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.

Tower 301 @ 301 Capitol Mall

Proposed Tower 301 mixed-use high-rise at 301 Capitol Mall, Sacramento CA

The Sacramento Business Journal reporting that CalPERS along with developer CIM are submitting plans for their 33-story mixed use tower for 301 Capitol Mall.  This means the developer is pursuing entitlements while also pushing a marking campaign to attract possible tenants. It’s noted in the article that the project would not be built unless an anchor tenant is found. Big projects like this traditionally need to lease 50% of the building before financing is released for construction, in this case 368,500 SF will need to be leased of the 737,000 SF proposed tower.

Proposed Tower 301 mixed-use high-rise
at 301 Capitol Mall, Sacramento CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Developer CIM made some modifications from the previously released version; one hundred apartments that were originally on the top floors of the high-rise are now down at the second through fourth floors facing L Street to the north. The apartment would also be smaller in square footage and more affordable than is typical is such a project.

This proposal does not stand out to me. It is a tall vertical glass box with no distinguishing features. Yeah, it better than a hole in the ground or nothing, but I thought $550 million would create something more. It would not have to be tall, just unique and something that gives people a sense of place verses just another high-rise like the one we see here. Something tells me the market will flush this proposal out also, CalPERS has waited to long to get this going and the market will creator as we have seen before. How likely is it they will pre-lease over 350,000 SF?

Proposed Tower 301 mixed-use high-rise at 301 Capitol Mall, Sacramento CA

550-Foot-Tall Tower Proposal

CalPERS & CIM Group latest proposed drawing
 for 301 Capitol Mall

The internet is already getting worked up into a frenzy about this new proposal for the former Towers site at 301 Capitol Mall. The SacBee’s reporting that this project would have 100 apartment and 737,000 square feet of office space in addition to some retail and an elevated public park. CalPERS has said they will commit $550 million to build a mixed-use tower along with CIM Group.

CalPERS & CIM Group latest proposed drawing for 301 Capitol Mall

If you read the Sacramento Bee article, they say in the second paragraph to not expect any new construction cranes coming soon because the developer still needs to find enough tenants to lease (at least 50%) the tower before starting construction. In addition, no timeline has been mentioned for construction, so there is still no certainty this will actually be built. Unlike the 2016 proposal, CalPERS has committed a financial investment to move this process forward, so that is a positive.

I do prefer this proposal to the previous one in 2016, but it seems to be lacking something. The absence of other materials other than blue glass is underwhelming.

Office Towers For Sale

As reported by the SacBee’s Bob Shallit, two office buildings on Capitol Mall are now on the market.  One of downtown’s newest office buildings, completed in 2008, known as the U.S. Bank Tower asking around $170 million for a 25-story 366,000 SF building. Located at 621 Capitol Mall, David Taylors property is said to be fully tenanted and was originally build for $132 million.

621 Capitol Mall, U.S. Bank Tower, Sacramento, CA

Another office on the market just down the street at 520 Capitol Mall is an eight-stories building with 82,401 SF and built in 1963 for $3 million. Updated in 2003, today they are asking $28.6 million.

520 Capitol Mall, Sacramento, CA

831 L Street High-rise Alternatives

For about a year now this project has been slowly moving through the planning process and is still in the early proposal stages with the city. The corner of 9th and L Street is where this tower is being proposed and it still has not been determined weather it will be a residential tower or an office tower.


This is what the current design would be if the residential tower were built. The buildings height would be 150 ft with 173 units, 222 bedrooms, and 219 parking spaces. The 15 floor high-rise would have a total of 343,300 sf. with 6,500 sf of retail and 241,050 sf for residential. A dinning terrace would bump out onto L Street with 1090 sf for tables and chairs.


View from corner of 9th and L Street.


This is what the current design would be if the office tower were built. The buildings height would be 150 ft with 316 parking spaces. The 12 floor high-rise would have a total of 325,200 sf. with 6,500 sf of retail and 190,200 sf for offices. Just like the residential proposal, a dinning terrace would bump out onto L Street with 1090 sf for tables and chairs.

Corner or 9th & L Street.

The ground floor plans for the office and residential plans are very similar.

Overview of project site.