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  #201  
Old Posted Sep 16, 2009, 8:43 PM
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That area has so much potential, and it's got such a good spot.
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  #202  
Old Posted Sep 17, 2009, 3:23 AM
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Awesome! I've been hoping this would happen. We need an outdoor venue like this close to the city instead of out in BYE
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  #203  
Old Posted Sep 30, 2009, 9:15 AM
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KCRA.com
Related To Story
[WEST SAC IMAGE]

* Video: West Sacramento's Changing Its Image


W. Sac 'Hungry' To Change Bad Rep
Revitalization Includes New Civic Center, Los Rios Satellite Campus

POSTED: 5:53 pm PDT September 29, 2009
UPDATED: 7:49 pm PDT September 29, 2009
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The city just over the bridge is doing its best to put its old image to rest.

The bargain motels on West Capitol Avenue have a target on them. The plan is to transform it into a main street with nice stores and pedestrian traffic.

Raley Field is the cornerstone of the revitalization. It showed the region that the old ways of West Sacramento were over.

"We're very hungry to change West Sacramento, and we view this downtown as key to that," West Sacramento Vice Mayor Wes Beers said.

The glass tower that houses the California State Teachers Retirement System is a statement that progress continues in a down economy.

The central focus of the new West Sacramento is the beautiful city hall that has multiple projects going on across from it.

Those projects include the 21,000-square foot civic center, the Los Rios Community College satellite campus, and behind that, the $9 million, 18,000-square-foot library that opens next month.

Beers said the city has been getting funding from "many sources."

"We've been working for a number of years to assemble the property and we've been using redevelopment funds, transit funds, SACOG funds, Los Rios college funds, library funds, we've mortgaged everything we could to make this happen," Beers said.

With all the new development, KCRA 3's Walt Gray asked if it would be possible to construct a new West Sacramento Kings arena there as well.

"Oh, we've had people talk about it -- but that's a lot bigger than we're able to handle," Beers said.

Copyright 2009 by KCRA.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.







http://www.kcra.com/news/21154422/detail.html

Video at link
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  #204  
Old Posted Oct 13, 2009, 1:46 AM
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LJ Urban calls it quits; new buyer scoops up its "Good" homes in West Sac
bshallit@sacbee.com
Published Monday, Oct. 12, 2009


It's called "Good" but business hasn't been quite that for a West Sac complex hailed as a model of eco-conscious housing.

The partially completed project at Fourth and B streets was recently sold by developer Levi Benkert, whose innovative company first made headlines in 2007.

Due to falling real estate values, Benkert has closed his trailblazing company, LJ Urban.

"We had a good long run ... but things are over now," he writes in his company blog. His eco-urban company has "no book value and no future as a property development company."

Benkert's blog is penned from Ethiopia, where he and his family are living while doing another kind of good: helping orphaned kids.

The West Sac project's new owner is real estate entrepreneur Ray Sahadeo, who's been snapping up distressed properties throughout the region.

Sahadeo, head of S360 Development, tells us he'll immediately finish three partly-built homes at the Good site, which has five completed houses.

"We'll have to get a feel for the market," he says, before starting construction on 27 additional homes planned.

Ultimately, he says, the project "will do well because of the "buzz" it's generated among those interested in sustainable building practices.

"There's nothing else like this in West Sacramento, or even Sacramento," Sahadeo says.

Among the project's eco-friendly features: tankless water heaters, solar collectors and insulation made from recycled newspapers.

The completed units "use about 40 percent of the energy of standard homes," says Brandon Weber, who handled sales for LJ Urban and now is working with S360.

Webber says the Good project always had lots of interest from potential home buyers. But after real estate values began to plummet, getting construction loans became impossible.

"Everything just got upside down," he says.

For the rest of Bob Shallit's column, see Tuesday's "Our Region" section.
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  #205  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2010, 5:19 PM
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Friday, January 8, 2010

Ambitious West Sac project advances

Bridge District competes with Railyards
Sacramento Business Journal



A major developer and city officials have quietly been laying the groundwork for a $200 million plan to bring urban homebuyers to the West Sacramento waterfront.

Mark Friedman, a Sacramento infill developer whose family owns Arden Fair mall, is working on an agreement for the first 450 homes south of Raley Field. Ground work is under way, and vertical construction could begin next year.

The Bridge District in West Sacramento — overshadowed by The Railyards’ grandiose proposal in downtown Sacramento and to a lesser extent the Township 9 project on Richards Boulevard — is, like those other projects, an ambitious plan to redevelop heavily industrialized areas.

