J Street Seven-Story Residential Proposal

The site is located along the north side of J st spanning the full block between 17th and 16th St.  The proposed project at 1617 J Street is a new construction of a 7-story building with basement.  The basement will contain a parking garage, level 1 will be retail space, level 2 will contain a parking garage, and levels 3 through 7 will house approximately 200 apartments.  The total retail space on level is 39,904sf.  The structured parking within the basement and level 2 will provide 253 total stalls,  90 feet tall and total building square footage 347,063. The current building a the site (restaurant) was built in 1920 and is proposed for demolition. No construction costs or date has been provided. Documents submitted to Planning Dept. can be found at https://sacramento.agencycounter.com/

1617 J Street seven-story residential proposal

ENVOY Anthem Cathedral Square Construction

ENVOY at 1030 J Street in Downtown Sacramento

A tower crane rises over the 11^th & J Street ENVOY construction site as the seven story building fills a corner that has been an eyesore for decades. After several proposals have come and gone, this project looks to be built with quality materials and should bring a lot of people into the area to live. There will be 153 rentals apartments above the retail on the ground floor. This stretch of J Street is in awful shape, hopefully when this is completed others in the private sector and the city government will push out the undesirables who bring down the area.  https://www.hrgarchitects.com/cathedral-square-mixeduse-apartment

ENVOY at 1030 J Street in Downtown Sacramento

Anthem Cathedral Square @ 1030 J St.,

Anthem Cathedral Square - 1030 J Street, Sacramento 

Construction of a seven-story apartment building with 153 units, about 10,000 square feet of first-floor retail and a 103-stall parking lot. Amenities will include a fitness center, rooftop deck, lounge and central courtyard. A handful of empty two-story buildings on the site have been demolished. This site was once where Cathedral Square, a 26 story condo was proposed in 2004.

Location: 1030 J St., on the southwest corner of 11th and J streets

Cost: Canada-based Anthem bought the property for $5 million in 2018. Construction costs not disclosed.

Status: Anthem filed plans with the city last October. Pending a review shortly by the planning commission, demolition could take place this summer, with vertical construction starting in the fall.

Anthem Cathedral Square - 1030 J Street, Sacramento 

Anthem Cathedral Square - 1030 J Street, Sacramento 

Anthem Cathedral Square Rendering - 1030 J Street, Sacramento 

11th & J Street Mixed-Use Proposal

Proposed Anthem Cathedral Square would mixed-use with 153 apt.

After many decades of being in decline, it looks as if this rough stretch of J Street will get a project the market can support. The proposal named Anthem Cathedral Square will be a seven-story mixed-use structure with 153 apartments with retail space on the ground floor. As reported by The SacBee, this proposal would be mid-range of market rate so they will be affordable to more people. It will replace three largely empty and outdated buildings that cover more than half of the block on J Street.

Proposed Anthem Cathedral Square would mixed-use with 153 apt.

For those who wanted more from this site, like a high-rise, this is something the market does not support. Anthem looked into building a 20-story high-rise but they found it was to expensive. This finding is historically correct, back in 2006 developers St Anton / Cordano Company proposed a 26 Stories, 233 Units with 15K Retail and that never left the drawing board. I hope the developer can get this going soon while the  economy is still strong. 

Proposed 19J Mixed-Use Mid-Rise

19J Mixed-Use proposal by M.H. Mohanna Development

The SacBee’s reporting that midtown has another proposal for a mid-rise building, this one named 19J is located at the corner of 19^th & J Street. M.H. Mohanna Development has expressed that the project would be “self-financed” and could begin building as soon as next year. At 124 feet, this 11 story structure would have 173 residential units and 7,000 SF of ground floor retail.

19J Mixed-Use proposal by M.H. Mohanna Development

Kaiser 501 J Street Conversion

Rendering of Kaiser Permanent's plans to remodel building at 501 J Street

The former Sacramento Corporate Center at 501 J Street is schedule to finish conversion this fall into a Kaiser Permanente medical offices and outpatient center. The building was purchased in December 2014 for $40 million after the previous owner was a victim of the last real estate downturn. The six-story 191,238SF building was built in 1983 and includes 500-parking spaces.

The former Sacramento Corporate Center built in 1983 at 501 J Street

Vanir Tower Project "inactive"

Proposed Vanir Tower at 601 J Street - Sacramento, CA

As of yesterday, the Vanir Tower project has not submitted any revised plans to the city after withdrawing them shortly after November of last year. A city planner has labeled the project as "inactive" because they haven’t worked on the project for several months. In my opinion, this is a big indicator that despite being located across the street from new Golden 1 Center, the downtown office market vacancy rate is still to high to absorb a project of this size.  Colliers-Sacramento predicts that Class A asking rates will increase 4% year-over-year due to activity surrounding the Golden 1 Center. As of the end of the third quarter, there is currently 813,617 SF vacant class A office space in downtown and another 586,408 SF vacant class B office space open. Combined, that’s about the size of 3 ½ 25 story towers vacant in downtown. Even with all the improvements the market has shown from several years ago, actual rents are not currently at a level high enough to justify new construction.

Pre-Leasing Vanir Tower

Pre-leasing Vanir Tower proposal

Last November plans were announced for a 26 story high-rise for J Street named the Vanir Tower. The Vanir Tower application team then withdrew its proposal to make “minor modifications”. As of today the Vanir project has not re-submitted their plans to the city but a pre-leasing billboard has been posted at the proposed project location.

