55 Years of History at 301 Capitol Mall

The lengthy history of 301 Capitol Mall can be exhausting, but as of last Friday, CalPERS will now sell the property and cancel the proposed 33-story mixed-use high-rise. For the last 16 years, CalPERS has spent nearly $70 million buying and maintaining the property, and now after three failed attempts to build at the site, it will be sold. The city block now resembles a wildlife refuge where raccoons and other habitat are thriving.

55 years of history at 301 Capitol Mall

The block was once the headquarters for the Sacramento Union newspaper, in 1967 the paper purchased the Capitol Mall address and built the publications headquarters. By 1994 the Union printed its last paper and went out of business. In 2005 the Towers of Capitol Mall were approved for construction at the site and demolition was done in preparation for two 53-story high-rises. By 2007, the developer was struggling to finance the project and plans were scrapped. CalPERS bought into the project in hopes of saving the proposal, but market forces stopped further work at the site killing the proposal.

In 2016 CalPERS teamed up with CIM Group and proposed a 30-story mixed-use building, the odd stacking of the tower was not accepted well by the public and later canceled. By late 2019 another proposal was offered that was as CalPERS teamed up with the development form Hines. This proposal was to be Sacramento’s tallest if built at 33-stories and 557 feet tall. It was seen as a better design, but as 2020 took hold and the pandemic pushed people to do more work from home, it became apparent there was no interest in more office space downtown. Currently, the Sacramento office market is in its eight straight quarter occupancy losses, millions of square feet are available and it might take many years to lease them back up to pre-pandemic levels.