The site is along the Sacramento River between Highway 50 and Tower Bridge. There have been plans to build there for decades but with minimal action until 2007, when the city ramped up near-term redevelopment goals.

Friedman, the major player who owns more than 50 acres within the district, has unceremoniously knocked down 200,000 square feet of warehouses in the past few months in anticipation of signing a development agreement for the first housing project there. He described the agreement as the final piece of a complex puzzle that has been assembled over the past two years. The agreement went before the City Council on Wednesday, but has been deferred until next month.

“It is one of the most significant projects of this type in the state,” West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon said. “It’s a fundamental transformation of our waterfront. We don’t have an Old Sac for people to go to. For years there was not real access to the river as it was given up generations ago to heavy industry.”

The 188-acre district, formerly called the “Triangle area,” is about three-fourths the size of The Railyards and includes Raley Field and the pioneering Ironworks lofts by Regis Homes. New-home construction in the region has stopped, however, due to the housing downturn.

The bleak housing market is a worry for Friedman.

“I think that what we have to offer will be so unique and so compelling that we’ll be successful even in a weak real estate market,” he said. “That said, I’d be lying if I weren’t concerned about economic conditions.”

West Sacramento staff expects that Bridge District housing will be “pioneering, higher-risk and will sell or rent at discounted prices to comparable projects in the city of Sacramento’s downtown, midtown and Railyards neighborhoods,” which officials consider to be the primary competitors, according to a staff assessment.

“If they can hit the median household income with their pricing, they are going to be golden,” said Kathryn Boyce, an account executive with housing analyst Hanley Wood Market Intelligence. “I think it makes sense to try to beat The Railyards because it has received so much attention, and play off that. That way, people are coming in and looking at your product.”

Going green
Friedman said he will build an entirely “green” neighborhood that could include a boathouse on the river, community gardens and amenities such as bocce courts or playgrounds on sites that were formerly parking lots or storage facilities. West Sacramento, meanwhile, will extend to the south its riverfront park and trail that sits in front of the Ziggurat and new office tower that houses the California State Teachers’ Retirement System.

City officials expect to break ground on that project by May.

The $200 million to $250 million price tag is Friedman’s estimate of the total cost for infrastructure and 700 housing units in the first phase of what ultimately could be a $2 billion redevelopment by Friedman and other developers.

For the first phase, Friedman has agreed to build 386 market-rate homes and will donate land for construction of 70 affordable units in an urban village setting. Following the demolition work that already has begun, he expects a full grading of the site in April. The first units likely to be built will be a five-story, 70-unit apartment project of affordable homes with tuck-under parking to be developed by Bridge Housing of San Francisco. The building was designed by David Baker and Associates.

Kevin Griffith, a senior program manager with Bridge Housing, said it is awaiting the transfer of state funding to the city for infrastructure improvements, but is otherwise prepared to start building. The affordable project is funded with a combination of state, local redevelopment, tax credit, city and developer contributions.

Friedman aims to eventually build 2,300 residential units and 2 million square feet of offices within the district. He said his company, Fulcrum Property, has the financial strength to build without outside investment, if necessary.

“I don’t know what other assurances I can give,” Friedman said. “I wouldn’t be devoting this much energy if I didn’t think we could pull it off. You can’t look at it like you’re going to raise $2 billion — the success of each phase will validate the next.”

Others to join in
A separate development agreement is in the works with local architect Dean Unger and his development partners to produce 100 market-rate homes. Their ultimate plans in the area could include office towers or hotels, more housing units and retail.

West Sacramento’s redevelopment agency expects to develop 175 units itself, in a mix of market-rate and affordable housing.

The first $52 million already is committed to build roads, put in utility lines and remake the area into a habitable environment through a combination of public and private funds. West Sacramento’s program manager, Katy Jacobson, said public funding totals $40 million, but there won’t be any sales-tax or general fund borrowing for the project.

Although development goals for the district were outlined in 1993, plans for the area south of Raley Field didn’t launch until last year when West Sacramento was granted $23 million in state grant funds for transit-oriented development. The Railyards and Township 9 received money from the same pool. The state money hasn’t yet reached West Sacramento coffers, but that is expected to happen within the next few months.

A jump start
With underlying construction work under way at all three major infill projects, it remains to be seen which will be first to establish an identity or market for potential homebuyers.

Steve Goodwin, president of the Township 9 development, said he expects to be competitive.

“Competition is healthy because right now there aren’t enough choices for people,” he said. “Ours is unique because we sit right on the American River. This will appeal to people with an active lifestyle. Having light rail right to the front is also huge.”

Officials at Thomas Enterprises Inc., developer of The Railyards, did not respond to a request for comment.

