10th & K Street Hotel Project

It looks as though Toni Giannoni will continue to pursue building a 165-room hotel in downtown Sacramento at the corner of K & 10th Street even though the 8th & K hotel proposal is still moving forward. It’s anticipated to be an urban style Marriot designed by the renowned hotel designer Marc Hornberger who has also designed the W hotels in San Francisco. This hotel concept includes a pool, approximately 8,000 square feet of meeting space, and downstairs bar and lobby area with grab and go food service, as well as ground floor retail along K Street. The proposed Courtyard by Marriot would be a 12-story, upscale, select service hotel with a sophisticated urban design.

The development team is the 10th and K Street Hotel Investors, LLC, which is a partnership of local developers with a strong track record of development in Sacramento. The partnership includes Brian Larson who was part of the development team for the Citizen Hotel, Jim Brennan who recently completed the office condominium project at 1001 K Street, and Toni Giannoni who has a long development history in Sacramento including Meridian Plaza and the recently completed Marriott Residence Inn at 15 th and L Streets.

The total development cost is estimated to be $43 million. In today's capital market this project can expect to attract an estimated $22 million in conventional financing and $11 million in equity investment, leaving a development gap of $10 million. City staff has begun researching public funding options to assist in the development of this project.

On Tuesday November 3rd, the city will authorize city staff to evaluate several options to fund the gap of $10 million with the posibility of a Transit Occupancy Tax (TOT) fund or to also use the Recovery Zone Facilities Bonds made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The bonds allow for lower financing rates, but require some sort of financial backing from the City or the Agency. City staff is working with the City Treasurer, the Budget Office, and the City Manager to investigate the possibility of utilizing this unique bonding opportunity.

Another option is a HUD 108 loan for approximately $4.7 million combined with a second loan for the remaining $5.3 million. City staff would also investigate potential resources within the City and Agency that could be utilized as capital for the second loan.

In either financing scenario, the City or Agency issued bonds or loans would be repaid or the payments pledged would secure the developer's financing.

If the City Council approves the recommendations to move forward, this will allow city staff to further investigate the financial feasibility of the hotel project so that more formal business terms can be presented at a later date. With this authorization, the developers would expend funds to further refine the hotel concept and result in moving the proposed project forward.

Powerhouse Science Center - Help Needed!

It's been a while since I've posted, but I wanted to post an article from Sacrament Press regarding the Powerhouse Science Center proposed for the old PG&E building on the riverfront.

I'd like to encourage anyone who has an interest in this project t0 toss a few bucks their way to help the Powerhouse Science Center continue forward. I donated $25 and hope others will do the same.

This would be a great project for our area for both residence and visitors.

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Science museum seeks seed money
by Suzanne Hurt, published on October 27, 2009 at 8:51PM

The Powerhouse Science Center is looking for a few good founding partners.

The Discovery Museum is trying to recruit private investors who can provide seed money to help build a $50 million "iconic" riverfront science and space museum hoped to rival some of the nation's biggest science museums.

The new, expanded museum is being developed to provide adventurous, hands-on science and math education to boost kids' interest in the subjects and to help draw high-tech companies — while launching the kind of serious waterfront development that's been talked about for at least three decades, museum supporters said Tuesday.

The four-acre campus would contain a museum built in the long-vacant Pacific Gas & Electric power station, a planetarium, river-view restaurants, conference center and small amphitheater within Robert T. Matsui Waterfront Park, north of Old Sacramento.

The project could be one of the best investments for the future of the city, region and beyond, said Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson.

"This center can become the place where our very youngest Sacramentans get excited and enthused about math and science," he said.

A capital campaign stalled by the recession has pushed an opening date to fall 2013.

At a breakfast presentation Tuesday morning, Discovery Museum Board President Michele Wong asked investors, including developers and representatives from banks and high-tech companies, to each contribute $25,000 as founding partners "to keep this project going forward."

The campaign needs $600,000 in cash within the next three months to stay on schedule and continue pursuing $30 million from federal, state and local public funding sources, she said.

