Development

Railyards preferred for new courthouse

2011-04-12T22:43:24Z

A project advisory group on Tuesday endorsed a site on the edge of the downtown railyards for the location of a new criminal courthouse.

The group, which includes representatives from the city and county of Sacramento and the courts, would like to see the $439 million courthouse built on the block between Fifth and Sixth streets from H to G streets. The group prefers that location over a vacant lot at 300 Capitol Mall, according to the Judicial Council's Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC).

City and business leaders have previously voiced support for the railyards location because it's close to other courthouses, law offices, law enforcement and public transportation.

The 44-courtroom facility is being built to relieve crowding at Gordon Schaber county courthouse, used by the Superior Court of Sacramento County. The building may be up to 16 stories tall. Presiding Judge Steve White of the Superior Court of Sacramento County said the endorsement moves the system a step closer to having a "modern, efficient and workable" courthouse.

“Our present courthouse, which is almost 50 years old, is much too small and inadequate to handle the large volume of criminal cases being tried," he said in a prepared statement. "Those using this old, insecure facility have suffered too long with an inadequate, overcrowded and badly designed courthouse.”

The site currently holds a parking lot and railroad tracks that are being relocated by the city as part of a project to build a new regional transportation center.

The AOC will hold a public hearing on the draft environmental impact report at 5:30 p.m. May 4 in the Dept. 1 courtroom at Schaber courthouse, 720 Ninth St. The AOC is accepting public comments on the draft environmental impact report through May 24.

The AOC must complete the environmental review process, negotiate for site acquisition and win approval from the State Public Works Board before the site can be bought and design can start. Nacht & Lewis Architects of Sacramento and HOK of St. Louis, Mo., have been chosen to design the courthouse.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson is "pleased" the railyards site was identified as the preferred location for the courthouse. The location will benefit both the city and the court, he said.

"The project will represent a major investment in Sacramento and serve as a catalyst for future development, as well as provide the court with an ideal location to operate effectively and efficiently,” Johnson said in a prepared statement.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

State weighing courthouse sites

2011-03-15T04:01:17Z

Local leaders are pushing to get a new criminal courthouse built at the edge of the railyards downtown, with a decision on the location likely to be made by the end of March.

Bill Vickrey, the director of the Judicial Council's Administrative Office of the Courts, is reviewing two sites where the state could build a $439 million courthouse. One location is at Fifth and H streets across from the federal courthouse, and the other is a hole in the ground at 301 Capitol Mall where developer John Saca once planned to build twin 53-story condo towers.

The 44-courtroom facility is being built to relieve crowding at Gordon D. Schaber Sacramento County Courthouse and is currently one of the state's largest new courthouse projects. Sacramento's new criminal courthouse project is second only to a $633.9 million, 71-courtroom facility being planned in San Diego, said Teresa Ruano, spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of the Courts.

"We expect to be able to announce a decision about site selection by the end of this month," Ruano said.

A project advisory group that includes representatives from the city and county of Sacramento and the courts has provided input on the downtown sites.

In June, the Sacramento City Council agreed to support construction at the northeast corner of Fifth and H streets. Just two blocks from Schaber Courthouse, that site is adjacent to Sacramento Valley Station and close to the Sacramento County Jail. The site currently holds a parking lot and railroad tracks that are being relocated by the city as part of a project to build a new regional transportation center.

City officials think a stately courthouse at Fifth and H would be a catalyst project for redevelopment of the historic railyards. But they'd like to see more residences, restaurants and other mixed use brought to Capitol Mall to liven up the area after 5 p.m., said Assistant City Manager John Dangberg.

"It's arguably one of the grandest boulevards in Northern California," he said. "Certainly in the Central Valley, there's nothing that compares with it."

Business leaders including members of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership are also voicing support for that location in letters and meetings with the Administrative Office of the Courts. Building a criminal courthouse that requires high security on Capitol Mall would be a "short-sighted" waste of prime real estate that serves as a scenic gateway into downtown, according to the partnership.

"Clearly, the Fifth and H site is what we feel is the most appropriate location for this facility, with related adjacent services and an opportunity to really complement starting the development in the railyards," DSP Executive Director Michael Ault said Monday.

The Sacramento District Council of the Urban Land Institute has also weighed in on the process. In a letter last month, urban designer Allen Folk, the council's chairman, encouraged the courts to consider the regional and neighborhood contexts, access to public transit and whether the building would promote nearby development when choosing a site. A courthouse should be near support services such as law offices, bail bondsmen and restaurants, he said.

"Courthouses by nature need to be located in an area that would be convenient to visitors and services," he said.

The 1965 Gordon Schaber courthouse was designed with 22 courtrooms but is currently operating 44. Criminal and civil court cases will be divided up once the criminal courthouse opens, with Gordon Schaber courthouse being used for civil court matters and administration. The new courthouse will replace 35 of the courtrooms and allow nine new judgeships, Ruano said.

Construction is expected to begin in early 2013 and be completed in 2015. Funding for the project would not come from the state's general fund. The Administrative Office of the Courts must ask the California State Legislature's Joint Legislative Budget Committee to issue lease-revenue bonds. The bonds would be paid back through court fees, penalties and assessments from within the judicial branch under Senate Bill 1407.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

Sacramento development in 2010

2010-12-30T03:28:33Z

Development in Sacramento suffered some significant setbacks in 2010. But there were modest moves forward as well, making for a mixed picture heading into 2011.

The focus was on five major projects, which included:

1. The Railyards
A suburban Chicago real estate investment firm, the Inland Real Estate Group of Companies, took ownership of most of Sacramento's historic downtown railyards in a courthouse foreclosure auction held in October. Inland foreclosed on the 203-acre Railyards site after then-owner Thomas Enterprises defaulted on nearly $194 million in loans in June. The two sides had been negotiating on a loan extension for several months but failed to agree on terms. Since October, Inland has been working with city, state and independent contractors to keep infrastructure construction going on such projects as the Fifth and Sixth street bridges and railroad track relocation.

The bridges are expected to be done in January. Work on the $60 million railroad track relocation was delayed after bids came in $12 million over budget in May and Thomas defaulted. In August, the City Council approved a track relocation redesign as part of the first phase of the new train station and public transit center being built adjacent to downtown's Sacramento Valley Station. The city delayed seeking new bids for relocation construction from fall 2010 to January. Inland was scheduled to publicly discuss its approach to the site for the first time at a City Council meeting Dec. 14. The presentation was postponed until early January.

