Java City Summer Photo Exposition

For the next several months I will have the pleasure of displaying some of my Sacramento photos up on the walls of Java City in midtown. Please feel free to come by to sip a tasty cup of coffee and browse my display up on the wall. I'm very pleased and excited to see this exhibit come together, it really shows the sexy side of Sacramento. At a later date in August I will be there for a Second Saturday event, more on that later.

Java City
1800 Capitol Avenue

Farmers Markets Spring Up Downtown

Local farmers are prepared for another season of weekly, downtown certified farmers’ markets. The markets began on May 3 and run through October 26. The 6 weekday farmers’ markets are open from 10:00 am – 1:30 pm. There will be two new locations added to the weekly circuit, including East End Capitol Park at 15th and L streets on Thursdays and St. Rose of Lima Park at 7th and K streets on Fridays. Both of the new markets will start on June 2 and continue through September 30.

California certified farmers’ markets provide farmers with a venue to sell their crops directly to the public. Markets eliminate packing, shipping, and wholesale costs and save money for both the farmer and consumer.

Weekday Downtown Certified Farmers’ Markets include:

TUESDAYS
Roosevelt Park, 9th and P streets
May 3 through September 27
Fremont Park, 16th and P streets
May 3 through September 27

WEDNESDAYS
Chavez Plaza, 10th and J Streets
May 4 through October 26

THURSDAYS
Capitol Mall, 6th and Capitol Mall
May 5 through September 29
East End / Capitol Park, 15th and L streets
June 2 through September 29

FRIDAYS
St. Rose of Lima Park, 7th and K streets
June 3 through September 30

Steel Rises at Sutter Medical Center

Design Competition for Capitol Mall

The cities planning an international design competition this summer to overhaul Capitol Mall in an attempt to draw more activates to the area. The city already has about $1 million set aside to begin preliminary work on the mall. Once city officials say they have chose a design they'll go after more money from state and federal grants…as well as private money.

It's my hope that any changes made to Capitol Mall will not include structures or trees that will grow and block the view of the Capitol when seen from the west after crossing the Tower Bridge. This is the only line of site where the entire building can be seen from a distance and makes an awesome visual impact for those visiting our city for the first time. It would be a shame to block the only unobstructed view of the Capitol from this distance where you don’t need to be on a bridge or high-rise to see the Capitol.

Construction Update: Sutter Medical Center

Steel continues to rise slowly for Anderson Lucchetti Women's and Children's Center at the Sutter Medical Center. This $600 million project expected to be topped out in late June and completed in late 2012.

Starting in early summer, L Street from 29th Street to the main entrance of Sutter General Hospital will be closed for four months in order to construct the unique three-story spanning structure that will connect the new Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center to Sutter General Hospital. Crews will be putting up the walls and exterior on the north side of the Women’s and Children’s Center with the hope that L Street won’t have to be closed again during the duration of the construction project.

Construction Update: La Valentina Station

After breaking ground nearly five months ago, La Valentina Station showing some real signs of progress. This $27 million project being financed by a combination of private, state and local funding and consists of 63 apartments and 18 townhouses. Completions slated for summer 2012.

Rendering of finshed building

Drilling Piles at “Seventh & H” SRO

Foundation work began about a month ago on downtowns newest single-resident occupancy building at Seventh and H streets. Below I have captured the process of drilling steel-reinforced piles into the ground at a depth of 70 feet.

This $47.4 million project will house 150 units at a cost of $316,000 per unit. It was just the other day I saw the price tag per unit for the project at another news site and I was floored by this crazy number. Is this why so few units ever get built downtown without subsides? This price was expected during the last real estate boom of a few years ago, but this seems a little steep for a SRO. Were currently in a depressed real estate market but the cost to build in downtown does not reflect that. If it weren’t for both the state and city subsidies to give builders money to build downtown, not much would be built. What does that say about our market? This isn’t something new either; it’s been this way for over a decade and developers have adjusted their business pratices to reflect this. Now that our state and city are broke, will developers take a risk building downtown without government support?



Rendering of finshed building

DMV Headquarters Upgrade

We can now see the glazed panels of opaque and transparent glass being placed over the current brick exterior. The $127 million project has now been upgraded for seismic stability and energy efficiency that will extend its life another 50 years. This 1960’s structures in it's last stage of a 13-year renovation.

First layer of dual-skin facade

New Central Plant

Old Exterior

Rendering of finshed building

Downtown Plaza for Sale… again

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Westfield Group of Australia has begun seeking buyers for the Sacramento mall and 16 other underperforming centers in seven states.

Westfield's goal: Take advantage of an uptick in the economy to sell the properties, then use the proceeds to reinvest in more successful centers, such as its Galleria mall in Roseville.

Westfield officials had no comment. Neither did Evercore Partners, a New York-based advisory firm that's been hired to market the mall portfolio.

The news comes almost two years after city officials asked Westfield to find a buyer if it wasn't going to make long-discussed improvements. Westfield officials said then they'd sell "under certain circumstances."

It would be big surprised to me if the 39-year-old mall finds a buyer, but there could be some harsh finical forces at play that make it so Westfield has to shed the dead weight.