"We started a traditional capital campaign three years ago. Then the floor fell out of the economy, and we realized a traditional campaign wouldn't work," she said.

The museum will resume its pursuit of $20 million in private investments after the economy improves, Wong said. Construction is expected to begin late next year and be completed in about three years.

Studies have shown that science centers like these raise students' math and science scores. Sacramento teachers have told staff that museum field trips increased their students' interest and hard work in the subjects for the rest of the year. Former students returned to say the Discovery Museum influenced them to go into science in college and careers, said Catherine Gray, director of the museum's Challenger Learning Center.

The Challenger Learning Center, designed with NASA, uses space flight to encourage students to study and use math, science, language arts and technology. Six weeks of learning in the classroom is rewarded and reinforced with a "mission" involving "mission control" and a simulated rocket.

"It's really great to see how they change from being a kid to an astronaut with a job to do," Gray said. "They have no idea they're doing their schoolwork for the morning."

The Discovery Museum, 3615 Auburn Blvd., focuses largely on school groups, whose students make up 50,000 out of 80,000 annual visitors. The 4,000-square-foot museum, which has room for one major exhibit at a time, isn't open to anyone but students every morning, and only three groups can be accommodated at a time.

While the Discovery Museum offers programs and attractions for families and adults, the size of the four-story Powerhouse Science Center will enable the museum to triple the number of visitors each year. The center will have exhibits on the human body, the world and space.

Another building will house restaurants and an education center where traveling exhibits from museums like the Smithsonian Institution will be displayed. A conference center is planned to serve as a gathering place for teachers and people working in science and technology.

"We know there's a lot more we could be doing, but we lack the space to do it," Wong said.

The new museum will house a three-story rocket where boilers and turbines were once housed in the old power station's atrium. The rocket commemorates Aerojet's role in the U.S. space program.

"That's really Sacramento's connection to the moon," said Beth Callahan, the museum's development and marketing director.

The 150-seat planetarium will be twice the size of the existing planetarium and the building will contain a larger Challenger Center. The new basement will contain an expanded, indoor archaeological dig site, replacing an outdoor site. The dig site will consist of four dirt pits, each three feet deep, where students will dig for remnants of Native American civilizations, the Gold Rush era, Chinese camps and the turn of the century.

A staff archaeologist will teach students how to do soil sampling and use the scientific method to uncover artifacts donated by other museums. Back at school, students will give oral presentations on the artifacts, she said.

"It's so important that we can give these kids practical knowledge," said Stacey McKinley, who chairs the museum's government committee. "They really have to put their hands in it. Then they'll believe in it and fight for it."

Waterfront Activities

Take in the natural beauty of the Sacramento River while enjoying some of Sacramento's great restaurants.

Delta King's Pilot House Restaurant
1000 Front Street / 441-4440Situated on the third deck of the historic Delta King riverboat, the Pilothouse provides spectacular views, with seating indoors or out. Here, you will savor local California farm-fresh cuisine.

Joe's Crab Shack
1210 Front Street / 553-4249If you're looking for a casual, fun Sacramento River dining experience, Joe's Crab Shack will fit the bill. With buckets of crab and dancing servers, you're sure to have a good time at Joe's. Indoor and outdoor seating available.

Rio City Café
1110 Front Street / 442-8226Rio City Café, situated in historic Old Sacramento overlooking the Sacramento River, offers California Cuisine with influences from all over the world and extra emphasis on the southwest. Indoor and outdoor dining available.

Tower Bridge Bistro
100 Capitol Mall / 326-5050Located inside the Embassy Suites Hotel adjacent to Old Sacramento, the Tower Bridge Bistro offers California-Tuscan cuisine in a scenic setting. Both Indoor and patio seating are available.

Riverfront Bike Trails
Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers, Downtown Sacramento provides bicycle access to the riverfront. Cyclists can access the northbound/southbound bike trail along the Sacramento River via O Street or in Old Sacramento on Front Street between L and I streets. The southbound trail will lead you to the Miller Park. The Northbound trail will lead you towards Richards Boulevard, Discovery Park and the 23-mile American River Parkway that stretches from downtown to Folsom.