2. Sacramento Arena
The city of Sacramento spent a large portion of 2010 trying to find a workable plan to build a new multipurpose arena to house the Sacramento Kings and host music and other events. Seven development teams made brief, public pitches at City Hall in January. Mayor Kevin Johnson formed an arena task force to consider the proposals. The task force recommended three plans as the top contenders in March. In April, the City Council approved an exclusive negotiation agreement with the Sacramento Convergence Team, a group led by developers Gerry Kamilos and David Taylor. That team lost its exclusive negotiating rights in October after failing to sell Cal Expo officials on their idea: to move the state fairgrounds to the area around Arco Arena and to then allow private development of the existing fairgrounds, which would clear the way to build an arena on city-owned property at the downtown railyards. The mayor reopened the process and set a noon Thursday deadline for new and modified proposals.

3. K Street Mall
Movement also took place on K Street Mall. The most important development took place in July, when the Sacramento City Council chose two teams — one led by D & S Development, Inc., and CFY Development, Inc., and the other by Sacramento developer David Taylor — to revitalize the troubled 700 and 800 blocks. Work continued in 2010 on the $4.5 million project by the city and Sacramento Regional Transit to renovate St. Rose of Lima Park and the 700 block streetscape. The City Council also allowed bikes to return to K Street Mall and paved the way for cars to return in 2011.

The Downtown Sacramento Partnership hired a retail recruiter to help reduce vacancies, upgrade the retail mix and support business owners in the 66-block property-based business improvement district. Work also got under way on several new K Street Mall businesses. San Francisco nightclub owner George Karpaty’s crew worked through 2010, and he expects to open Dive Bar, Pizza Rock and District 30 at 1016, 1020 and 1022 K St. in January. Ernesto Delgado also expects to open his Tequila Museo Mayahuel at 12th and K streets in early 2011. Vive Cocina opened in February next to St. Rose of Lima Park

Meanwhile, a grand opening for St. Rose of Lima Park's renovation wasn't held during summer as planned following a conflict that kept the city from turning on the park's new interactive water fountain, or sprayground.

4. Docks Area Riverfront Promenade
In June, the city marked the completion of Pioneer Landing Park and the first phase of the $15 million Docks Area Riverfront Promenade with a ground breaking. The $5.4 million first phase included the park and 1,200 feet of parkway from O Street to R Street. The one-mile promenade is expected to provide a paved path connecting Old Sacramento and Miller Park by 2013 or 2014.

The first phase was paid for with money from State Proposition 40, State Proposition 1B street improvement funds, redevelopment tax increment financing and development impact fees from parks. The city has already applied for nearly $5 million in Proposition 84 grant funding from the state to finance most of the promenade's second phase. The third phase, which would also cost about $5 million, is expected to start in 2013 if funding is available. An estimated $14 million in infrastructure for the Docks Area had been expected to begin between mid-2011 and the start of 2012. The start of infrastructure work is expected to be postponed while the city seeks funding.

Just across I-5 from the Riverfront Promenade and connected by the O Street bridge and refurbished bike and pedestrian viaduct at R Street was the $100 million expansion of the Crocker Art Museum.

5. River District
City staff unveiled the River District Specific Plan, which the City Council is expected to vote on in January. A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new, temporary Greyhound bus terminal in August. The $5.4 million bus station is being built at 420 Richards Blvd. on about 1.75 acres in the Discovery Centre development in the River District. The old Greyhound terminal at Seventh and L streets is expected to close in 2011. The bus terminal will eventually move to the new regional transit facility expected to be built in the Railyards development within eight to 15 years.

Work also continued on Sacramento Regional Transit's new green line from downtown to the River District, and eventually, to the airport. Utilities were relocated, track foundation was laid and some overhead poles to hold wire were installed. The line is expected to open in mid-2011, but no date has been determined. In September, Sacramento's Discovery Museum and its partners sought the community's help in applying for $7 million in state grants to build the Powerhouse Science Center. PG&E readied the site near the vacant 99-year-old PG&E power station on Jibboom Street for construction. Museum officials hope to break ground in late 2011 or early 2012 and open the new museum in late 2013 or early 2014.

First photo by Brandon Darnell. Arena graphic provided by the CORE group. Other photos by Suzanne Hurt, a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. Follow her on Twitter @SuzanneHurt.

HUD response on SHRA fund use coming

2010-10-09T01:01:01Z

A regional dispute over $6.4 million in federal neighborhood redevelopment funds has been kicked up to the national level, where a resolution may be found early next month.

Regional officials with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development disagree on the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency's use of Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds. The money was provided under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 to help states and communities buy, rehab and sell foreclosed or abandoned homes.

HUD awarded $4 billion of those funds in the program’s first phase. The goal was to stabilize or revitalize neighborhoods and prevent home prices from falling. More than $18.6 million was earmarked for Sacramento County in January 2009.

HUD's regional Office of the Inspector General in June released an audit recommending SHRA repay $1.1 million used to rehab five small apartment buildings at Norcade Circle and Lerwick Road.

The inspector general, an independent watchdog, deemed the buildings ineligible because the developer already owned them. The amount of money used to rehab those and three other properties was too high, according to a copy of the audit.

The inspector general's office also recommended SHRA make changes to ensure that construction costs aren't "overinflated" and no unnecessary work is funded. Such changes could enable SHRA to redirect $5.3 million to other projects, according to the audit.

The audit was turned over to HUD's regional Office of Community Planning and Development in San Francisco for review and a response by early October. That office didn't agree with the audit, so the matter was bumped up to the Office of Community Planning and Development in Washington, D.C.

A response from the federal level is expected within 30 days, according to Brian Sullivan, public affairs supervisor for HUD in Washington, D.C.

Photo by Brandon Darnell.

River District plan unveiled

2010-08-05T05:24:44Z

The city of Sacramento's Preservation Commission on Wednesday got the first look at a draft of the new plan intended to guide redevelopment of the River District north of the central city.

Commission members gave the first round of feedback Wednesday evening to the city's Community Development and Economic Development departments, which led the multi-department project encompassing about three years of work. The draft River District Specific Plan was unveiled online last week.