Friedman also expects both competition and synergy as each project comes on-line.

“We will compete with those projects, but we will also complement them,” Friedman said. “We will be looking for the same kind of urban residents. Each will gravitate to the one that appeals to them.”

He expects his project to be certified as a smart-growth neighborhood under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for neighborhoods. Green features include a natural stormwater filtration system that doesn’t require a chemical-based water treatment plant as well as space for homeowners to grow their own vegetables. The concrete from demolished warehouses is being recycled to form new roadbeds.

One of the amenities Friedman is especially excited about is the potential boathouse.

“The river has great appeal,” he said. “I’m confident we will provide something different.”

http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sa...html?ana=e_ph#
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  #206  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2010, 5:55 PM
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That sounds awesome. I have been looking at that site for a while now thinking how cool it would be with some Urban development. Is there any plan to put Light Rail or some type of street car through the area? Also, it looks like a walking bridge in the vision. How likely is that and could it possibly end near an extended R Street Light Rail line?
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  #207  
Old Posted Jan 8, 2010, 7:36 PM
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Quote:
Although development goals for the district were outlined in 1993, plans for the area south of Raley Field didn’t launch until last year when West Sacramento was granted $23 million in state grant funds for transit-oriented development. The Railyards and Township 9 received money from the same pool. The state money hasn’t yet reached West Sacramento coffers, but that is expected to happen within the next few months.
One hopes that this "transit-oriented development" will include some transit...perhaps some of this funding an investment can help pay for the currently-stalled Sacramento/West Sacramento streetcar project? Considering how crowded the Pioneer Bridge gets already, thousands more residents in West Sac just means more traffic over the existing bridges--unless a transit system is put into place first. If they build the neighborhood before the transit, I'd expect this development to look more like West Natomas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Surefiresacto
That sounds awesome. I have been looking at that site for a while now thinking how cool it would be with some Urban development. Is there any plan to put Light Rail or some type of street car through the area? Also, it looks like a walking bridge in the vision. How likely is that and could it possibly end near an extended R Street Light Rail line?
The streetcar plan is stalled, purportedly because West Sac wasn't paying what Sacramento considered an equitable share, but this could change that.

Extending the light rail line on R Street is probably not feasible for several reasons: first, it would require serious rerouting of existing trains, second, it would require a separate bridge over Interstate 5 (the current bridge was just converted to a bike bridge, and is curved, and would have to cross SSRR tracks on Front Street), and third, Light Rail tracks and infrastructure costs about 3 times per mile what a streetcar line would cost.

I have seen concept drawings for a bike/ped bridge like that, it was curved and apparently the idea is that it would rotate 90 degrees upward to allow boats to pass underneath.
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  #208  
Old Posted Feb 7, 2010, 4:16 AM
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Thursday, February 4, 2010

Obama includes $12M for West Sac port project
Sacramento Business Journal - by Melanie Turner Staff writer
http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sa...1/daily70.html


President Obama has included $12.5 million for the Port of West Sacramento’s ship-channel project in his proposed budget for fiscal year 2011, the port has learned.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requested — and received — $12.5 million for the project. The funding will be used for continued planning, engineering and design, and to initiate the first phase of construction.

The project would deepen the 43-mile channel between the port and the San Francisco Bay to 35 feet from 30 feet. It initially started in 1989 and stopped in 1991 as a result of a since-resolved utility matter. About 35 more miles need to be dredged.

The channel’s current depth allows less than 40 percent of fully loaded ocean-going freight ships to access the port. If the channel was dredged to 35 feet, more than 75 percent of such ships could serve the Sacramento region.

It would take about $80 million to finish dredging the channel, with about $60 million expected to come from the federal government.

While the federal budget for fiscal year 2010 included $10 million for the project, that amount went back to the U.S. Treasury when it was not used. Dredging was originally expected to start in mid-2010, but enviromental permits took longer than anticipated, setting the project back about six months.

The project is still expected to be completed in 2013.
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  #209  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2010, 10:15 PM
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Backbone infrastructure construction got underway in West Sacramento's Bridge District(Triangle area) last February 10:


Temporary Road Closure on South River Road; Use Riske Lane/Ballpark Drive Detour


The City of West Sacramento has temporarily closed a segment of South River Road between Riske Lane and Ballpark Drive, south of Raley Field. The 2,400-foot closure remains in effect until April 2010 to allow utility relocation work as part of the Bridge District Infrastructure Project. A 25 mph traffic detour is available south of Raley Field on Riske Lane and Ballpark Drive. The portion of South River Road south of the Riske Lane intersection is not affected by the utility relocation phase of the project.
This summer, following completion of the utility relocation work, the Bridge District Infrastructure Project will begin with the construction of new roadway network and associated utility infrastructures in the area adjacent to South River Road, south of Raley Field. This phase of construction is expected to continue into early 2011.
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  #210  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2010, 10:23 PM
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  #211  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2010, 10:23 PM
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  #212  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2010, 10:28 PM
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Business Journal: New Homes For West Sacramento