Sacramento Region 511
American River Parkway

Boating
On a summer day in Sacramento, one of the best places to be is on the water. From personal watercrafts to guided boat tours and charters, the scenic Sacramento River has what you need for a little fun in the sun.

Miller Park
This city park is located right on the Sacramento River, just south of Downtown. The park includes picnic areas shaded by large oak trees, boat trailer parking, a boat ramp and dock. For more information call 808-5200 or visit the City of Sacramento website here.

Riverwalk
In cooperation with the City of West Sacramento across the river, the City of Sacramento is working to expand access to Sacramento's namesake river. Currently on the Sacramento side, visitors can walk along the waterfront from O Street to I Street through Old Sacramento. On the West Sacramento side, visitors can catch some of the best views of the downtown skyline by visiting Waterfront Park between the Tower Bridge and the I Street Bridge.

Information provided by Downtown Sacramento Partnership

Community Theater Renovation

The Sacramento Community Theater has been in use for 35 years and has not upgraded since it’s opening in 1974. The Theater still hosts world-class events but a renovation is needed by adding additional restrooms, concessions, lobby space, and infrastructure to meet the needed of and expectations of today’s audiences and clients. On Tuesday the 20th, the City Council/Financing Authority will accept the current Community Center Theater Renovation Project conceptual design and issue a Request for Qualifications for architectural services to complete the design work. A contract for construction could begin as early as June 2011 and continue work through the summer. The Theater will remain open for each theatrical season (Sept. through June) but closed during the summer months with heavy construction taking place spreading construction over multiple years through the summer of 2014.

The Theater will be financed using bonds from future bonds issued by the City of Sacramento Financing Authority. Bond repayments will come from a $3.00 per ticket where approximately $1 million will go toward the bond payment of $3.7 million annually and the remaining $2.7 million coming from Transient Occupancy Tax and Convention Center User Fee proceeds.

The current renovation will re-configure some existing spaces and add approximately 15,000 new square feet to the building. The total costs of the project are estimated at $40 million with $34 million towards construction and $6 million for design costs.

Architects chosen for new Sacramento courthouse

Friday, October 16, 2009
Published in the Sacramento Business Journal

Nacht & Lewis Architects and HOK have been chosen to design a new courthouse in Sacramento, the Judicial Council of California’s Administrative Office of the Courts announced Friday.

The $500 million project is scheduled to start in 2012, though no location has been set.

The new courthouse would take pressure off the overcrowded Gordon D. Schaber Courthouse on 9th Street in downtown Sacramento. The plans call for building 35 courtrooms in the new facility. Twenty-six of the 44 criminal courtrooms at the existing courthouse would be relocated to the new facility.

The new courthouse will be funded under Senate Bill 1407, which was passed by the Legislature last year and established a lease-revenue bond fund of up to $5 billion to rebuild courthouses in California.

Nacht & Lewis was founded in Sacramento in 1922 by Leonard Starks. The company’s portfolio includes the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Sacramento and the Sacramento County Jail.

HOK is an international design firm founded in 1955 by George Hellmuth, Gyo Obata and George Kassabaum.

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It would appear that we might see a nice looking tower with both N&L and HOK working on this one. Sacramento's Federal Courthouse is a nice addition to our skyline, but I don't understand why they chose to ignore the northern side facing the Railyards but make the southern side stunning with the curved glass and interesting detail near the top of the tower. Sacramento architecture in the last ten years has focused on making the southern facing side of a high-rise striking while forgetting to give the same treatment to the northern side. I was once told “It is a fallacy to assume that good design has to be expensive” and in this case there is no excuse for not making this building impressive.

Midtown development back to square one

Published Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009
Sacramento Bee - Bob Shallit

Another planned midtown condo and rental project has hit a now-familiar snag: no financing.

Last summer, a partnership headed by Sacramento architect/developer David Mogavero was selected by the Capitol Area Development Authority to build a complex at 16th and P streets. The project's innovative features included a dorm-like rental annex and a hydraulic-stack parking system.

