The Bank Culinary Palace

The Bank - 629 J Street - built in 1912

The historic Mills Bank building at Seventh and J streets has been transformed into fast-casual kitchens.  The 30,000 square foot building will have seven kitchens, several private event rooms, and 68 self-serve beer and cider taps. The main floor has stayed original including golden ceilings, light fixtures and in the basement circular vault doors to the taproom.  The tenant include the Poke Bros., Chocolate Fish Coffee, Mama Kim’s, Preservation & Co., Station 8, Platypus Pizza and street taqueria. Today The Bank opens to the public, I’m looking forward to the experience.

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

Colliers 3Q 2018 Sacramento Multifamily

Colliers International Q3 Sacramento Multifamily Forecast Report

Colliers Internationals Sacramento report showed record sales volume and elevated occupancy. But even with thousands of new units being delivered and in development, construction is still well below pre-2009 when an average of 2,500 units a year were delivered from 2005 to 2008.  Occupancy in the central city has declined 150 basis points over the last 12 months to 94 percent. 285 new units have been completed in Downtown and Midtown since October 2017.

On page 7 of the report Colliers goes into detail of all the residential developments the city can look forward to. The forecast looks good, hopefully developers will continue to be bullish in 2019.

http://www.colliers-sacramento.com/MarketReports/2018_Q3_Multifamily_FINAL.pdf

Natural Resources Building @ 8th & P Streets

Piles are being drilled into the ground at the P Street Natural Resources Building. It’s impressive to visit the work site, the entire block is in use for either preparation or construction of the tower. While there taking the photos, I spoke to someone working on the project asking where tower crane or cranes were going to be placed. The answer surprised me, I was told no tower cranes would be used to build this tower, but one giant mobile crane because the proposed tower was not designed to built with a tower crane. Strange to hear, but that’s how it was explained to me.

OxBlue webcam the Natural Resources Building
construction site at 8th & P Streets

The OxBlue cameras are currently the best was to view the towers progress, but I snapped a few photos anyway. 

Corner P & 7th Streets of Natural Resources Building construction

Corner P & 7th Streets of Natural Resources Building construction

7th Streets view of piles waiting to be drilled
into the foundation of Natural Resources Building

Seen from O Street of Natural Resources Building construction

Seen from O Street of Natural Resources Building construction

From 8th Street of Natural Resources Building construction

From 8th Street of Natural Resources Building construction drilling piles

From 8th & P Streets of Natural Resources Building construction

View from 15th & R Streets of where Natural Resources Building
will rise in the skyline

15Q Progess & Photos

A crane has gone up since I last took photos in July and it appears the 5^th floor has also been completed. 1430 Q is part of the R Street Corridor of development with 8 floors, 75 rental apartments and 9,000sf of retail space.

1430 Q Street, Sacramento CA 95811 - 15Q mixed use 8-story building

1430 Q Street, Sacramento CA 95811 - 15Q mixed use 8-story building

1430 Q Street, Sacramento CA 95811 - 15Q mixed use 8-story building

1430 Q Street, Sacramento CA 95811 - 15Q mixed use 8-story building

1430 Q Street, Sacramento CA 95811 - 15Q mixed use 8-story building

1430 Q Street, Sacramento CA 95811 - 15Q mixed use 8-story building

1430 Q Street, Sacramento CA 95811 - 15Q mixed use 8-story building

1430 Q Street, Sacramento CA 95811 - 15Q mixed use 8-story building

Aerial View Of Downtown Sacramento

CHP Aerial View Of Downtown Sacramento

This is one of the coolest skyline photos I've seen of downtown Sacramento in a while. It's hosted on the CHP website, I'd credit the photographer but no info was given.

Sacramento County Criminal Courthouse

Site of new Sacramento Criminal Courthouse at 5th & G Street

Site of new Sacramento Criminal Courthouse at 5th & G Street

I thought I would check out the site where in the summer of 2019 construction on the 17-story courthouse is supposed to begin. The budget for the 540,000 sf building is $489 million and completion in 2022. It was only two years ago the State said the courthouse was delayed indefinitely because of budget short falls, before that is was downsized and the city was willing to sell off city owned property to fund building the courthouse. But here we are today and the state has followed through so Sacramento won't get the shaft.

http://www.courts.ca.gov/facilities-sacramento.htm

19J Project @ 19th & J Streets

I'm pleased to see construction near a topping-off point, the 11-story mixed-use building is now coming together at a nice pace after a very slow start.