Developer Mark Friedman has reached an agreement to begin the first phase of a massive project on the west side of the Sacramento River.
By: Ron Trujillo

Thu Feb 18, 2010

ListenListen to audio

(Sacramento, CA) Friedman plans to build 386 homes just south of Raley Field in West Sacramento, as part of the first phase of the so-called Bridge District.

The first homes in the district along the river between Highway 50 and Tower Bridge are expected to be in a five-story, 70-unit apartment complex.

The city has received $23 million in state funding to pay for streets and utilities, paving the way for the Bridge District —which could eventually include 2,300 housing units and 2 million square feet of offices during the next couple of decades.

Development of the district, originally called The Triangle, will cost about $2 billion and is about three-fourths the size of the Railyards across the river in Sacramento, one of the largest infill projects in the nation.
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  #213  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2010, 10:31 PM
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  #214  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2010, 10:37 PM
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  #215  
Old Posted Feb 20, 2010, 10:44 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kamehameha View Post
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  #216  
Old Posted Feb 21, 2010, 9:09 PM
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Those "green stairs" at the corner of the apartment building are awful. It looks
like some reto throw back design of the 60' but worse... but I do like how it
has the parking tucked into the building. kamehameha, do you work for the
developer of this project? I don't see how any of this will be built in the near
future when just up the road the "Ironworks" project is sitting there at near empty.
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  #217  
Old Posted Feb 22, 2010, 10:51 PM
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So is this design part of the larger "Bridge District" plan (is it shown in that conceptual diagram of the whole area above) or is it different?
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  #218  
Old Posted Feb 25, 2010, 1:10 AM
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Mark Johannessen(West Sac City Council) Newsletter:

Major Riverfront Development: A Bridge District Project Moves Forward


On February 3, 2010, the City Council approved a development agreement with Fulcrum Properties along with a district-wide financing plan for the development of a $200 million project in West Sacramento’s 188-acre Bridge District, which lies between Highway 50 and the Tower Bridge.

The development is part of West Sacramento’s plan to redevelop the riverfront into a vibrant urban place with high rises, entertainment, offices, restaurants, clubs and residences. It will complement the development scheduled to occur on the Sacramento side of the river, including the Railyards project. $2 billion is expected to be invested in the Bridge District over time.

Mark has pushed for transit being an essential element of this district, which should include a fixed-rail transit line to connect the district to the West Sacramento Civic Center and to the Sacramento City transit system.

This project is one of several in the Bridge District. It will be the first to break ground and will incorporate neighborhood designs promoting walking, biking and transit with less reliance on cars.

The project is the product of a unique public-private collaboration resulting in a re-thinking of how business is done in West Sacramento, including streamlining city processes. “In this economic environment, projects of this type simply cannot happen without engaging the development community, working on creative solutions that make economic sense, and sharing the risk”, says Johannessen. “This project will be a significant catalyst in an area where the city will likely focus its development efforts for the next several years and beyond, and will bring to the city the amenities the residents want with economic development that will allow us to afford those amenities”.

Johannessen, a strong supporter of transit, said that “the availability of clean, safe and regular transit will distinguish West Sacramento from Natomas and Elk Grove, and make West Sacramento competitive in attracting businesses and residents to the West Sacramento”.
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  #219  
Old Posted Feb 25, 2010, 1:11 AM
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Raley’s Field New Amphitheater



Raley’s Field, home of the Triple-A River Cats, is moving forward on the development of a 3,500-seat amphitheater where it will hold concerts, festivals, and community and other events, with spring and summer concert seasons anticipated to begin in 2011.

Raley’s Field has hosted successful concerts in the past, including Dave Matthews Band, Tom Petty, Journey, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The facility will capitalize on the industry trend toward smaller more intimate venues and events not financially feasible in large arenas.

The amphitheater will be located behind right-center field on the eastern side of the property. The area in front of the stage will be able to seat approximately 1,230 people, and approximately 1,000 people may be seated towards the back. An elevated area will accommodate an additional 1,050 people with box and other special seating.

Construction is anticipated to begin immediately after the next baseball season in September 2010, and should be completed by April 2011.
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  #220  
Old Posted Feb 25, 2010, 1:12 AM
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West Sac is the only bright spot in the region's economy.
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