City set to approve big development in south Sacramento
By Mary Lynne Vellinga
mlvellinga@sacbee.com
Published: Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009 | Page 6B
The city of Sacramento is poised to approve a huge new shopping center just a few miles from the Elk Grove shopping center where construction has stalled.
City Council members are scheduled to vote Tuesday on Delta Shores, a new community with about 5,000 housing units and 1.3 million square feet of retail – the equivalent of an Arden Fair mall.
The retailers would not be housed under one roof, but instead would be grouped together in trendy "lifestyle center" fashion, similar to the new Natomas Promenade in North Natomas. The center would include a multiplex cinema.
While the retail economy is in a deep trough now, city planners say they're confident that San Diego developer M&H Realty Partners will proceed with construction on the 782-acre site as early as next year.
Delta Shores straddles Interstate 5 next to the Meadowview neighborhood. It is one of the last remaining large swaths of undeveloped land in the city.
"We think it's going to be successful," said planning manager David Kwong. "We don't really have anything like this on the south side of the city. The closest thing similar to this would be in Natomas."
A new shopping mall could deliver millions in sales tax dollars to the city – a potential savior in bad budget times.
But at least one retail expert suggested the city could be making a mistake. "If they were starting to build it today, it would be foolhardy, and in 2010 it could be foolhardy," said George Whalin, head of Retail Management Consultants in San Marcos.
"I don't know anybody who is looking to build anything new," Whalin added. "The mall guys, the shopping center guys, all the discussions now are how do we pull back, how do we stop projects that are on the drawing boards."
M&H officials could not be reached for comment Friday.
The city is depending on M&H to foot nearly half of the estimated $100 million bill for a new freeway interchange on I-5 and extend Cosumnes Boulevard as a six-lane connector between Highway 99 and I-5.
Sacramento principal planner Greg Bitter said M&H has pledged to advance much of the money for the city's share of the cost, so construction on the roadway improvements could be completed as early as the winter of 2010.
Bitter said M&H has told the city it hopes to open the first stores at the same time.
M&H, also known as Merlone Geier Partners, is the same company developing 158 acres around the stalled Elk Grove Promenade at Grant Line Road and Highway 99.
M&H has proceeded with its plans even as General Growth Properties, builder of the central mall, has postponed construction amid the worsening economy and its own financial difficulties. But M&H hasn't actually built anything yet, said Elk Grove spokeswoman Christine Brainerd.
Sacramento city planning staff members have been working on the latest plan for Delta Shores for more than two years. Various plans for the property have come and gone during the half-century that it has been part of the city of Sacramento.
Kwong, the city planner, said his department is satisfied with the current design, which includes low-, medium- and high-density housing along with the retail.
"We've learned a lot from the things we've done in Natomas," Kwong said. "It has a good mix of uses, a good mix of densities, and they're well spread throughout the community. … It's going to provide a lot of jobs to the neighborhood there."
He and Bitter said they expect the retail to come before the housing, given the state of the housing market.
SunCal, the residential developer that had been working with M&H on the project, left the team about a year ago, and another residential partner has yet to be identified.
In recent days, city staff members have been working with M&H on revisions, trying to satisfy critics including the state Department of Fish and Game and Friends of the Swainson's Hawk, an environmental group that has challenged development projects.
M&H has agreed to acquire land within 10 miles of Delta Shores to satisfy requirements that it mitigate for loss of Swainson's hawk habitat, Bitter said.
"Up until last night at 6:30 the language was going back and forth," Bitter said. "It's our job to give the council something that we feel is defensible."
http://sacbee.com/topstories/story/1530932.html?
And the site plan from the developers website.
http://www.merlonegeier.com/pdfs/DeltaShores.pdf
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This is going to be awesome...
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