It appears Curtis Park Village is still moving forward. As I write this, there is continuing remediation work at the site. If you happen to be driving on the Sutterville Road overpass, take a look over at the former West Pacific Railroad site where you'll see large piles of dirt being moved around. It's anticipated that the soil clean-up work will last till the summer of 2008. The project will likely be heard at the City Council late winter or early spring and construction will commence in the latter half of 2008.
The Curtis Park Village project consists of 72 acres, with most of the property being contaminated with toxic and hazardous substances. A majority of the site will be excavated in varying degrees up to 40 feet in depth and the contaminated soil will be removed to a federally controlled toxic dumping site in Utah.
The current plan for the village is to have 225 residential units and 160,000sf of commercial use.
It's nice to know at least one large-scale infill project is still moving forward. I do like the design of this neighborhood, although I think the lot sizes could be smaller (but I realize they need to keep it in line with neighboring Curtis Park).
ReplyDeleteAnybody know if there is a mixed-use component? residential above some of that retail? It looks like they have ped/bike cut-throughs to the existing neighborhood-I like that.
ReplyDeleteThere are plans for 48 residential units above commercial buildings. The orange area on the map will be apartments living in three story buildings with a clubhouse, swimming pool, and out door living spaces for the residents. Sounds like a good deal to me.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I was looking into buying a home three years ago, that there were some great deals to be had on the homes that backed up to the railyards. Seems like if people haven't caught on, that's still a great place to buy. One day your backyard is a toxic dump, and the next it's a neighborhood and shopping.
ReplyDeleteIs there any office space slated for the development? Is there any plan to take advantage of the light rail stop?
Although (as a CP resident) I welcome the trade of blight for commerce, retail, etc., there have been some problems with this plan. For one, it is still fairly auto-centric. Check out the parking lots on the bottom. Also, there is not a good plan to integrate the light rail. Finally, this has the potential to be one of Petrovich's strip malls, just in the middle of the park. Note the scale of some of these stores. We're talking Michaels or Best Buy and stuff. Not necessary for a "village". What if Petrovich were to REALLLLY think outside the box here and parcel the lots smaller (for smaller scale businesses- even if they are chains), move the parking to the back of the buildings rather than the front, and integrate a town square? You know, like a real village.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I'm gonna be right next to this thing. I'm happy about development, but I don't need to live next door to Roseville.
A grocer of some sort could work in the large building maybe?
ReplyDeleteI do have two fears of Petrovich, though.
His choice of tenants is the worst. There is sure to be another Rite Aid in there, even though there is soon to be one less than half-a-mile away. And he doesn't look far for any others.
The other is architectural style. Petrovich can have all the chrome sculptures he wants (i actually like them)... but there's really no room for more Tuscany in the region. It's over with, and it's time to move on.
Actually, I agree with you on both points. I know some things about the project, and Rite Aid has been bandied about. A grocer is definitely in the works. What the neighborhood has asked for is smaller-scale. Some grocery stores have been experimenting with smaller footprint stores, designed to serve the immediate neighborhood and not attract cars from everywhere else.
ReplyDeleteDitto on the architecture. Petrovich said that he was going to do "Spanish-style" to meld with the neighborhood. While he's right in observing that a small percentage of CP homes are Spanish-style, most aren't. Also, that's just a fudge on his part. He wants to build Spanish REGARDLESS. That's the prevailing style of strip mall, and he's just wanting to do things the way he always does. It's gonna be a bunch of stucco boxes in earthones with crown details and red clay tile roofs. Same as in Roseville or Natomas or Elk Grove or Hayward or Akron.
I used to think that my neighbors were being NIMBYs about this project, but they have valid points. Curtis Park and Land Park are too historically and aesthetically important to have a strip suburb land in the middle of them.
"Same as in Roseville or Natomas or Elk Grove or Hayward or Akron.".. or pretty much every other city or town in the usa!
ReplyDeleteexactly.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to think that a developer would do something interesting for CPV- like create a tudor-style village that was unique for the market and site, and looked like something out of Amsterdam, or Yorkshire, or even something more American, in the style of Main Street USA. But it would be nice.
Something to think about- I live in a 1928 house that I have maintained and improved in the few years that I've lived there. This happens everywhere in the older parts of Sac. Look at the preservation efforts for the Tower Theater, and the hoopla about restoring 926 J, or the Elks, or on any number of Victorians and bungalows on the grid. But what about all the stuff that Petrovich and his ilk are building? It's all disposable. It is not worth saving and is temporary. I think it's sad, and I'd rather not have something like that next door, even if it does mean missing out on a Trader Joes.
i live between sutterville road and los angeles both. i hope Petro attracts some quality/urban tenants and leaves the TJ MAX and Best Buy for Natomas. That's one of the best parcels anywhere around and it would be amazing if it could be a beautifully designed, ped. friendly space that houses a Trader Joes, nice cafe space etc. Sacramento could be an amazing place to live but the developers need to give your residents more credit. I think the people actually appreciate things like quality grocers and architecture. Anything less than that is a shot at the people of this beautiful and historic community. If you haven't, go take the Survey on his website!!!! (But only if you support cool upscale retailers haha). Thanks guys, I love to read the postings of people on this site. It's a nice change from most of the stuff I hear from Sacramentans that love blight, stucco, and Walgreens. Keep up the good work!
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