Mayor Kevin Johnson and Think Big Sacramento leaders held a press conference Monday morning to announce a new effort for the future of the downtown railyards: the possibility of building a baseball stadium and bringing a Major League Baseball franchise to the city. The press conference was streamed live.

Once “Plan B” for a downtown arena failed to materialize, the Think Big Sacramento organization shifted gears and is now taking a broader look at possibilities for developing the more than 200 acre railyards site. Several suggestions have already come up for the site, including: Major League Baseball stadium – Several news outlets (including the New York TImes, Bleacher Report and Fox Sports) have reported that the Oakland A’s may be looking for a new home. Why not Sacramento? Corporate headquarters – Now that the city has received a $15 million grant to fix up the downtown train station, Sacramento is well on its way to being a full intermodal hub, making the railyards a convenient sit

After two days of intense private negotiations, Mayor Kevin Johnson announced Friday that there will be no deal between the city and the Maloofs for a new arena. Citing irreconcilable differences, Johnson said all negotiations with the Sacramento Kings team owners are over and no further discussions are planned. Kings spokesman Eric Rose confirmed in an email statement Friday that they could not reach an agreement with the city. “We know this door is closed,” Johnson said at a press conference Friday, “but, as mayor, I’m going to do all I can to keep an NBA team in town.” Here is how the story unfolded Friday morning in the Twittersphere: <[ View the story "Twitter feed from mayor's

Despite the battle between the city and Sacramento Kings’ team owners over a new entertainment and sports complex, City Councilman Steve Cohn is adamant that plans for developing the railyards site for an intermodal transit facility will continue uninterrupted. “Yes, there is absolutely an intermodal without the arena,” Cohn said Thursday at a workshop on the project at City Hall. More than 100 people attended the workshop hosted by the city to discuss the site orientation of the proposed arena at the downtown railyards along with current and future transportation facilities at the site. Until the recent arena deal fell apart, the intermodal project at the downtown railyards was slated

Think Big Sacramento Executive Director Chris Lehane said Monday that Friday’s spat with the Maloof family does not spell the end for an arena deal in downtown Sacramento, but that it was a setback that can be overcome. “First of all, we’ve continued to believe that a downtown-based entertainment and sports complex makes tremendous sense for the city and the region for jobs creation and economic development,” Lehane said. “All of that continues to exist, and I think we need to explore alternative ways to move forward.” Lehane said one option would be to follow the model of Kansas City, in which an arena was built without having a professional sports team as a partner. Another way could b

Self-described “world-famous” Sacramento bounty hunter Leonard Padilla is making his fifth bid for mayor – and this time he intends to win. Padilla, 72, said Wednesday that the decision to run for mayor has always been an easy one for him to make because running for political office brings a valuable opportunity to candidates. “You have things that you want to say publicly, and the mayor’s race gives you that ability,” Padilla said. “It gets you out there to where you keep up with what’s happening in the city, and you are forced to learn about sewer rates, water rates, garbage and the budget. It forces you into a situation where you have to just learn.” The key difference for Padilla in

Local sporting goods store manager Troy Bedal walked away as the big winner Tuesday in the Think Big Sacramento Citizen Architect competition with a personalized brick Walk of Fame design inspired by a similar design at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Bedal and the two runners-up – Shaun Baland, 42, a state worker from Lincoln, and Gary Bladen, 24, a recent UC Davis graduate working on sustainable development – gathered at City Hall for the announcement Tuesday along with Think Big committee members Greg Hayes and Carla Collins Mixon and local artist and competition judge David Garibaldi. The competition – a contest to design a portion of the planned entertainment and sports complex – opened

City staff and Think Big Sacramento representatives presented the City Council with technical and financial option reports on the proposed entertainment and sports complex Tuesday, and asked council to direct them where to go next. “We have a lot of work to do in the next six months,” said City Manager John Shirey, “and we need both internal and external resources to do it.” To keep things moving forward, though, Shirey told council members that he plans to deliver three things: “a game plan with a timeline, a list of the consultant work we need and a list of how we’ll pay for those things.” Although the technical report presented Tuesday included more detail than previous reports, Shir

