin as early as June 2011 and continue work through the summer. The Theater will remain open for each theatrical season (Sept. through June) but closed during the summer months with heavy construction taking place spreading construction over multiple years through the summer of 2014.

The Theater will be financed using bonds from future bonds issued by the City of Sacramento Financing Authority. Bond repayments will come from a $3.00 per ticket where approximately $1 million will go toward the bond payment of $3.7 million annually and the remaining $2.7 million coming from Transient Occupancy Tax and Convention Center User Fee proceeds.

The current renovation will re-configure some existing spaces and add approximately 15,000 new square feet to the building. The total costs of the project are estimated at $40 million with $34 million towards construction and $6 million for design costs.

Relocating Downtown Greyhound

2009-07-27T04:23:46Z

This Tuesday the 28th, City Council will vote to authorize construction of the new Greyhound Terminal Building on Richards Blvd. The plan is to have Greyhound terminal moved by April 1, 2012 when the lease at its current location (703 L Street) expires. There is also the possibility that relocation may need to occur sooner if the landlord at 703 L Street exercises its right to an early termination of the current lease. The City Council also plans to suspend the traditional process of competitive bidding for building design because it could extend the project completion time beyond Greyhound's lease expiration date.

Money to pay for this project will come from the cities General Fund (Fund 1001) when city staff return in the fall of 2009 with a recommendation to award the final professional services agreement for architectural design services. Staff will then proceed with the competitive process in selecting a qualified contractor to build the new terminal. The chosen contractor will assist the architect in scoping and designing a constructible facility within the project budget.

Background Information

On December 12, 2006, City Council authorized the purchase of 300 Richards Boulevard, which included several adjacent vacant parcels, City staff approached Greyhound to determine if the Richards Boulevard site was feasible for its needs until the Sacramento Intermodal Transportation Facility is ready for occupancy. Greyhound's review determined that the site would adequately accommodate its operations.

May 20, 2008, City Council committed $2 million for required site work including grading, utilities, sidewalks, curbs and gutters and the extension of the driveway off of Richards Boulevard to Bannon Street. The balance of the necessary funds ($4 million) will come from Sheraton Hotel sale proceeds earmarked for downtown redevelopment projects.

February 24, 2009, City Council approved the lease agreement with Greyhound and the Mitigation Monitoring Plan for the 420 Richards Boulevard site improvement.

Work is anticipated to begin on site during summer 2010 with completion at the end of 2011.

Status Report: 800 K/L Hotel Proposal

2009-08-26T23:14:45Z

Last night the Sacramento City Council discussed the future of the proposed 23 story hotel and parking garage at 8th & K/L St. by developer Bob Leach/USA Hospitality. The last time Mr. Leach was to appear before the Council two weeks ago he asked for a delay because his proposal was going to be slammed over the financing for the proposal. This time they came back to the council offering 40% of cash flow instead of 10% over 10 years and asking for 50% of the Transient Occupancy Tax rebate over 14 years instead of 100% over 10 years. USA Hospitality’s now asking for $31.5 million subsidy from the city in an effort to make this project feasible. After a few council members made their opinions known about keeping the façade of the Bel-Vue by incorporating it into the hotel project, the council agreed to a 90 day extension to see if USA Hospitality can pull things together and make this project work.

It looks as though the 90 day extension may have ended Tony Giannoni hopes to also build a 165-room hotel at 10th & K Street. A spokesman on behalf of Mr. Giannoni told the council that if they gave a 90 day extension to the 8th & K St. hotel proposal, they would see that as a sign to drop their project because the market could not support both projects. If after 90 days the USA Hospitality’s bid get rejected by the council and the other proposal at 10th & K has already withdrawn their proposal… we could be left with no new hotels on K Street.

This project still has to go through the Design Review Commission and Planning Commission as a part of the entitlement process. If this current design with the separate parking garage manages to be approved by both the Planning Commission and Design Review Commission, it will demonstrate in my opinion that neither the Commissions or the City Council really understand their roll in helping both designers and developers comprehend the rich context of this unique place in our city.