19J - 11-story mixed use project on J Street in Midtown Sacramento

19J - 11-story mixed use project on J Street in Midtown Sacramento

19J - 11-story mixed use project on
J Street in Midtown Sacramento

19J - 11-story mixed use project on J Street in Midtown Sacramento

19J - 11-story mixed use project on J Street in Midtown Sacramento



19J - 11-story mixed use project on J Street in Midtown Sacramento

19J - 11-story mixed use project on J Street seen from 15th & R Street

 

 

O Street Project

Now that the basement is dugout, the process of drilling piles appears to be most of the activity on site. The 11-story office building expected to be completed in 2021 at a cost of $274 million.

1215 O Street Sacramento, State of California office bldg. tower crane

1215 O Street Sacramento, State of California office bldg. tower crane

1215 O Street Sacramento, State of California office bldg. site work

1215 O Street Sacramento, State of California office bldg. site work

1215 O Street Sacramento, State of California office bldg. tower crane

1215 O Street Sacramento, State of California office bldg. drilling piles

1215 O Street Sacramento, State of California office bldg. drilling piles

1215 O Street Sacramento, State of California office bldg. drilling piles

1215 O Street Sacramento, State of California office bldg. drilling piles

1215 O Street Sacramento, State of California office bldg. tower crane

 

“Sacramento Storm Clouds”

Karen Fess’ painting, “Sacramento Storm Clouds,” will be auctioned in
support of the Yolo Basin Foundation at Bucks for Ducks on Nov. 2. Courtesy photo

I found this painting striking and beautiful. It can be yours if you go to the silent auction that benefit Bucks for Ducks from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2, at the UC Davis ARC Pavilion. 
Davis Enterprise

Tickets and table sponsorship opportunities are available at www.yolobasin.org.

Colliers 3Q 2018 Sacramento Research & Forecast

Colliers International third quarter office market report says Sacramento is on the rise. Because of high demand from State government, healthcare, and education sectors, vacancies have dropped to a 16-year low. Nevertheless, rising construction and land costs have many developers cautious to move forward with new speculative office projects. Some key points from the Colliers report,  downtown leads all submarkets with absorption of 226,681 square feet but Class A asking rates downtown is unchanged at $3.01 per square feet. Read the Colliers International Q3 Report here. 

Mid-century Modern Landmark Nomination

Tomorrow the Preservation Commission will conduct hearings to determine if four proposed landmarks should be registered as Historic. Gunther’s Ice Cream on Franklin Blvd. represents 1940’s architecture. The Sacramento Courthouse built is 1965 is also being considered because of its Brutalist style. Another one being considered is the Former Savings and Loan / Chase Bank Branch built in 1964 on Freeport Blvd.. The last recommendation is Iva Gard Shepard Garden & Art Center at 3330 McKinley Blvd.

In my option, only two of these should make the cut, the Former Savings and Loan on Freeport Blvd. and Gunther’s on Franklin Blvd. They both have a presents that is unique and distinctive elements of the architectural style while the other two are forgettable. The commission will probably agree that all four deserve Historic statue. To learn more about all four buildings, please go here.

Sacramento Court House at 720 9th Street, built in 1965 

Gunther's Ice Cream at 2810 Franklin Blvd., built in 1949

Former Savings and Loan at 4701 Freeport Blvd., built in 1964

Iva Gard Shepard Garden and Art Center at 3330 McKinley Blvd., built in 1959 

 

 

Mixed-Use S Street Proposal Gets Funding

Mixed-use 159 units project at 1717 S Street

Another small but important mixed-use project has secured funding with construction expected in 2019. After waiting more than a decade, this 6-story 159-unit project at 1717 S Street will fill a vacant lot just behind the Ice Blocks project on R Street. At a total cost of $64 million, CFY Development, Inc. will receive loans from several different sources including Capitol Area Development Authority (CADA), Sacramento Housing and Development Agency (SHRA), as well as a conventional loan. The City of Sacramento is now financially committed to project.