A federal funding program allowing foreign investors to provide low-interest loans in return for green cards was one potential arena funding source highlighted in the long-awaited Think Big Sacramento Committee report, which was revealed to the public at a Sacramento Press Club luncheon Thursday. The program, while not a solution in its own right, could buy time, allowing publicly owned land to increase in value for sale at a higher rate, according to officials. Both of those options are parts of the “menu of options” the Think Big Sacramento group was tasked with providing earlier this year. More than 120 business leaders, a few Kings fans and most of Sacramento’s media gathered for the

Take some vacant, unused city-owned land, sell the land to investors for development and reap the benefits of construction jobs, economic growth and money to help finance a new downtown arena. That’s the latest idea being considered by the Think Big Sacramento committee, according to a report released at a press conference Thursday. The press conference was held at a city-owned dirt lot at the corner of Front and V streets, which is one of the examples cited in the report of public land that could be sold for profit – and would result in jobs related to the development of the property. “Properties like this could be put in the mix to draw and generate money from developers,” said Think

A new children’s hospital, a high-tech business center and a television-film-video game industry complex were some of the ideas Natomas residents discussed Thursday as potential re-uses for the current arena site – if the arena is relocated. More than 80 residents and business owners met at a town hall meeting hosted by Assemblyman Dr. Richard Pan and City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby for an hour-long discussion and question-and-answer session about the arena’s future. Attendees expressed ideas and concerns about what the city should do with what has been a hub of sports and entertainment activity for more than 20 years. Power Balance Pavillion (formerly Arco Arena) has been home to the

Conceptual plans were revealed to the public Monday night for the intermodal transportation facility and the entertainment and sports complex proposed for the Railyards site. Think Big Sacramento committee members presented the proposal to about 100 community members. The town hall meeting was hosted by City Councilman Rob Fong and the discussion was led by Assistant City Manager John Dangberg. Attendees had mixed responses to the proposed facility, some questioning the economic viability and some expressing support. Dangberg emphasized that the project would be an economic driver for the region. Fong, whose district the Railyards is in, said the plans are still in the early stages but

Think Big Sacramento committee members met at the West Sacramento City Hall Thursday to review a report identifying publicly owned assets that could potentially increase in value with the development of an entertainment/sports complex. The “Public Synergies Report,” prepared by the Think Big executive committee, outlined four asset areas with potential for increased revenue: the use of existing parking structures, new billboards and digital signage near the facility, the sale or development of some publicly owned land and the placement of cellular phone towers near the facility. “We are identifying revenue that would not otherwise exist if not for the development of this facility,” said

In what Mayor Kevin Johnson called an unprecedented event, 14 chambers of commerce from the Sacramento region announced Thursday that they support an entertainment and sports complex in downtown Sacramento. Johnson said the backing of the regional business community, which came after a four-county bus trip for Think Big Sacramento, is a commitment to the promise he made to the National Basketball Association earlier this year in New York City that Sacramento is an NBA city and can build a new arena. “I did not sell Sacramento, I sold our region,” he said, adding that a common commitment to a downtown sports and entertainment complex will provide a more vibrant community. The major obsta

Mayor Kevin Johnson is currently in the process of visiting Sacramento’s six major counties to discuss the benefits of a future entertainment and sports complex along the stretch of what used to be the old Southern Pacific railyards downtown. At the mayor’s weekly press conference Tuesday, Johnson, who had just visited El Dorado County and the city of Folsom the day before, called his visits “authentic outreach.” Johnson is going on a bus tour Thursday to visit regions of El Dorado County, Davis, Roseville and Rancho Cordova to seek input from the communities there, he said. This city-to-city outreach is part of the the mayor’s Think Big Coalition. Johnson said the four guiding principl

Think BIG Sacramento launched an effort Thursday to recruit 1,000 people from Merced to Redding to rally support for a new arena. The arena campaign committee also announced plans to hold a public design contest for a space adjacent to the new facility as part of that effort. The committee is asking regional residents and community leaders to help spread information and gather supporters for the drive to build a new sports and entertainment complex, state Senate staffer Greg Hayes, a member of the arena committee, said in a Thursday morning press conference outside the MARRS Building at 1050 20th St. Later this month, the committee will announce full details of a contest that could enab