Java City Summer Photo Exposition

For the next several months I will have the pleasure of displaying some of my Sacramento photos up on the walls of Java City in midtown. Please feel free to come by to sip a tasty cup of coffee and browse my display up on the wall. I'm very pleased and excited to see this exhibit come together, it really shows the sexy side of Sacramento. At a later date in August I will be there for a Second Saturday event, more on that later.

Java City
1800 Capitol Avenue

Farmers Markets Spring Up Downtown

Local farmers are prepared for another season of weekly, downtown certified farmers’ markets. The markets began on May 3 and run through October 26. The 6 weekday farmers’ markets are open from 10:00 am – 1:30 pm. There will be two new locations added to the weekly circuit, including East End Capitol Park at 15th and L streets on Thursdays and St. Rose of Lima Park at 7th and K streets on Fridays. Both of the new markets will start on June 2 and continue through September 30.

California certified farmers’ markets provide farmers with a venue to sell their crops directly to the public. Markets eliminate packing, shipping, and wholesale costs and save money for both the farmer and consumer.

Weekday Downtown Certified Farmers’ Markets include:

TUESDAYS
Roosevelt Park, 9th and P streets
May 3 through September 27
Fremont Park, 16th and P streets
May 3 through September 27

WEDNESDAYS
Chavez Plaza, 10th and J Streets
May 4 through October 26

THURSDAYS
Capitol Mall, 6th and Capitol Mall
May 5 through September 29
East End / Capitol Park, 15th and L streets
June 2 through September 29

FRIDAYS
St. Rose of Lima Park, 7th and K streets
June 3 through September 30

Steel Rises at Sutter Medical Center

Design Competition for Capitol Mall

The cities planning an international design competition this summer to overhaul Capitol Mall in an attempt to draw more activates to the area. The city already has about $1 million set aside to begin preliminary work on the mall. Once city officials say they have chose a design they'll go after more money from state and federal grants…as well as private money.

It's my hope that any changes made to Capitol Mall will not include structures or trees that will grow and block the view of the Capitol when seen from the west after crossing the Tower Bridge. This is the only line of site where the entire building can be seen from a distance and makes an awesome visual impact for those visiting our city for the first time. It would be a shame to block the only unobstructed view of the Capitol from this distance where you don’t need to be on a bridge or high-rise to see the Capitol.

Construction Update: Sutter Medical Center

Steel continues to rise slowly for Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center at the Sutter Medical Center. This $600 million project expected to be topped out in late June and completed in late 2012.

Starting in early summer, L Street from 29th Street to the main entrance of Sutter General Hospital will be closed for four months in order to construct the unique three-story spanning structure that will connect the new Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center to Sutter General Hospital. Crews will be putting up the walls and exterior on the north side of the Women’s and Children’s Center with the hope that L Street won’t have to be closed again during the duration of the construction project.

Construction Update: La Valentina Station

After breaking ground nearly five months ago, La Valentina Station showing some real signs of progress. This $27 million project being financed by a combination of private, state and local funding and consists of 63 apartments and 18 townhouses. Completions slated for summer 2012.

Rendering of finshed building

Drilling Piles at “Seventh & H” SRO

Foundation work began about a month ago on downtowns newest single-resident occupancy building at Seventh and H streets. Below I have captured the process of drilling steel-reinforced piles into the ground at a depth of 70 feet.

This $47.4 million project will house 150 units at a cost of $316,000 per unit. It was just the other day I saw the price tag per unit for the project at another news site and I was floored by this crazy number. Is this why so few units ever get built downtown without subsides? This price was expected during the last real estate boom of a few years ago, but this seems a little steep for a SRO. Were currently in a depressed real estate market but the cost to build in downtown does not reflect that. If it weren’t for both the state and city subsidies to give builders money to build downtown, not much would be built. What does that say about our market? This isn’t something new either; it’s been this way for over a decade and developers have adjusted their business pratices to reflect this. Now that our state and city are broke, will developers take a risk building downtown without government support?



Rendering of finshed building