What makes this project interesting is that it’s being proposed when the square foot market value to rent a “trophy” building in Sacramento is below what a brand new building would have to charge. Greg Levi, managing director with Jones Lang LaSalle Sacramento and agent for pre-leasing the Vanir Tower stated in SacramentoBusiness Journal last June “Though rents are rising, though, they’re not high enough to bring construction cranes just yet. The highest rents, around $3.10 a square foot, are still about 40 cents below what a brand-new building would have to charge,” Levi said. So essentially Greg’s saying that rents would have to rise an additional 40 cents a square foot before it would be profitable to build this high-rise downtown… that’s a 13% increase.

So I’m still skeptical this project will ever get off the ground for several reasons. First, as stated above, rents would have to rise 13%. Another reason is that they need to fill at least 50% (186,000 of the 372,000 sf) of the tower before banks will consider lending to them for construction. If Vanir Construction Management has deep pockets, they could build this tower on speculation using their own money like the Bank of the West Tower did at 500 Capitol Mall. It appears to me their need to pre-lease the tower says they need to fill fifty percent of the tower.

To use history as my guide, back in 1999, the U.S. Bank Tower at 621 Capitol Mall started the pre-leasing process when it was originally proposed for 31 floors. After several years of not finding enough tenants to fill 50% of the tower, developer David Taylor reduced the size of the tower by 6 floors. Even with the reduced floor count it took another six years before enough pre-leasing tenants signed up so a bank would lend and construction could begin in 2006.

Once Vanir re-submit their revised project with the city and go through both the entitlement and environmental review process, this proposal might have a chance.

26-Story High-Rise Planned

Proposed 26 story high-rise at 601 J Street 

If I did not know better, it's been feeling like 2006 all over again. Lots of big plans, and when I say lots, I mean way beyond what the city can absorb. But I digress. Last week Vanir Development Co. Inc. submitted plans to the city for a 26-story office tower (377 feet tall) on J Street across the street from the planned downtown arena and hotel. The Sacramento Bee reports that it’s a class A office building and hold 372,000 square feet of office space.

As much as I love the idea of a high-rise and more construction in downtown, this one does not make sense to me. According to Colliers-Sacramento, there is over 1 million sf of vacant office space in (CBD) and 2 million in downtown. That's the size of four 25 story office buildings. Unless Vanir Development Co. Inc. plans to build on speculation like 500 Capitol Mall did, I don’t see how this will pencil out? At one time 621 Capitol Mall was proposed at 31 floors, but for 6 years developer David Taylor could not find enough tenants to fill it so banks could loan him the money to build. A certain percentage of square feet in a tower need to be leased out before monies are released to build. So Taylor shortened the tower to 25 floors so that it could meet loan requirements with the tenants he had already secured over a six year period. 

What’s interesting about this site is that the current building at the proposed site has been empty since 2009. Bank of the West moved to 500 Capitol Mall when their lease was not renewed and were told a high-rise was being planned for the site. The timing did not work out and the site has been sitting empty ever since. Here’s what they had in mind back then... Link

Fred Mayes Jewelers Clock Restored

Last week City of Sacramento restored the historic Fred Mayes Jewelers clock to its home at 10th and J streets. Time stood still for the mid-20th century clock for 15 years until repair work began last June. The clock was returned to the period of its historical significance. – the art deco style popular when it was designated as a City historic landmark in June of 1982.

The clock is likely more than 100 years old, although the first clear evidence is a 1924 photo of the clock in its original design in front of 1009 K St., its original location. The clock on K Street was located outside the Wiesen and Monk Jewelers until the business was moved to its current location at 10th and J in 1946. It stood outside the one-time Mayor Art Monk’s jewelry store. The jewelry store was purchased by Fred Mayes in 1963. Mayes donated the clock to the City of Sacramento in 1993. Mayes retired in 1998. The clock’s exterior is different than when it left for the foundry in June. As historical experts recommended, a stainless steel case be added to prevent vandalism and preserve the original parts.

Some of the parts of the refurbished clock are new and others original: The mechanical clock movement has been replaced with a modern electronic movement, which will not require winding. The clock will keep accurate time through GPS and will automatically correct itself after power outages or time changes. The imported Italian neon will highlight the art deco engagement style ring design topped off with an illuminated diamond solitaire.

Above info provided by the Downtown Sacramento Partnership

Restoration of Historic Mayes Jewelers' Street Clock

This Tuesday the City Council will recommend the preservation and restoration of the Fred Mayes Jewelers' Street Clock at the corner of 10th and J Street. With the efforts of both Greig Best (an interested citizen), the City's Historic Places Grant Program, Council Member Tretheway's office, and the Redevelopment Agency, funds will be designated to restore this City designated Landmark. Its ownership will also be formally transferred to the City through the Department of Transportation since the street clock is located within the public right-of-way.

The clock will be restored to the style as modified while at its' original K Street location by Tom Monk (the neon ring addition) before the clock was moved to its current location in front of the former Fred Mayes Jewelers store on J Street and then designated as a City historic Landmark. Mr.Best of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors have committed to assist in the project and to install the new timepiece (the"movement"). The Department of Transportation will contract for the clock removal and repair work, and will extend an electrical line so that the clock face and neon lights can be illuminated at night.

It’s estimated that the removal, repair and reinstallation of the Clock could be completed in the amount of $24,000. The restoration of the clock would be funded with $12,000 from the Historic Places Grant Program, $6,000 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds (per recommendation from Council Member Tretheway, District 1), and $6,000 from Merged Downtown Redevelopment Project tax increment funds (from funds allocated for J,K, and L Street Enhancements). The Clock was originally manufactured in Seattle, likely in the early 1900s and was once owned by a former Mayor of Sacramento, Tom Monk, and was located in front of 1009 K Street near the current site of the Crest Theater.