K Street Mall Traffic

Tonight the Sacramento City Council will act to approve the implementation of a $2.7 million project  reintroduceing cars back onto K street between the 8th & 12th Streets.

The project includes:
• Two-way traffic
• Passenger Drop-offs (no parking)
• New signalized crossing at 11th and K streets
• Addition of edge treatments (possibly bollards, planters or street furniture) to fill large gaps
• ADA improvements at intersections

In my opinion, this is a terrible idea. The city has now thrown away another opportunity to provide pleasant, pedestrian, patio, public space for new businesses. The focus on K Street should be creating more affordable places to live with reasonable prices and removal of trouble makers and bums that have made this stretch of street worse than it really is. A densely populated area will change the atmosphere and draw more new business into the area. I’ve said all this before, so it really does not matter at this point.

Ordinance Amendment: Pedestrian Malls

Powerhouse Awarded $7 Million

The Powerhouse Science Center has been awarded a $7 million grant to pay for the first of three buildings in its planned $50 million science museum on the banks of the Sacramento River. The money comes from Prop. 84, a 2006 bond measure that provided $5 billion for water-quality projects, including public access to natural resources. The center is expected to open in 2013.

Railyards Preferred Site for New Courthouse

The city block bounded by H Street, 5th Street, G Street and 6th Street is now the preferred site for the new Sacramento Criminal Courthouse, the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) announced today. The site, Lot 41-Railyards, was endorsed today as the preferred site by the project advisory group, which includes members of the Superior Court of Sacramento County, city and county officials, and the AOC. The block, part of which is currently a city parking lot, is at the southernmost end of the Sacramento Railyards project, near existing court facilities and key justice partners, with ready access to transportation, including Amtrak, light rail, and bus service.

The Railyards site has received strong support from community leaders, including a June 2010 resolution by the Sacramento City Council and the County of Sacramento in favor of the site for the new courthouse, because it would jump-start vertical development and provide an opportunity for a landmark building in the area. The city is working with the Railyards owner, Inland American, to relocate railroad tracks that currently run through the site.

“The Railyards is the most appropriate site for the new state criminal courthouse due to its close proximity to the county jail, sheriff’s department, District Attorney’s Office, and the Public Defender’s Office, as well as transit services, bail bond, and law offices,” said Supervisor Susan Peters.

The AOC recently published its draft environmental impact report (EIR) under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which includes two sites: the Railyards site and 301 Capitol Mall. The AOC will accept public comments on the draft EIR through May 24, 2011; a public meeting on the draft EIR is planned for May 4, 2011. The AOC must conclude its environmental review, complete due diligence and acquisition negotiations, and secure approval by the State Public Works Board before site acquisition can be completed and architectural design can proceed. The local architecture firm of Nacht & Lewis and the global firm of HOK already have been selected to design the proposed new courthouse.

The new courthouse, 405,000 square feet and up to 16 stories tall, would provide 44 courtrooms (35 to be relocated from the Gordon D. Schaber Courthouse and 9 for new judicial positions), would consolidate most of the court’s criminal operations, and would centralize court operations from other downtown leased facilities. The proposed project includes a renovation of the Schaber Courthouse, and the AOC is also making plans for public parking options as a part of the project.

The proposed project is funded by Senate Bill 1407, enacted by the state Legislature in 2008 to authorize up to $5 billion for 41 new and renovated court facilities using court user fees, without impact on the state’s General Fund. This project was ranked as an “immediate need” in the judicial branch’s capital-outlay plan, making it among the branch’s highest-priority infrastructure projects. The project is expected to generate economic benefit in the form of thousands of jobs, both those directly related to the construction effort and others indirectly affected by it. Construction is scheduled to start in early 2013 and be completed in 2015.

More about the project is on the California Courts website: www.courts.ca.gov/2761.htm

Downtown On-Street Bikeway Project

Phase One

Despite the substantial number of bicyclists in the Downtown area, there is a lack of planned bikeways for this area of the City.

City staff is initiating this project to determine appropriate locations for additional bicycle access in the downtown area and to implement those improvements. Phase 1 will be comprised of bikeways that can be added to the existing street system without removal of any vehicle or parking lanes. Phase 2 will include conversion of one-way streets from three to two one-way lanes with both left and right side bike lanes. This phase also requires an environmental assessment of the reduction in travel lanes. The project purpose is to make downtown streets more complete by restriping the streets to add new on-street bikeways.

Phase Two

The Central City Two Way Conversion Project has an unobligated balance of $631,419. Approval of the transfer of local transportation funds (Fund 2001) in the amount of $629,000 from the Central City Two Way Conversion Project (T15008000) will be sufficient to plan, design and implement bicycle enhancements for Phases 1 and 2 in the downtown area.

City staff has recommend that the City Council approve the project and will be discussed this Tuesday the 12^th.

City Budget Woes

It’s crunch time again and the City of Sacramento is now seeking public input on the upcoming 2011-2012 budget with an online survey. The City is also hosting a community Budget Open House at City Hall on Saturday, April 9. Attendees are invited to stop by anytime between 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. to learn about the City’s budget and provide input on budget priorities and solutions. Results from the survey will be presented to the City Council in early May as part of the proposed budget process.