But the partnership "came up against a brick wall" in terms of getting capital, Mogavero says.

Now, CADA's board is asking Mogavero's group and two other developers who were project finalists to revise their proposals and try to find financing.

"We're saying, 'Let's start over and let all three get a shot at it,' " says Tom Kigar, CADA's development director.

The three including D&S Development and SKK Developments have until Dec. 20 to submit new plans and get commitments from lenders.

Kigar says CADA's preference is still to have a for-sale housing component in the project. But he says the group's board is being flexible.

"If somebody comes up with rentals that would be converted to ownership later, that would be acceptable," he says.

Bay Miry, a representative for D&S, says flexibility could help. But it may not be enough, given the dismal financing climate.

"Every bank we talk to says they haven't made a construction loan in a year and a half," he says.

Downtown Plaza Visioning Meeting

Monday, October 19, 2009
5:30 – 7:00 p.m.
Cosmopolitan Cabaret Theatre
1000 K Street (10th & K Streets)

Mayor Johnson has embarked on an effort to reposition the Downtown Plaza as a sustainable regional center and further capitalize on Downtown's strengths. He wants to hear priorities from community stakeholders about the future of the Plaza and the surrounding J, K, and L streets. The result will be a vision to help guide the area's future development.

You are encouraged to attend the community meeting to learn more about the process and share your valued opinions for the future of Downtown Sacramento!

If you have any questions or want to learn more about this process, contact R.E. Graswich, Special Assistant to the Mayor, at rgraswich@cityofsacramento.org.

K Street Streetscape Progress

The K Street Streetscape Improvement project is one of the key components in returning K Street Mall back to a lively and inviting pedestrian street. Today I walked by St. Rose of Lima Park section and saw a lot of progress in the renovation. One part I’m thrilled to see is that Sacramento has final embraced some in-ground water fountains that people will able to play in during the summer as well as just watch the fun display of water dancing. The master plan also calls for the RT platform station on K Street to be moved around the corner to 7th street in an effort to move loiters off K Street. These phase one improvements of St. Rose of Lima Park and K Street between 7th & 8th Streets will cost around $4 million and be paid for by Merged Downtown Redevelopment tax increment funds.



At this point, I would really like to see the city focus on getting housing built downtown which I believe will spur other developments like a grocery stores and other retail that the area is also lacking. To do this the City Council could make a new provision when handing out subsides, and that only projects that include housing can be eligible for city subsidies. Also, asking for subsidies has become a common request by developers these days. This could start the ball rolling (even if it’s in small numbers) to get more people living here. These streetscape improvements should do wonders in how the street looks and I look forward to being able to sit back and watch the dancing water while new life returns to K Street.

Rezoning the Docks Properties

The proposed Docks project nested between Interstate 5 and the Sacramento River, will be heard by the City Planning Commission on the 8th for a motion to pass the rezoning for future urban development consistent with the 2030 General Plan. City Staff will also recommend that Option B to be chosen in how the 29 acres are developed which including 1,000 residential units, 200,000 square feet of office space, and 43,300 square feet of retail space. A formal recommendation for Option B will be made the City Planning Commission next month and then the City Council for approval in December. Option B was determined to be the most cost effective plan to retain Pioneer Reservoir and build the park over the reconstructed roof. The plan proposes constructing a parking facilities underground and elevate the finished floor of the buildings to be level with the existing levee, so the natural feature of the Sacramento River will be visible to the tenants in the future buildings and to area visitors.

