West Sacramento has had some grand visions too in the last 20 years. Here's
a few from 1989.
July 3, 1989
Sacramento Bee
W. Sacramento has seen future, and it’s towering
http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/...ckval=GooglePM
Below are paraphrased parts from the Sacramento Bee article.
20 years ago West Sacramento had really big plans for the riverfront costing
$1 Billion plus. The metamorphosis included the areas first 40-story high-rise
tower; the first luxury riverfront developments; and the first five-star hotel
and conference center. The proposed development was to include one 40
story tower at Raley’s Landing to be finished in 1992 as well as another
developer jockeying to build their own 48 story tower.
All the proposed developments were to transform West Sacramento image
from an industrial eyesore to an auto mall on the west end to upscale
waterfront development and residential construction to the southeast.
The developers expect to spend $1 billion, and the city expected $3 billion
to be spent over the next 20 years.
West Sac’s new general plan was a commitment to develop its entire
waterfront for public use, linking pricey marinas and other developments with city parks.
Lighthouse Marian was to be finance by the Japanese, 321-acre resort
project along the Sacramento River near the mouth of the American River.
It would have included a marina, hotel convection center, 18 hole golf course
and 1,660 homes, for an estimated price of $500 million.
Raley’s Landing was to be 28-acre project just north of Tower Bridge with a
630-room hotel, five star hotel and a 40-story office tower and second
smaller tower along with 400 riverfront condominiums. The development was
to receive up to $300 million in international financing.
The Triangle, a chunk of land between I-80 and the Tower Bridge was at the
time described as “the premier piece of property in the region” and was
designated for mix-use waterfront development. As many as 20 property
owner own land in the 135 acre area with The Rice Growers Association
owning 50 acres, which was the biggest chunk on land. The at one time the
city of West Sacramento had a plan to organize an association of all the
property owners in the Triangle area to create a plan for the 135-acre site,
but the effort failed when the Rice Growers Association pulled out of a city’s
plan to organize the property owners. The RGA felt there was so little
interest in the group that it would be more useful to hire a consultant to
plan its own property.
Dean F. Unger, a Sacramento architect, owns 9 acres of the property
waterfront property just south of the Tower Bridge and had plans mapped
out but had also been approached by several development groups. One of
the groups were vying for a position to build a high-rise was Kersten’s Trade
Center Development Corp. who approached Unger and the RGA to build a
48-story tower. Unger’s plans to keep the riverfront free of traffic and open
to bicycles and pedestrians. He had plans for a layered approach from the
river with shops and restaurants from the street level with mid-rises and
high-rise buildings behind with parking structures. Unger said “I want to
do something that is very, very significant, to give something of lasting
legacy to the West Sacramento community. It’s too fine a property to not
do it absolutely correctly.”