Commissioners were concerned with proposals to allow 250-foot hotels along the Sacramento River, demolishing the state's printing plant building without exploring its historic landmark eligibility and the need to consider whether a section of North 16th Street could be a registered historic district.

"It concerns me (there could be) a Miami Beach wall of buildings right next to the water ... and a lost opportunity to connect with the river by building a wall of buildings," Commissioner Melissa Mourkas said.

The plan addresses zoning, infrastructure, circulation, parks and open space, historic preservation and urban design within the district. The plan is an update to the renamed Richards Boulevard Area Plan, adopted in 1990 and last revamped in 1994, said Project Manager Evan Compton with the Community Development Department.

A revised plan was needed to allow for parts of the industrial-zoned area to be rezoned for mixed-use development and to incorporate planning changes contained in other plans adopted more recently, including the Railyards Specific Plan. That plan included a new street network and relocated a future regional transportation facility from North B and North Seventh streets to the downtown railyards, near the existing train station.

Staff is recommending city officials allow height changes in the district that would allow buildings up to 250 feet high in two limited areas, the first in a transition area from the Railyards along North B Street and the other in a hotel zone along the river adjacent to the planned Powerhouse Science Center. Public access to the river and viewing decks would have to be included in the hotel zone if such height were allowed, said Greg Taylor, a senior urban designer in the city's Community Development Department.

"We don't see this as a district that would compete with downtown," he said.

They also propose allowing new buildings up to 45 feet high in the historic district, where buildings average 25 to 30 feet high. The idea would be to allow one or two stories for retail and possibly a third story for housing to "invigorate" development without too much building height or pushing up land values, he said.

The plan also calls for a new historic district tentatively called the North 16th Street Historic District, a "ribbon" of parks and a "Two Rivers Trail" along 2.6 miles of riverfront, a street grid connecting through the future Railyards development to downtown and beyond, pathways for pedestrians and bikes, and a range of housing, employers and entertainment. City staff expect the number of housing units could grow to more than 8,000, and the number of hotel rooms could triple by 2035, Compton told the commission.

New buildings would need to be designed to be consistent with existing architecture, in keeping with the city's general plan and design guidelines. Redevelopment of historic buildings would have to protect the character of the buildings, Taylor said.

"We see the opportunity for adaptive reuse within the district to be quite strong and quite exciting," he said.

The roughly 748-acre district has been dominated by warehouses, industrial businesses and distribution centers, especially for produce, that became established near the confluence of the American and Sacramento rivers, railroad tracks and the adjacent highway. The area was largely isolated for years because it was bounded by rivers and river levees on two sides and the old Southern Pacific railyards to the south. Motels, as well as shelters and other services for homeless people, also sprang up in the area.

The district has grown to include office buildings and city, county and state government agencies, retail and wholesalers, and a small amount of housing, 386 units containing about 600 people. The area has seen change in recent years, especially after Seventh Street was extended from downtown into the River District in 2004. Over the next 25 years, retail and office space would be expected to triple in size, industrial would shrink, and parks and open spaces would grow from 16 acres to 55.5, according to the plan.

A new light rail line is being constructed to link downtown with the River District and, eventually, the airport. Three transit stations are expected to be built. Construction of a temporary Greyhound terminal is expected to start this fall. Other construction plans include a mixed-use area called Township 9 on Richards Boulevard and the conversion of the historic Pacific Gas & Electric power station into a $50 million riverfront science and space museum.

Mourkas and Commission Vice Chair Karen Jacques, who chaired the meeting, agreed with Sacramento Old City Association board member Bill Burg's concern that the plan calls for demolishing the state printing plant to allow construction of a new street grid before determining whether the building could be registered as a national, state or city historic landmark. The general plan's guidelines on preservation and sustainability seem to require such a determination, Jacques said.

"If the building is a potential landmark, we need to discuss that first...before we decide to demolish it," she said. "So we stop filling our landfills with the bones of buildings that might really be used for adaptive reuse."

The plan's draft is scheduled for review and comment at three more public meetings: the Parks Commission at 7 p.m. Thursday; the Planning Commission at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 12; and the Design Commission at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 18. City staff are taking comments until Sept. 9.

Staff also said they plan to present information about the historic district and recommended landmarks to the Preservation Commission in October. A consultant has recommended the city pursue getting individual buildings, such as the Pipeworks Building — which holds a climbing gym —listed with the National Register of Historic Places, rather than an entire district.

However, Commissioner Tim Brandt and Jacques encouraged city staff to consider the benefits of trying to get the entire district listed if it's eligible.

The final plan is expected to go before the Sacramento City Council in November.

Graphics provided by city of Sacramento Community Development Department. Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Teichert pitches New Brighton

2010-07-29T05:36:04Z

Teichert Land Co., one of the state's oldest development companies, is seeking city and county approval to turn its old Jackson Highway quarries into a 4,000-acre subdivision that plays up the land's agrarian roots.

A community would be built along Jackson Highway on a piecemeal quilt of former sand and gravel mines in what was once known as Brighton, Sacramento's first suburb, under a plan by Teichert subsidiary Stonebridge Properties LLC. The area once contained strawberry farms operated by Japanese immigrants.

The land development company is proposing to build a park-centered neighborhood dubbed New Brighton between Florin-Perkins Road in Sacramento to the west and Excelsior Road in Sacramento County to the east, as far north as Folsom Boulevard and as far south as Elder Creek, Stonebridge Properties President Randy Sater said Wednesday evening at the Urban Design Alliance's monthly Design Dialogue event.

Development would require the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors to open up 20,000 acres of land for development under a new county general plan currently being considered, and then approve the specific plan for the Aspen Project, named after the mines Teichert has operated since 1935. At that time, though, the operation was only a few hundred acres.

"We're talking about land we've been mining in for the last 80 years," Sater told 30 people who gathered for the event. "This is a way to bring that land ownership full circle and to do it in a really cool way, and hopefully give back to the community."

Under the plan, 9,000 residential units that would hold an average 2.3 people would be built, creating a community of nearly 21,000. Proposed architectural styles for residences would be European, Spanish and Monterey, like homes in Sacramento's park neighborhoods.

The project would include retail, office and four certified-organic, working "urban farms" with different purposes and ranging in size from 20 to 300 acres.

The community would be centered around an area known as Four Corners, designed as a remnant of neighborhood centers of yesteryear at the site where Matsuda's nursery operated. Adjacent to that would be a farm with community gardens, a rentable community barn and a production kitchen where residents can learn how to cook the kale they grow and eat.

