Cars on K Street

This Tuesday the 26^th the City Council will award the award the Cars on K Street construction project to Navajo Pipelines, Inc. for an amount of $1,996,975, whom was the lowest bidder. The project was budgeted for $3,061,200 and will be funded by transportation funds and merged downtown tax increment funds.

As of June 22, 2011, the Cars on K Street Improvements Project had a remaining unobligated balance of $2,302,000 which is sufficient to execute the construction contract. There are no general funds planned or allocated for this project. The approval of this project will support 57 jobs in the City of Sacrament based upon the model provided by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) of one new job for every $35,000 of transportation project investments. The projects expected to last 55 days with the return of cars on K by the end of the year.

Sutter Medical Center Spanning Structure

When the new complex opens, Sutter General will be rechristened as the Ose Adams Medical Pavilion and it will be seamlessly connected to the Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center by a unique, three-story spanning structure across L Street that will also house clinical space. Construction on this spanning structure, which will blend the two facilities into a comprehensive medical campus. Please forgive my lame photos, my camera is in the shop and I'm currently using a Coolpix.

“Seventh & H” SRO Rising

The tower crane for this “Seventh & H" SRO project has been a nice reminder that some developments are still moving forward in downtown. For about a month now, this crane has been on site preparing the foundation for the eight story 102 foot tall building. At the corner of Seventh & H Street, crews are also laying tracks for the Green Line, a light-rail route that eventually will bring passengers from downtown Sacramento to Sacramento International Airport. They are welding 40-foot rails into 400-foot sections to make up the 1.1 mile span from downtown Sacramento to Richards Boulevard.

Sacramento Redevelopment Stalled

New legislation signed into law June 29 will directly affect the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency (SHRA) and stall several major redevelopment projects in Sacramento. Bills ABx26 and ABx27, will reduce t the impact of (SHRA) by requiring them to pay a “year one” payment estimated at $22 million and approximately $5 million every year after that. As reported by the Sacramento Press, once the SHRA governing boards have an opportunity to review the completed analysis, they will give the agency their recommendations on the options available. They are currently in a state of limbo.

Redevelopment agencies have until Oct. 1 to either dissolve or make the first-year continuation payment to continue redevelopment activities. The California Redevelopment Association (CRA) plans to file a lawsuit in the next couple of weeks challenging the new legislation saying it’s unconstitutional after the passing of Proposition 22 last November that specifically prohibits the state from doing anything with local funds, including redevelopment funds.

Currently, several major redevelopment projects in Sacramento are stalled. These include the 800 K Street project, Township 9 project, and Veterans Village, a proposed new construction development in the Mather Redevelopment Area that would provide affordable housing for veterans.

Some projects that have already been approved, however, would not be affected by the new legislation, including the Seventh and H streets project, the La Valentina project on 12th Street, and the Hotel Berry renovation project.

To read the full Sacramento Press article please clicks here.

CADA Property Sell Off

The Capitol Area Development Authority was started up during Brown's first run as Governor. Now, more than 30 years later, the state legislature has passed a budget that eliminates the redevelopment agency. Executive director of CADA, Paul Schmidt talked on KXJZ's Insight on the selling off of properties managed by CADA and what it would mean for the City of Sacramento. CADA manages about 16 blocks in downtown and is a self supporting organization that’s funded by renting of 784 apartments. Click here to take a listen if you have a chance, the interview with Paul starts at 15:55 mark.

Fred Mayes Jewelers’ Clock Restoration

Today the City of Sacramento Department of Transportation loaded up the only public street clock still remaining on the streets of Downtown Sacramento and haul it away for restoration.

The refurbishing of the clock to the period of its historical significance will take place at the Art Foundry & Gallery Downtown. The clock will be restored to the most recent “art moderne” style at the time it was designated as a City historic landmark in June of 1982. The project team expects the repairs to take the entire summer, with the clock being returned to 10th and J around the first week in September.

Old Sacramento State Historic Park

Today the Planning Commission will hear a Preliminary General Plan/Draft EIR for the Old Sacramento State Historic Park reconstruction project. The current draft plan includes; Horse Car Loop  (circling around Front Street, I Street, L Street, 2nd Street) and 17 mile Railroad Operation, reconstruct buildings of the 1860’s-70’s at the current Old Sacramento State Historic Park, viewing of sunken ship, improved bike trail to the foot of J Street, restore passenger station to 1873 appearance with a restaurant and excursion train boarding down to the Sacramento Zoo and as far as Pocket/Meadowview and Hood area. The formal planning process started in Fall 2010 and public viewing will availlable till Spring 2012. No estimated construction costs have been mentioned yet. Read more here at the California State Parks site.

 

Funding for K Street Streetscape

The K Street's streetscape project includes paving materials, street furniture, trash receptacles, landscaping, lighting, enhanced intersections and gateway elements and relocations of two Regional Transit ( RT) mini-high platform stations between 8th & 12th Street costing $5,733,111. With Police layoffs and other budget cutbacks now under way I was vary curious as to where the money was coming from to do this project, so here it is: Redevelopment Agency of the City of Sacramento Tax Increment Funds in the amount of $5,328,515, Park Development Funds in the amount of $4,596, Transportation Funds in the amount of $400,000. Tonight the City Council will authorize an additional $50,000 for the project to be used for repair and maintenance of landscape irrigation on K Street.

This streetscape project is a separate development than the opening of K Street to traffic which is expected to cost an additional 2.7 million.

I can’t believe K Street improvements are a higher priority for funding than the funding of having more police on the streets, but that’s where we are today in this city and many others across the country.

Sutter Bridge

Starting Monday and lasting for the next several months, L Street will be closed from 29th Street to Sutter General Hospital while a three level bridge is built between buildings is constructed.

Traffic will be detoured around the construction until the middle of November, while a three-story structure to connect Sutter General and the new Anderson Lucchetti Women’s and Children’s Center is built.

Paying for a new Arena?

I think we all know why the Kings are still in town… passionate fans and a last ditch effort by politicians and local businesses to show that Sacramento can still pull together big deals. Building a new arena is now priority #1, a big spending project that should be done for the greater good of Sacramento.

In the last issue of Sactown Magazine (April/May) there is one section called: “Riverfront: Veto the Vote” that talks about whether the Kings decide to stay or go, and that it's time to start treating the arena issue like every other major project the city has undertake for the good of the people. And that means not asking the people what's good for them.

This method that Sactown Mag., refers to is done by raising bonds with the backing of public money. The Sacramento bond project list is longer than you might think. Just to list a few, there’s the billion dollar airport expansion, $751 million “Capitol Improvement Program” in 1987, both the Hyatt and Sheraton, and the convention center expansion in 1992. None of these projects went to a vote of the people; the city did not wait around and hoping for some wealthy family or company to build for us allowing others to decide our fate for us. All these were done by raising bonds and backing it with public money. The bonds were paid off with funded user fees (where ticket buyer pay a few extra dollars each visit), hotel, car rental, parking, and concessions.

This has been a standard method for several other cities to build big project when private money was not enough to make it happen. Since an arena serves a public purpose, therefore it does not need voter approval.

If our city leaders are serious about keeping the Kings in town, they better look to the past to help finance a new arena in the near future. Take a moment to check out the article here, it illustrates the point much better than I have.

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