The Metropolitan

35 Stories
10th and J Street
320 Condos from 700 to 1300 Square Feet.
13,000 Square Feet Retail

Developer: John Saca
Architect: Kwan Henmi Architecture/Planning
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John Saca has announced his third condo tower for downtown Sacramento. This one is proposed for the north side of 10th and J across from Caesar Chavez Park on the land purchased from Dean Ingemanson (Remember him from Metro Place?). Saca notes that this building "will be more cost effective," and "There will be fewer amenities." This will help bring prices down a bit from the much talked about Towers at Capitol Mall, but they will still be a little pricey for most people.

I must say, John Saca is determined to carry downtown Sacramento revitalization on his back if it breaks him. I wish the man nothing but the greatest success. I have much admiration for people like him that take major risks in life. If you happen to stumble onto this John, best of luck. I'm pulling for you and I know a lot of people are as well. From what I have heard about you, I have little doubt you will succeed.

Being involved in 301CM as well as the the very important K Street proposals though, I just hope he is not over extending himself.

On a higher level note, The block of 10th and J is probably the most blight block in downtown now that ‘the hole in the ground’ is being developed into Plaza Lofts. That's saying quite a bit especially with K Street Mall right next door. The south side of that block has a development application on file with the city from St Anton LLC and The Cordano Family for a 23-story condo high-rise with some 230 condo units, office space, and 15K of retail space. (Sorry, haven’t seen able to find a rendering yet) They were actually the first high-rise condo proposal announced in Oct 2004, but not much was made of it since 301CM came along only weeks later

I have a feeling that if people are looking for a more reasonable ownership housing options to live in downtown proper, you are going to want to keep your eye on the St Anton project, as well as the Library Lofts at 8th and I. Since those two are “smaller” buildings, I have a feeling we are going to see the per square foot cost come down a bit compared to the other luxury developments. (I know, I know, still not “affordable” but much more reasonable)

The trifecta of Plaza Lofts (225 units and 21K Retail), The Metropolitan, and the St Anton Building, if all developed would over put over 1000 new residents and over 54K of high quality retail space around Caesar Chavez Park. This would without a doubt create some amazing energy and really put some life into CC Park outside of just Concert in the Park in the summer time.

Next year is going to be an interesting year in Sacramento. If we can see a few of these mixed-use proposals breakground, we are going to see a large influx of people living in downtown over the next 2-3 years. As I have mentioned many of times, that is the key to a 24-hour city.