Nearby, a second farm would be operated for profit and sell produce in the community. Another farm would be tied into the elementary school's curriculum and provide produce for lunches. A farm at Bradshaw and Jackson Highway would be built as an entertainment venue for festivals, performances and other events.

Road medians would include edible landscapes. Olive groves and orchards would grow along entry roads.

"So you're going to be coming into this agrarian setting coming into the community," Sater said.

Teichert plans to create a creek valley system, building on changes in topography already left by the mining. The company plans to build a creek corridor, Rock Creek Parkway, through the site to handle stormwater drainage and retention issues created by below-grade ground levels left by mining.

"We're creating terrain where Sacramento has none," Sater said. "We've got all the right equipment and this is like a big sandbox."

The linear parkway will include seven miles of trails for hikers and cyclists. The creek will be dry except during heavy rain.

City and county officials have said the regional sewage treatment plant that serves the city and county has enough capacity to handle the project. But improvements and upgrades may be needed as they connect to the system, he added.

Teichert wants to build on the property after mining down beneath sand and gravel layers to silt and/or clay deposits and deciding that it didn't make economic sense to mine through that layer, Sater said.

The portion of the plan that would be located inside city boundaries has just begun an environmental review with the city's Economic Development Department.

That portion would need to be approved by the city's Planning Commission and the City Council, which would be expected no sooner than spring of 2011. The first phase of the project could take 20 years to build completely, Sater said.

Art dealer's death rouses project

2010-07-02T03:09:09Z

The death of Sacramento art dealer Paul Thiebaud has stirred efforts to get started on construction of the Tribute Building as soon as possible, Heller Pacific officials said Thursday.

Thiebaud died Saturday of colon cancer at age 49. He had been partnering with developer Mike Heller Jr. on a project to build a modern, mixed-use office building featuring a tile mosaic of the Sacramento River by his father, artist Wayne Thiebaud.

The two friends had planned to build the $12 million, four-story structure to honor their fathers — contractor Mike Heller Sr., who died in 2007, and the elder Thiebaud — and their collaboration on Sacramento Municipal Utility Department headquarters more than 50 years ago. At that time, their fathers teamed up with architect Len Blackford to create a celebrated piece of modern architecture using a mosaic tile mural cityscape by Thiebaud for SMUD.

Paul Thiebaud's death is inspiring Heller to push forward with the project.

"It's a tribute in so many ways," said Heller, who didn't wish to comment further at this time.

"It only increases the motivation," said Andy Eckstrom, Heller Pacific's development project manager. "It's out of tribute for his (Thiebaud's) father, who's still living, and my boss' father, and now, certainly a tribute to Paul, too."

Now 89, Wayne Thiebaud has been asked to create the mosaic for an art tower at the building on a prominent Midtown corner at 1926 Capitol Ave.

The Sacramento Planning Commission approved the project in November 2008. The commission okayed variances and permits to exceed the 45-foot height limit in that zone with a building larger than 40,000 square feet, as well as to reduce shade tree requirements and setbacks and allow 59 off-site parking spaces. About 28 parking spaces are planned for the site.

Construction had been expected to be completed this year. But that stalled due to the collapse of the economy. Broker Ken Turton is working to find a few more tenants or a big one — enough to convince a bank to provide financing, Eckstrom said.

The 47,000-square-foot building will feature a rooftop garden, a "glass envelope" exterior and public art integrated into the architecture. There is about 40,000 square feet of leaseable space, including ground-floor retail and three stories of office. Heller Pacific plans to move its Gold River headquarters to the building, and the project's structural engineer, Buehler & Buehler, would also relocate from another Heller Pacific building — taking up about 30 percent, or roughly 16,000 square feet.

"We're permit-ready for this project. Everything's titled and ready to go," Eckstrom said. "It's just a matter of getting enough pre-leasing to make us feel comfortable and the banks feel comfortable."

The SMUD headquarters building was recently placed on the National Register of Historic Places and the California Register of Historical Resources and is an example of the International/Miesian-style of post-World War II modernism, led by architect Mies van der Rohe.

A Sacramento resident, Paul Thiebaud operated two art galleries in San Francisco and New York. He also had an office and appointment-only gallery on Capitol Avenue a block away from the Tribute Building's future site. His work as an art dealer took him throughout the world. With the SMUD building as his father's only piece of public art and only ceramic work, son Paul was devoted to constructing the Tribute Building.

"He wanted this project built," Eckstrom said. "He was still motivated before he passed away."

Photo of Paul Thiebaud and Mike Heller Jr. and graphic renderings provided by Heller Pacific. Photo of SMUD headquarters provided by SMUD.

Sacramento 'Blueprint' marks 5 years

2010-04-03T02:44:12Z

The Sacramento region's "Blueprint" for a sustainable, thriving future must include communities connected through economic equality, mass transit investment and smart growth, experts said Friday.

The area already is already helping to nudge the country away from an autocentric culture that's promoted sprawl for decades through its Blueprint Transportation and Land Use project. The Sacramento Area Council of Governments board adopted the Blueprint in December 2004 to help plan more compact growth, protect natural resources, and reduce traffic congestion and pollution over the next 50 years.

Now, research shows that sprawl is caused in part by social distance and inequality. While intellectual centers such as universities and innovative technology industries spur economic growth, factors such as poverty, inequality and segregation can get in the way of economic growth, said Manuel Pastor, a University of Southern California professor who directs the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity.

"Areas marked by inequality and segregation are growing more slowly — partly because they have less consensus for how to grow," he said.

Pastor was one of several experts in economics, planning, transportation and regional equity who spoke Friday during SACOG"s "Blueprint: Then, Now, Next." At least 750 turned out for the event, held at California State University, Sacramento's University Union. It celebrated the Blueprint's five-year anniversary and considered challenges to its implementation.

Several speakers agreed that sustainable communities must contain a variety of housing types and transportation infrastructures that enable people to bike, walk, use public transit or drive.

But it's equally important for regions to figure out to connect poor communities to jobs and other economic opportunities. That kind of equity can give the Sacramento region a "competitive advantage" in building sustainable communities, Pastor said.

"Success is not really stasis," he said. "Success ... is resilience. It's the capacity for regions to respond to issues, to survive the recession and to be able to lead on these questions of inclusion and equity as well."

