Piped, paved and delivered. Well, almost. Underground work for what proponents call "Alley Activation" is complete. The Urban Design Alliance's Fourth Wednesday dialogue topic was “Delivery of the Midtown Pilot Alley.”  Guest speakers were Julie Young, co-chair of the Alley Activation Committee and Disctrict 3 City Council Member Steve Cohn. Greg Taylor of UDA and Dustin Litrell hosted the free event at the downtown office of the American Institute of Architects. The Alley Activation private/public works project has excavated the alley between 17th, 18th and L streets and Capitol Avenue. City water pipes and sewer lines have been replaced. The next step is application of permeable paver

A plan to build condos on some of Midtown's alleys may push ahead this week with the sale of a back lot on L Street. Homeowner Deanna Marquart is close to an agreement to sell 60 feet of her lot to Jeremy Drucker and other developers of an alley housing model called Stitch, the parties announced Monday. Selling the land for $100,000 will allow her to pay off the mortgage on her house at 2216 L St. Marquart, vice president of the Urban Design Alliance, said she also supports the concept. "I think this is the kind of development Sacramento needs," Marquart said. "Sacramento has to become denser in its residential development, and this is really a very desirable way to accomplish that." C

A prototype condo building will be constructed on a Midtown alley after approval by the city earlier this month. The Planning Division of the Sacramento Community Development Department granted a parking waiver and a side yard variance on Oct. 8 for a pilot alley residential project known as "Stitch" when developer Jeremy Drucker worked out compromises to address nearby residents' concerns. "The biggest concern was how heavily that block is impacted for parking," said Drucker, who previously developed 9 on F, the central city's first residential project certified by the U.S. Green Building Council for its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Drucker made his comments Thursday a

A group interested in transforming alleys will present three prototypes to the Sacramento City Council Tuesday. A restaurant row concept is proposed to hold a mix of outdoor cafés just steps from Memorial Auditorium. Another could contain an alley-front condo sales model. The third would demonstrate the vision for alley hardscapeimprovements. The Alley Activation Committee is proposing three pilot alleys in Midtown. Two would stretch from 17th to 19th streets between L Street and Capitol Avenue in the Handle District, and a third is proposed for the alley from I to J streets between 16th and 17th streets. "It's thinking about the whole piece of how do people live and work in the city,"