Downtown Mall Demolition

Downtown Mall as it is today

Is it fair to say that if demolition does not start by this time next year, the new arena project will be behind schedule? In my rough estimate, the cost to demo four blocks and clear the land before any work can be done will be around  $40 million or more.  My number is based on what it cost John Saca to clear the land at 3rd & Capital Mall which was $8 million. The old Sacramento Union building occupied only about half the block and did not have any underground parking.  The malls foot print covers nearly 100% of each block with two floors of below ground parking.

Is this demo expense going to be absorbed by Ranadive as an assumed cost overrun?

Groundbreaking of the WAL (Warehouse Artist Lofts) formerly Capitol Lofts

301 Capitol Mall Six Years Later

 

301 Capitol Mall former Towers site

It’s hard to believe how much has not changed at the former Towers site… it's been six years today since the job to construct two 53-story residential towers at Third Street and Capitol Mall was halted. Even if the two 600-foot towers estimated to cost $750 million project had been built, with the regions record home foreclosure rate over the last 4 years, today I imagine it would sit more than half empty like the L Street Lofts which only sold 22 of the 92-units. My contact at CalPERS says there are no plans to develop the site in the near future.

Just think, if 17 more condominiums would have sold to reach the bank requirement of 400 units, money from CalPERS and Deutsche Bank would have continued to invest in the project.