Water main work to back up 12th

2009-07-25T02:17:58Z

People commuting into the city from Highway 160 can expect to experience traffic delays on 12th Street starting next month as another phase of the city's aging water main replacement gets underway.

People using 13th and 6th streets will face delays starting in two to three months when similar work begins there.

The city is replacing nearly century-old pipes to prevent the kind of water main explosion that created a big sinkhole and surface flooding on Q Street in the mid-1990s, said Dan Sherry, the city's supervising engineer who manages the water design and planning section.

Replacing pipes that currently run beneath 12th Street from H to Q is expected to cost $2.6 million, he said.

One-block sections of three-lane 12th Street will be restricted to just one lane while water transmission pipes installed in 1915 are replaced from H to L streets. That section of the project is expected to take two months, but the city is providing incentives to encourage the contractor to work as quickly as possible, said Bill Zehnder, a senior engineer for the city's water design and planning section.

Following the initial phase on 12th Street, new pipe will be laid down L Street to 13th, and then down 13th from L to Q streets. That work is expected to take about 10 months.

The city will take the 1915 water main offline by ripping out the section from H to L and filling the section from L to Q streets -- which mostly runs underneath Capitol Park -- with sand.

The city's water system consists of grids made up of a handful of water mains, or 20-inch to 24-inch steel pipes, and 12-inch or smaller distribution pipes that are used to feed water to homes and businesses. Some of the water pipes are up to 110 years old. The city has been slowly replacing the water mains since the 1995 incident. Some pipes already have holes in them that could rupture.

Some of the first water pipes -- wooden pipes held together with metal stays, similar to wooden barrels -- still lay beneath the city's surface. Those have not been used in years.

"Complete Streets" workshop Friday

2009-07-09T02:41:36Z

Planners will gather in Sacramento Friday for a workshop that focuses on creating safer, more accessible streets in the central city and beyond.

The Local Government Commission and the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District are hosting a "Complete Streets" workshop to educate people about the need to transform more vehicle-dominated roadways into streets that are healthy, safe and easy to use for people on foot, bicycles and wheelchairs.

"'Complete street' is a term that's emerged in the last four to five years to really address the need to have policies that result in streets that accomodate all users, not just people in a car," said Paul Zykofsky, director of the Local Government Commission's land use and transportation programs. The commission, which began as the SolarCAL Commission in the 1970s, is made up of local government officials concerned primarily with creating livable communities.

More diverse use of streets also can bolster air quality and lessen impacts on land and water.

"It means taking a more holistic approach to the way we design, build and operate our streets," he said.

The California Department of Transportation, Sacramento Area Council of Governments and WalkSacramento also are sponsoring the workshop, which will be held Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Grand Hotel, 1230 J St. Most of those attending are expected to be private and public planners, including local elected officials and government agency staff.

The event will introduce the concept and report the current status of the region's urban and suburban streets. Speakers also will address laws and possible financial support for complete streets projects.

The central city is well ahead of its outlying areas and suburbs in terms of accessible streets. That's mainly because walking has always been a common form of transportation in the grid. Also, the city has worked to make more streets safe and accessible to various users for at least six years, said one of the workshop's moderators, Anne Geraghty, who serves as executive director for WalkSacramento. The nonprofit, which promotes walkable communities, is leading an informal coalition of individuals and agencies interested in complete streets in the Sacramento area.

Pedestrians simply weren't considered by planners and designers when many suburbs were created, so problems with streets are "more profound" there, she said.

"For over 50 years, our communities have kind of taken walking for granted," she said. "The central city is one of the better places in our region, but it has problems as well."

Streets that are examples of complete or incomplete streets are easy to find in the central city. Two of the most recently "completed" streets are 19th and 21st. The city transformed both from one-way, three-lane streets to one-way, two-lane streets, then added bicycle lanes on both sides of the streets and a lot more well-marked crosswalks, she said.

Two of the more problematic streets are sections of I and 12th, where the lack of bike lanes results in bicyclists riding on sidewalks. Bicyclists may be safer there, but pedestrians may feel they're not, she added.

Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates has been lobbying to get the three-lane section of I Street, starting at 21st Street, changed from three lanes to two and possibly back to two-way traffic, in addition to getting bike lanes.

"We would like to see all the streets in the region be complete so you can walk easily, especially to nearby destinations," Geraghty said.

Railyards shops cleanup to start

2009-07-02T03:28:08Z

Cleanup of historic Southern Pacific railroad shops is expected to begin late this month as the next phase of the Sacramento Railyards project kicks into gear.

Hazardous materials including lead paint, asbestos, metals and other industrial toxins need to be removed from the shops, which were built starting in 1868. Georgia developer Thomas Enterprises has put the abatement project out to bid and expects to award the contract in the next few weeks, said Richard Rich, development director for the Railyards project.

In its heyday, Southern Pacific practically owned the town. The railyards drove Sacramento's economy, and nearly a third of all the city's residents worked there. The shops lay at the center of the railyards.

The Railyards project, the country's largest infill project, will not only double the size of downtown, but the mixed-use district is being designed to recapture the importance of the former railroad site. The Central Shops being redeveloped near the Sacramento Valley Rail Station depot are the key to that, Rich said.

"Right now, the depot is kind of in a forgotten corner of downtown," he said. ""That'll put enough urban fabric around the depot that it becomes the center of the city again."

On Monday, the city won $55.8 million in Proposition 1C infill redevelopment funds from the California Department of Housing and Community Development. About $30 million will go to the $6 billion Railyards project. The new funding brings the project's state public bond funding to $115-$120 million, although none of that has been received, said Thomas Enterprises Vice President Suheil Totah.

The Railyards project also won $20 million in federal stimulus money this year and another $8 million in federal funds for a freeway connection project. The city and developer are pursuing another $100 million in federal stimulus money to help fund the city's future intermodal transportation facility. Developments are expected soon on the city's bid to get National Enviromental Policy Act approval for the facility.

The city has committed funding to the project and promised to build a city parking garage there as well. Thomas Enterprises has invested $200 million in the project so far. Private investment is expected to total about $5 billion, Totah said.

Central Pacific originally established the railyards during the steam locomotive era. The company later became Southern Pacific. The 244-acre site grew to contain at least 243 buildings.

The shops and other buildings began falling into disrepair in the 1930s when the Depression brought reduced rail traffic.