Railyards Infrastructure Update

Good news arrived in September with federal clearance for the Intermodal project and the receipt of State infrastructure dollars allowing construction to proceed on a number of Railyards projects. State funding dollars from three separate State of California Proposition 1C infrastructure programs for the construction of two major downtown streets, 5th Street and Railyards Boulevard. They also received their first disbursement of funding for the abatement work on the historic central shops. With these funds, these projects are moving forward full speed ahead. In addition, the Intermodal team reached a major milestone by securing federal environmental clearance allowing the project to move ahead into final design. Regional Transit's planned extension of the "Green Line" announcing the ground breaking event early October. The "Green Line" will extend light rail north through the Railyards to the River District serving future residents and businesses in these areas. All of these projects will produce a tremendous amount of construction activity at the Railyards and create more jobs for the region.

http://www.sacramentorailyards.com/home/home.htm

Developer buying Marshall Hotel

2009 Presidio Co., proposal

Bob Shallit reporting today that the Marshall Hotel at 7th & L St. has a buyer and plans to build a 14 story "W"-style boutique hotel in the future. The plan is to get all needed entitlements lined up so that it will be shovel-ready when the times right to start building. As seen in the posted renderings above, the plans call for retaining two exterior sides of the 98-year-old, five-story Marshall building and incorporating them into a stepped, 14-story structure.

2007 Grand Heritage Group proposal

I love the idea of combining the old building with a new structure so that the project becomes feasible to build, but these renderings make the tower addition look tacky without even tiring to blend the old and new structure. The developer Presidio Co., need to take a queue from the previous Grand Heritage Group proposal of 2007 who proposed a similar concept but did a much nicer job designing the tower addition. The 2007 proposal fell through because of the credit crunch, but their execution to blend old with new was excellent.

http://www.presidioco.com/catalysts.htm

East End Gateway Redesign

On Wednesday the 16th, CADA will go before the Planning and Design Review Committee to request a review and comment in the form of advisory knowing they are exempt from having to do so. This 9 story, 110 unit project with approximately 5,000 square feet of ground floor retail has had some minor changes with the balconies being reduced and some variation in color, finish, and materials to break up the appearance of the cement composite panels.

It’s great more housing will soon be built but I think this final design looks blah lacking innovation with little to no character so as not to offend those on the street. It’s to bad the previous 15 story residential tower approved by the Design Commission was scraped by CADA last year.

Downtown/Midtown Sacramento Skyline

Please click to enlarge. This panoramic photo was taken last Wednesday from the roof of the L Street Lofts; 180 degree view looking west.

City officials tell K Street hotel developer to show them the money

The clock’s ticking for Bob Leach and his development firm USA Hospitality Inc. Leach has until the end of November to present Sacramento officials with a viable financing package to build a 23-story hotel and a parking garage on city-owned property on 8th Street, between K and L streets.

And just to add some pressure to the $136 million project, the city is working on a concurrent request for proposals for other developers to submit plans for what they can do with the land, which will be released at the end of November if Leach’s plan doesn’t work out.

In addition to racing the deadline to tie up financing, the city also wants Leach to tie in the façade of the adjoining Bel-Vue Apartments — a 99-year-old structure — into his parking garage.

Printed in this weeks Sacramento Business Journal

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Well is this a surprise? It appears to me that the city is not thrilled with Bob Leach's proposal and is open to other plans in how this land can be used. I'm sure a hand full of developers are getting lined up for a $31 million subsidy. I'm also certain they will do a better job of using the Bel-Vue facade than attaching it to a parking garage. Good luck Bob.

Status Report: 800 K/L Proposal

Last night the Sacramento City Council discussed the future of the proposed 23 story hotel and parking garage at 8th & K/L St. by developer Bob Leach/USA Hospitality. The last time Mr. Leach was to appear before the Council two weeks ago, he asked for a delay because his proposal was going to be slammed over the financing for the proposal. This time he came back to the council offering 40% of cash flow instead of 10% over 10 years and asking for 50% of the Transient Occupancy Tax rebate over 14 years instead of 100% over 10 years. USA Hospitality’s now asking for $31.5 million subsidy from the city in an effort to make this project feasible. After a few council members made their opinions known about keeping the façade of the Bel-Vue by incorporating it into the hotel project, the council agreed to a 90 day extension to see if USA Hospitality can pull things together and make this project work.

