The city of Sacramento and Capitol Area Development Authority (CADA) are working on the R Street Corridor Project – an effort to turn a 27-block-long stretch of R Street into a vibrant mixed-use neighborhood. A two-block section of R Street from 16th to 18th streets will hold the project's centerpiece, the R Street Market Plaza. Elements of the historic rail corridor and industrial warehouse district have inspired its design, which is expected to be completed in early June. The public project is intended to spur private development — creating more businesses, housing, services and jobs along the corridor. California state agencies now occupy some of R Street. The project has been design

Fremont Park has put on a few movie nights in the park. On Friday, the delightful 2009 animated Disney-Pixar movie Up was shown to area residents and guests. The Capitol Area Development Authority (CADA) with the help of the City of Sacramento and Friends of Fremont Park held their Movie in Fremont Park screening. The movie was free to the public and had other activities preceding the showing of Up. Lena Wrightsman, former president of Chalk-it-Up, was at work finishing up a chalk drawing of Carl who is one of the main characters of the movie. Around the Fremont Park fountain Lena had already drawn Kevin, Russell (characters in the movie) and as she finished Carl moved on to draw Dug the

The Capitol Area Development Authority is turning a vacant corner across from Fremont Park into a parking lot, eliminating an eyesore and adding parking spaces to an increasingly busy part of town. On Monday, a construction crew with E & J Enterprises was busy at the corner of 15th and Q streets. An excavator loaded trucks with dirt to be hauled away during site[-]grading for a temporary surface parking lot. The corner, which sits in the R Street Corridor, has been vacant for at least 10 years after an old gas station closed down. Neighbors said the 120-by-160-foot lot had become overgrown with weeds and filled with trash. CADA has been working with the property owner, the McGilvray fam

The Capitol Area Development Authority is hunting down a new home for a historic fourplex in an effort to save the Art Moderne building from a wrecking ball. The stucco apartment building known as Capitol Gardens was built at 1517 N St. in 1949 by Sacramento architect and engineer Jacob Loyth. In fall 2011, construction will begin on the site at the northwest corner of 16th and N streets on a $43 million, nine-floor building with 117 condos. CADA is trying to find a way to relocate the building's historic four front units to reduce the cumulative loss of historic resources and impact on a potential historic district, as directed by an environmental report for construction on the site. T

Local agencies will host a community workshop Thursday on the R Street Market Plaza, whose construction is expected to be delayed. The $3.8 million plaza project is a bit behind, with construction not expected to start until at least 2012. No funding has been secured for the plaza's construction from 16th to 18th streets, said project manager Zuhair Amawi, an associate civil engineer with the city's transportation department. The two-block plaza is being designed as a centerpiece for the R Street Corridor Project, an effort to turn a 27-block stretch of historic R Street into a thriving mixed-use neighborhood. The public project is intended to spur private development — creating more bus

The Capitol Area Development Authority began an environmental review this week for a $43 million, mixed-use building proposed for the East End Gateway. While a consultant began the environmental analysis of the project's final design, developers Em Johnson Interest of San Francisco and Nehemiah Community Reinvestment Fund Holdings of Sacramento have begun working with the authority to draft a development agreement for the project at the northwest corner of 16th and N streets. CADA ended its partnership with the first developer, Lambert Development, after that company's proposal was deemed too high-end for Sacramento and progress wasn't made fast enough, said Marc de la Vergne, the author

City officials are eyeing state buildings in Sacramento as a potential source of local property tax revenue. A public affairs official with the state’s Department of General Services confirmed with The Sacramento Press on Thursday that it is moving forward with plans to sell some state-owned buildings in the city. Sacramento does not receive property tax from state-owned buildings. But if the crisis-ridden state government sells the buildings it owns to private entities, property tax monies would flow to the city as well as to other local governments, such as the county and school districts, according to Assistant City Manager John Dangberg.  Mayor Kevin Johnson and the city manager supp

Residents and business owners will soon have a chance to help fine-tune ideas to improve the look of 16th Street, a major gateway into the capital city. The Capitol Area Development Authority (CADA) will lead a workshop on Tuesday, July 21, to share updated information on development activities and to collect input on streetscape elements to brighten 16th Street. Those upgrades will be part of a renaissance unfolding there, along with a surge in businesses such as Hot Italian, Mochi, Pronto and Starbuck's. The ideas that are gathered will be used to help form a cohesive vision for the street. That vision and specific details will be incorporated into a $20,000 conceptual streetscape desi

Revitalization of 16th Street continued Friday as first steps were taken to create an updated streetscape. The improvements will be part of an ongoing effort to upgrade the corridor, a major entrance into Sacramento giving many people their first impression of the capital city. Once part of State Highway 160, the roadway deteriorated into a motel corridor that had grown extremely run-down by the 1990s. The street is home to longtime powerhouses like Simon's Restaurant and Luna's Cafe & Juice Bar. Newer businesses including Starbuck's, Pronto and Mochi have set up shop across from renovated Fremont Park. The three-lane, one-way street has been a major focus for the city, state and Capito