About the same time, diesel locomotives began to gain favor over steam locomotives. The Sacramento Railyards had been set up to produce and repair steam locomotives. Some diesels were worked on there, but retooling the railyards for diesel proved too difficult.

In addition, Southern Pacific moved most of its maintenance work to rural areas like Roseville as Sacramento grew. The railyard shops officially closed in 1999, four years after Union Pacific bought Southern Pacific.

Seven brick shop buildings were all that remained when Thomas Enterprises bought the site for an undisclosed amount in December 2006. All seven will be preserved and rehabbed for adaptive reuse. The massive Boiler Shop and Erecting Shop will be used for the state's Railroad Technology Museum.

Thomas will rehab the other five shops. The 56,000 former Paint Shop will contain a public market selling Central Valley products including produce, cheese, wine, meat and fish — similar to San Francisco's Ferry Building — near an extended Fifth Street. Other former railyard shops will house restaurants, nightclubs and retail stores. In the center, a football field-sized plaza will be built to hold large city events, a farmers' market or small performances.

"These buildings, which will surround the public open space, will form the nucleus of the cultural district," Rich said.

Hazardous materials abatement work is the first step to rehabbing the shops. About 80 percent of the work will be to remove lead-based paint from interior brick. Ten percent will be to remove sheetrock, floor tiles and pipe insulation containing asbestos. The rest involves other contaminants including heavy metals and polychlorinated biphenyl or PCB, he said.

The "significant" cost of abatement won't be known until crews get into the work. Thomas Enterprises tested methods to remove the paint without damaging the hard, fired surface of the brick. Nothing worked, said Rich.

"That put us in a difficult position of how to do it without damaging the brick," he said.

Standards set by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior dictate that the interiors of historic buildings that were originally covered with paint must likewise be covered with paint during rehab. Workers will gently scrape as much lead paint off the walls as possible and the brick will be encapsulated with lead-free paint, he said.

Thomas Enterprises broke ground on the infrastructure phase last winter. Initial grading of Railyards Boulevard and northern portions of Fifth and Sixth streets has been done. Extending Fifth and Sixth streets into the site will help connect the railyards with downtown, said Totah, adding that more infrastructure work will start once the developer gets the state funding it's been awarded.

Building construction is expected to start next year on 5th, 7th and Camille streets. Construction may include housing, mixed-use and office.

City nabs $56m for redevelopment

2009-07-01T04:18:36Z

The city of Sacramento has won $55.8 million in Proposition 1C funds for infill redevelopment, the city announced late Tuesday.

On Monday, the California Department of Housing and Community Development approved money to help fund infrastructure for four projects: the Railyards, Township 9, Curtis Park Village and Capitol Lofts. Proposition 1C was approved by voters in November 2006.

The $6 billion Railyards project will get about $30 million, said city spokesperson Wendy Klock-Johnson.

The new funding brings the project's total public bond funding to at least $115 million.

“This is a step in the right direction for our city in terms of economic development and creation of employment opportunities in Sacramento,” Mayor Kevin Johnson said. “This is a proactive step towards Sacramento becoming a world-class city.”

Georgia developer Thomas Enterprises broke ground last winter on the infrastructure phase of its effort to transform the historic Union Pacific railyards into a mixed-use district abutting downtown's Sacramento Valley Rail Station.

Foreclosures staying off the Grid

2009-06-30T01:48:19Z

Walk through some of the region's newest neighborhoods and you'll discover hundreds upon hundreds of houses lying empty. Their owners, victims of foreclosure, have long since moved on.

While only some of those are currently on the market, you'll find it next to impossible to come upon a foreclosed home for sale in Sacramento's central city. That's because there's currently only one.

The desirability of living in the grid and of its housing stock have kept prices fairly stable and made the area nearly immune to the foreclosure crisis, unlike outlying areas of the city and fast-growing suburbs like Natomas and Elk Grove, according to local real estate agents.

"Downtown has held its value, because what we have downtown, you can't replicate in new construction areas," said David Kirrene, a real estate broker with Windermere Dunnigan Realtors.

"You've got the character of the old homes -- every house is different. You've got the tree-lined streets. And look at just how long these homes have lasted; the quality of the homes," he said. "I think with new construction areas -- you can get that in 'Any City, USA' ."

In addition, homeowners in the grid -- the area bounded by the Sacramento River on the west, the Union Pacific railroad tracks/B Street on the north, Alhambra Boulevard on the east and Broadway to the south -- are mostly more experienced, established buyers who bought their homes before this decade's new housing boom and who got fixed-rate mortgages, said Elizabeth Weintraub, an agent in Lyon Real Estate's Midtown office and a home-buying columnist for About.com.

Right now, only one foreclosed home -- a house on 25th Street in Midtown -- is currently on the market in the grid, according to Weintraub and Tabetha Holyfield, a real estate agent for Century 21 All Professional near Arden Fair Mall. That's out of 74 homes currently for sale in Midtown in the 95816 zip code and downtown in 95814 and 95811.

It's another story in the fastest-growing nearby towns. Natomas has 145 bank-owned homes for sale and Elk Grove has 139, said Weintraub. In the city, Del Paso has 44 on the market, Oak Park has 41, South Sacramento has 16 and Rosemont has seven, according to MetroList Services numbers provided by Weintraub and Holyfield.

Those numbers don't tell the whole tale. The actual number of foreclosed homes -- not just foreclosed homes on the market -- in the city and in particular, the grid, isn't kept by any government agency or a one-stop service accessible to real estate pros or consumers.

However, numbers are kept for the entire county. After a dip in foreclosures in recent months, Sacramento County is seeing a resurgence in the number of trustee's deeds filed when banks foreclose on homes. June already has 1,067, while May had 869, April had 897 and March had 919, according to figures from the Sacramento County Assessor's Office.

Before that, the monthly numbers of houses slipping out of owner's hands hadn't fallen below 1,071 (the figure for January 2009) since December 2007.

Two other problems with ferreting out the actual number of foreclosures are the "short sales" homes that are on the market to technically avoid foreclosure and all the foreclosed homes the banks are now holding back from the market, real estate agents said.

A short sale is an agreement between the homeowner and bank that allows the homeowner to avoid foreclosure. Short sales involve homeowners who need to sell either because they're undergoing hardship and can't afford the mortgage payments, or because the house is upside down and the owners owe more than the house is worth.