It looks as though the 90 day extension may have ended Tony Giannoni hopes to also build a 165-room hotel at 10th & K Street. A spokesman on behalf of Mr. Giannoni told the council that if they gave a 90 day extension to the 8th & K St. hotel proposal, they would see that as a sign to drop their project because the market could not support both projects. If after 90 days the USA Hospitality’s bid gets rejected by the council and the other proposal at 10th & K has already withdrawn their plans… we could be left with no new hotels on K Street.

This project still has to go through the Design Review Commission and Planning Commission as a part of the entitlement process. If this current design with the separate parking garage manages to be approved by both the Planning Commission and Design Review Commission, it will demonstrate in my opinion that neither the Commissions or the City Council really understand their roll in helping both designers and developers comprehend the rich context of this unique place in our city.

City Council Hotel Subsidy Vote

Last Tuesdays the 8th & K Street hotel subsidy vote was delayed by a request of the development team, the proposal is now scheduled to be heard on Aug. 25th. This delay will now will give the public more time to make their opinions heard as to why this proposal is a bad deal for the city from an urban planning stand point with the enormous parking garage as well as the complete give away of land and tax dollars.

In my previous post, I listed several reasons why the city council and Mayor should not rubber stamp the project without major changes in how parking is treated. This seems to be the proposals worst feature, six floors of open, visible parking that destroys a whole city corner in doing so. Back in 1990, Lankford and Cook’s built 1201 K Street building (Ban Roll On) as seen below. Above the first floor there are five floors of parking that are covered and disguised so that it doe’s not detract from the building outer visage by tucking it into the structure. In doing this, the design shows concern for its impact on the street level and truly helps that tower feel inviting when walking up to it on the street.

This current 8th & K St. proposal appears to thumb its nose at the cities design guidelines and I’m wondering if the City Councils even paying attention? If this is something that concerns you, please take a few minutes to email both the city council and Mayor before the August 25th meeting. Instead of just rolling over and leaving it alone hoping that the Mayor and council speak up for changes, maybe we need to remind them to exercise some quality control and insisting that developers try harder.

Here are email address to both the City Council and Mayor. If you also feel the same way about this project, please let our officials know. A hand full of voices on this matter might empower our city’s bully pulpit to have a back bone on this more often.

Mayor Kevin Johnson - mayor@cityofsacramento.org

Council Members
Ray Tretheway - rtretheway@cityofsacramento.org
Sandy Sheedy - ssheedy@cityofsacramento.org
Steve Cohn - SCohn@cityofsacramento.org
Robert Fong - RKFong@cityofsacramento.org
Lauren Hammond - LHammond@cityofsacramento.org
Kevin McCarthy - KMcCarty@cityofsacramento.org
Robbie Waters - rwaters@cityofsacramento.org
BonniePannell - bpannell@cityofsacramento.org

8th & K Hotel $34M Subsidy

On Tuesday the 11th the city council will hear a pitch from developer Bob Leach to build a 409-room hotel on K Street. The proposal also includes a six story parking garage on the corner of 8th & L Street with future expansion of three stories of residential to be built on top of it later. This $136 million hotel project asking for $34 million in city subsidies, $14 million land donation plus $20 million in future tax forgiveness. This current proposal sounds similar to nearly every other proposal in downtown that can't be built unless millions are given to a developer in handouts from the government. Bob Leach has also teamed up with downtown businessman Mohammed “Moe” Mohanna on this proposal where last year he lost a law suite against the city for this same 8th & K St. property. This happen when Moe’s balked at an agreed apon property swap after a fire and then subsequent demolition of one of his properties.

The list is long in how may developments in downtown Sacramento have needed subsidies before they can even lift a shovel. It’s now become the status quo for nearly all projects in downtown to be built this way and I think it's absurd to pay no taxes when everyone else has to pay them. I also personally hate the idea of this parking garage even if a couple retail stores are to be included in the structure. The eight story parking garage at 8th & J St. has two retail shops on the ground floor but is a far cry from actually improving a dead zone created from the parking structure. There are numerus ways to tuck needed parking into the structure like has been done with many other towers in Sacramento. I think this proposal will look about the same as the 8th & J St. garage and will also cheapen a unique corner in the central city.