The open house will take place in the New City Hall lobby at 915 I Street in downtown Sacramento.

Sacramento is suffering from the prolonged economic recession. As a result, the City is anticipating a budget deficit of $35 to $40 million. This projected shortfall represents the need to reduce the $237 million net General Fund operating costs by nearly 20 percent. Although the City has initiated several budget-saving strategies over the last several years, next fiscal year’s budget will represent the fifth consecutive year of budget reductions because expenditures are growing at a faster rate than available revenues to pay for those services.

An online “Budget Input Survey” has been posted to the City’s web page, http://www.cityofsacramento.org/, and will be open through April 23. For more information about the city budget, download the Budget 101 fact sheet.

L Street Lofts Foreclosure

Developer Sotiris Kolokotronis mixed-use loft project at 18th and L streets has now been scheduled for a foreclosure auction April 13 on the courthouse steps. With only 22 of the 92-unit condominium sold, L Street Lofts LLC has defaulted on a $33 million loan held by OneWest Bank. This foreclosure sale might be one of the biggest bargains in midtown with prices tumbling as much as 50% or more off current asking prices. I’m sure several investors will be waiting to get a piece of the iconic midtown building.

Update 10/22/2011: It was foreclosed on and still has not yet been sold. I understand they would like over $20,000,000 which is higher then the current value according to local developers. The foreclosed value (the loan amount) was about $28,000,000. No one purchased the building at the courthouse so the bank got it.

Federal Funds Secured for Station Retrofit

The Sacramento Valley Station has locked in $10.4 million by the California Transportation Commission to structurally retrofit the depot with work expected to begin this summer. The $11 million project will have the remaining about due to paid for by federal funds, making up the difference.

The project calls for reinforcing the building to meet seismic standards as well as needed upgrades to meet modern accessibility standards. The city already has completed a structural investigation and engineering.

According to the Sacramento Business Journal; the Sacramento Valley Station is being turned into an intermodal hub that will handle Amtrak and Capitol Corridor service as well as light rail and bus services. The retrofit project is just the beginning of the larger project to create a hub for transportation.

City officials are seeking another $20 million federal allocation to put utilities and plumbing on the second and third floors of the depot to convert those to Class A office space. It’s all part of Phase II of the intermodal station project.

Phase I, the track relocation, took a major step forward at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Granite Construction was awarded a $41.5 million contract at for the related track relocation project..

Work on the retrofit project is expected to begin this summer and wrap up by the fall of 2013.

The Gateway on Fremont Park

Tomorrow the Design Commission will look over this project in an advisory roll. CADA (which is exempt from requiring Planning and Design Review entitlements from the City) is requesting a review and comment in the form of Advisory Conditions for Approval.

This proposed building will accommodate 5,847 square feet of commercial space and 30 residential units. The proposed 30 units would include 11 one bedroom units and 19 two bedroom units ranging in size from 925 square feet to 1,535 square feet.

24th & T Courtyard Condominiums

This Thursday members of the Planning Commission will approve this controversial six condo project that has surrounding neighbors overwhelming opposed believing it will overburden the on-street parking in the neighborhood, and that the proposed architectural design does not blend with the surrounding buildings. The developer has meet with many of the neighbors to discuss the project in response to concerns over the original proposal for apartment units, so the developer is now requesting condominium units.

The design concept of the buildings is to echo the Prairie style mansions and some of the Art Deco apartment buildings in the neighborhood and by adding interest to the existing buildings with Tudor and Craftsman style architecture. The proposal also adheres to policies within the 2030 General Plan, the Central City Community Plan, Zoning, Multi-Family Design Principles, and Smart Growth Planning Principles.

The Commission has final approval authority for approval of the proposal but its decision is appealable to City Council.

19th & Q Neighborhood Park Site Meeting

Please join councilmember Steve Cohn along with City of Sacramento Parks and Recreation staff to begin discussion on the cleanup and future design of the 19th and Q Street Neighborhood Park site. The meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 23, 2011 from 6:00p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the CADA Courtyard, 1322 O Street. The meeting will include information on an EPA Brownfield Grant that was awarded to clean-up the future park site and we will begin discussion on what neighbors would envision for the future park. We encourage you to bring children to this meeting! For more information, contact Tin-Wah Wong at 808-5540 or twong@cityofsacramento.org (info provided by CADA)

Update: 800 Block Project

800 K Street

Yesterday a bigger refined proposal was presented to members of the Preservation Commission in what I believe does a better job of integration into the existing cityscape. This proposed project is a collaborative partnership between David Taylor Interests, Domus Development, and SHRA in an effort to build 200 residential units, 22,000 square feet of retail space,184 parking spaces, and the rehabilitation of the historic Landmark Bel Vue structure.

801 L Street

The City Planning Commission is also scheduled to initially hear this project as Review & Comment on March 10, 2011, and again for final review on May 12, 2011. The final hearing for the project before the Preservation Commission will be at a later date in May.

Historic Landmark Bel Vue structure