Banks can be negotiated with to allow owners to sell houses -- sometimes at half the price the owners paid -- if the bank gets all the money from the sale. The bank will then release the loan. These short-sale homes aren't listed as foreclosures, said Weintraub, who may be the city's top short-sales agent. She currently has 20 short-sale homes listed.

Currently, 58.6 percent in of the homes listed in Sacramento County are short sales, she said, adding, "Short sales are replacing foreclosures as the hot commodity."

In addition, banks are selling foreclosed houses in bulk at 50 cents on the dollar to investors, who turn around and list those properties at twice what they paid; yet those houses aren't advertised as foreclosures when they go back on the market.

Also, housing prices have gotten so low due to the glut of foreclosed homes that banks are not putting them on the market, real estate agents said.

"They're really controlling the market. So it's giving us a false sense of what's really going on," said Holyfield.

At the start of 2009, the number of bank-owned homes that were active real estate listings in Sacramento County and parts of nearby Yolo and Placer counties totaled 2,500. As of June 15, the number was only 909, she said.

"They're hoarding them. It's what's known as shadow inventory," Weintraub said. "Yet we all know the number of foreclosures are continually going up."

Most people who've lost their homes to foreclosure in other areas were first-time owners who bought between 2002 and 2006 in a time when home loans were too easy to get, and so the number of buyers skyrocketed. The demand inflated housing prices for both tract houses in brand-new subdivisions and lower-end houses in established neighborhoods and fueled a construction boom that created new neighborhoods.

At the same time, these people purchased with "100 percent financing," so they didn't put down any -- or at least not significant -- down payments. They also got adjustable-rate mortgages, which greatly increased their payments after the first few years.

"There were so many first-time home buyers. It didn't matter who you were. They were giving away homes like lollipops," said Holyfield.

Weintraub agreed, saying, "A lot of the people in trouble out in the suburbs are really people who never should have qualified to buy."

After the bottom fell out of the housing market, house prices plummeted and many people owed more than their houses were worth.

In the central city where there's no room for new home construction, seasoned owners have held onto their homes for a long time. The housing market has remained far more stable and prices have stayed relatively flat in comparison.

"We don't have the roller-coaster prices like we have in other areas," said Holyfield. "We didn't have those big explosions coming into Midtown, buying those properties and now selling those properties. You have established people living in the inner city, instead of having a whole neighborhood of people who just moved there in the last 10 years."

House prices never went up as high in the grid as they did in new areas, and now they've gone down only about 25 percent, contrasted with a 50- to 60-percent decrease in other areas, said Kirrene.

"I've always heard these are the first to go up in value and the last to go down in value," he said. The median sales prices of a 1600-square-foot, three-bedroom, single-family home is currently $308,000 in the grid, he said.

In 2008, 27 percent (13 out of 49) of the single-family homes sold in the 95816 zip code and 37 percent in 95814 and 95811 were foreclosures, while 70 to 80 percent of those sold in other regions were foreclosures, said Craig Dunnigan, who owns Prudential Dunnigan Real Estate.

From Dec., 27, 2008, a total of 670 foreclosed homes have sold in Elk Grove and 733 in Natomas, said Weintraub. Fifteen sold downtown and in 95816, which may include East Sacramento in this figure.

Real estate agents cited many reasons why people want to live in the central city and buy the houses that are here. Most of the homes were built before 1940. A sizable number were built before 1900. In the last six months, 20 of the active, pending and sold houses were built before 1900 and two before 1880, Kirrene said.

These homes were built better, with charm and quality craftsmanship that makes them higher-end properties. People also love being close to vibrant Midtown and downtown, with all the restaurants, shops, clubs, open park space and access to both the Sacramento and American rivers. People who work there don't want to commute, and they enjoy easy access to freeways, real estate agents said.

"People gravitate toward homes with character, and this is where people are going to find them," said Weintraub. "It's a desirable place to live."

Participants sought for flood management plan

2009-06-11T04:01:23Z

Central Valley flood protection is entering a new era as work on an updated, comprehensive management plan gets underway.

This month, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) officially launched a process to coordinate improving the valley's flood control efforts under the Central Valley Flood Management Planning (CVFMP) Program. The process began for the Sacramento area Wednesday, when DWR held a regional forum in West Sacramento as part of the effort to strengthen levees in the state-federal flood management system.

The forum's goals were to increase understanding of the area's flood risk, raise awareness of the CVFMP Program and recruit people into the planning process.

"We're trying to decrease the chance of disruptive floods," said Ken Kirby of Kirby Consulting Group. "As long as we continue to live and work and play in the flood plain, there will always be a danger of flooding."

The forum, held in West Sacramento's City Hall Galleria, brought together agencies, organizations and individuals concerned about flooding by the lower Sacramento River. Those taking part included staff from the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the city of Galt, Solano County, the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, the Sacramento Area Council of Goverments and several reclamation districts.

Under California Senate Bill 5, which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law in 2007, the Central Valley Flood Protection Plan (CVFPP) must be adopted by the Central Valley Flood Protection Board by 2012, and by 2015, progress must be made toward 200-year flood protection in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys to enable governments to approve flood plain development. Both CVFMP and CVFPP are part of a larger, statewide flood management called FloodSAFE California.

The CVFMP Program is being developed to reduce the chance of flooding and to lessen the consequences of any floods. The program will assess the current condition of levees and other aspects of the flood protection system, build people's understanding of local flood risk and integrate flood-management efforts.

State propositions 1E and 84 provided $4.9 billion to be used from 2007 to 2017 to help DWR improve flood management in California.

The CVFMP Program is required to document everything that makes up the Central Valley's current flood control system. The program must also develop a flood control system status report that analyzes how the system's working, assesses the risk of levee failure and recommends solutions to fix the system.

The program will focus on areas protected by levees in the state-federal system. However, communities protected by other levees will be included in the study area.

On Wednesday, DWR began recruiting people for CVFMP work groups. Some at the forum expressed doubt over being able to take part after hearing that 40 hours of work per month would be involved.

DWR staff believes there will still be more than enough participants who can provide a broad perspective for the process, said DWR spokesperson Elizabeth Scott.

Work groups get underway within weeks.

Crocker expansion to boost businesses

2009-06-06T00:57:26Z

Art connoisseurs are already reveling in the expanded offerings that will deck out Crocker Art Museum's new wing.