Here’s a Google street view photo of the garage at 8th & J Street that was built twenty years ago. It has two retail shops on J Street but you can hardly tell being that all you see is a lifeless structure.

Our city deserve something better, I hope our city council and Mayor also feel the same.

Jibboom Street Site & Powerhouse Science Center

Today the Sacramento City Council authorized negotiations on the proposed Sacramento Museum of History, Science and Technology and reuse of the Jibboom Street Power Station Site. The Council also entering into a second extension and exclusive right to negotiate with SMHST for a period of one year which were similar terms as the prior agreements.



It's the City desires to use preservation and adaptive reuse of the old Power Station, as well as add amenities to the adjacent Robert T. Matsui Waterfront Park. The SMHST proposes building the "Powerhouse Science Center" on the site, which will include a science, space and technology museum in the rehabilitated Power Station, with an adjacent restaurant and educational center, a planetarium, and an inviting open public park area. The new riverfront complex includes four floors of exhibit space within the historic building, a new digital planetarium theater, classrooms, Challenger Learning Center, riverfront restaurant and special events center.



The City Council has also agreed to transfer $200,000 from the River District Redevelopment Tax Increment funds to the Richards Blvd. Capitol Improvement Project with matching fund for the Powerhouse Science Center to be used on predevelopment activities that include architectural fees, engineering studies, environmental studies, and entitlement fees. The Science centers seeking $10 million in federal funds, $10 million in city and county, and $10 million from the state in addition to monies from foundations and private donations.



Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects
Developer: Carson Development Company
Science Center: 42,000 sq ft
Learning Center: 5,000 sq ft
Restaurant & Conf. Center: 14,000 sq ft
Completion 2011

Relocating Downtown Greyhound

This Tuesday the 28th, City Council will vote to authorize construction of the new Greyhound Terminal Building on Richards Blvd. The plan is to have Greyhound terminal moved by April 1, 2012 when the lease at its current location (703 L Street) expires. There is also the possibility that relocation may need to occur sooner if the landlord at 703 L Street exercises its right to an early termination of the current lease. The City Council also plans to suspend the traditional process of competitive bidding for building design because it could extend the project completion time beyond Greyhound's lease expiration date.

Money to pay for this project will come from the cities General Fund (Fund 1001) when city staff return in the fall of 2009 with a recommendation to award the final professional services agreement for architectural design services. Staff will then proceed with the competitive process in selecting a qualified contractor to build the new terminal. The chosen contractor will assist the architect in scoping and designing a constructible facility within the project budget.

Background Information

On December 12, 2006, City Council authorizing the purchase of 300 Richards Boulevard, which included several adjacent vacant parcels, City staff approached Greyhound to determine if the Richards Boulevard site was feasible for its needs until the Sacramento Intermodal Transportation Facility is ready for occupancy. Greyhound's review determined that the site would adequately accommodate its operations.

May 20, 2008, City Council committing $2 million for required site work including grading, utilities, sidewalks, curbs and gutters and the extension of the driveway off of Richards Boulevard to Bannon Street. The balance of the necessary funds ($4 million) will come from Sheraton Hotel sale proceeds earmarked for downtown redevelopment projects.

February 24, 2009, City Council approved the lease agreement with Greyhound and the Mitigation Monitoring Plan for the 420 Richards Boulevard site improvement.

Work is anticipated to begin on site during summer 2010 with completion at the end of 2011.

Broadway Lofts

Today it’s being reported that the developers of a residential and retail project at 19th and Broadway are close to being shovel ready and starting demolition work on the site's existing buildings as early as October. Last week Millennium Real Estate Services reported getting a $25 million commitment from Evanston Financial in addition to the $4.4 million in state Proposition 1C funding.

147,000 sf. Mix-Use project
7,734 sf. Retail
17,628 sf. Office
125 lofts
11 live/work lofts
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This is one project I really did not expect to see get off the ground any time soon… but I’ll believe it when I see it.