But art lovers won't be the only ones to benefit. The capital's economic vitality is expected to get a big boost when the 125,000-square-foot expansion triples the museum's size upon opening next year.

"I think it's going to really elevate Sacramento's visibility as a cultural destination," said Michelle Alexander, executive director of the Arts & Business Council of Sacramento. "Cultural tourism is a big, key factor in economic health."

In the next few weeks, construction crews will begin building the connection from the contemporary new wing to the future education studio in the main Art Gallery Building, a Victorian Italianate structure built in the 1870s.

The expansion will quadruple the museum's exhibition space and add room for flood-protected storage and collection maintenance on the second floor. The wing also will include a 7,000-square-foot courtyard, café, 300-seat auditorium and dramatic, two-story atrium that can be used for events of 400 to 1,200 people (with the use of the courtyard). Construction will include systems to control temperature, humidity and security.

The added space will permit museum curators to sort through Crocker's growing collection and allow much more of that collection — 20 percent as opposed to less than 4 percent — to be exhibited. Crocker has had "unprecedented" collection growth thanks to the expansion, said LeAnne Ruzzamenti, Crocker's director of marketing communications.

The structure with an aluminum and zinc exterior was designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects of New York and is being built by Rudolph and Sletten of Redwood City. The design maintains the gallery building as the architectural focal point for the complex at Second and O streets.

As the oldest art museum west of the Mississippi River, the Crocker is one of the capital's primary tourist attractions. Art museums like this are a big magnet for travelers and the money they spend in town, said Leslie Fritzsche, downtown division manager for the city's Economic Development Department.

"With the increase in tourism, that impacts the use of hotels and restaurants," she said. "So there's a great spin-off effect."

National media attention showcasing Sacramento as a cultural and travel destination can boost real estate, construction industries and property value, Alexander said.

Each year, Sacramento sees an average 17 million leisure and business visitors who spend a total $2.4 billion, said Mike Testa, vice president of communications for the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau.

About 95,000 people visit the Crocker each year. The expanded museum should draw people from the San Francisco Bay Area and other parts of the state, he said.

The art museum and four others within about a mile of each other are creating a "string of pearls" in terms of the city's cultural offerings, said Beth Tincher, a senior project manager with the Economic Development Department. That, in turn, will impact other economic growth, such as the development of the Docks Area just across the freeway, she added.

"We always think of this critical mass of attractions," Testa said. "Really, the more museums we have, the more people we're going to attract because of the diversity."

The city's cultural attractions contribute to residents' quality of life, and that, in turn, is factored into companies' decisions on where to be located, said Fritzsche and Alexander.

"As Sacramento improves its branding as an arts destination, we increase our ability to attract high-level talent and corporate headquarters from other large metropolitan cites," said Alexander. "We become a city and culture worth investing in."

Crews building Riverfront Promenade

2009-06-03T20:13:25Z

Standing on Front Street, Beth Tincher was more than satisfied to survey riverfront construction this week.

The project manager of the city's Docks Area Project and Riverfront Promenade watched construction workers set the promenade's concrete retaining wall and a circular seating wall that'll soon surround a water feature centerpiece playing off the city's historic waterfront.

"I'm excited, because it's been a long time in the making," said Tincher, standing south of Tower Bridge. "It's pretty amazing to come out to the site and see what this could be -- the potential of this highly under-utilized old brownfield site."

Sacramentans will get more than simply a mile of bike-and pedestrian-friendly riverside parkway when the promenade is finished by year's end. The $23 million, 14-acre promenade is seen as the next big piece of the plan to stimulate redevelopment of an old industrial area and to connect the Sacramento River to downtown Sacramento.

City officials have talked about redeveloping the Docks Area site for more than 13 years. Embassy Suites Sacramento and two blocks of promenade were built about 10 years ago near Tower Bridge.

As part of the 2003 Sacramento Riverfront Master Plan, the promenade will one day form the entrance to the Docks Area, a 30-acre mixed-use area expected to hold housing, shops, restaurants, office towers and possibly a hotel. The combined 44-acre site is one of the city's only redevelopment opportunities along the river, said Tincher, a senior project manager with the City of Sacramento Economic Development Department.

The area has a strong link to the Sacramento River's prominent past. The site was once the unloading point for commercial cargo being shipped from San Francisco to the city, gold mines and beyond.

The city put the Docks project out to bid and have given a San Francisco partnership formed by Kenwood Investments and Wilson Meany Sullivan an exclusive right to negotiate (ERN) to redevelop the mostly-abandoned former industrial area. The partners have worked together on other complex projects and are currently managing the 400-acre redevelopment of Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay.

Staff from the city's Department of Utilities and the Redevelopment Agency are currently studying the feasibility of moving Pioneer Reservoir, which holds excess storm drainage and sewage from downtown before pumping it back into the regional water system. The study's results are expected to be presented to the city council in July, said Tincher.

After that has been completed, the city is required to adopt a Docks-specific plan and certify the final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) as part of the ERN agreement with the developers. The city is preparing the final EIR and will start the public hearing process for the EIR and the Docks-specific plan in August or September.

The city can then begin negotiating with the developer on the Disposition and Development Agreement to determine which party will fund what parts of the project, she said. The developer would then work on the design and tentative map approval.

The promenade will stretch from O Street south to Miller Park. The parkway's gem will be one-third-acre Pioneer Landing Park, which will contain a public plaza holding a "cloud vessel," a misting water feature art piece designed to resemble a boat's hull in honor of the riverfront's past. Other, smaller art pieces will be scattered throughout the parkway.

The promenade and especially the large water feature are being designed to enhance the city's image. The feature will be lit at night and viewable from the adjacent freeway and the California State Railroad Museum excursion train based in Old Sacramento.

The final design of the Docks Area has yet to be worked out and is being impacted by the housing and commercial real estate markets, Tincher said.

However, concepts being considered include 1,000 to 1,155 housing units; 45,000 square feet of commercial space for shops, restaurants and other businesses that can draw people to the waterfront; 500,000 square feet of high-rise office tower space; and a possible hotel. The office space is expected to be built in 20 to 30 years as demand arises, she added.

Following the current timeline, an estimated $14 million in infrastructure construction in the Docks Area would begin between mid-2011 to the start of 2012.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press. She can be reached at suzanne@sacramentopress.com or 804-2856.