Tuesday, December 12, 2006

K Street Mall, the Never Ending Story

Yet, there has been results, and one still looks to see, in a lifetime, the completion of at least the strolling harmony, from the river to 16th street, pleasant to traverse and enjoyable to visit.

Burned K St. sites razed
Fire and subsequent demolition of two vacant buildings could hinder talks on deal to redevelop the depressed downtown area.
By Mary Lynne Vellinga - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PST Tuesday, December 12, 2006


While Sacramento has big redevelopment plans for K Street, the pedestrian mall's bombed-out appearance worsened in the past week with the demolition of two buildings damaged by a recent fire in the 800 block.

Crews demolished a former sports store in the middle of the block where the fire started on Nov. 26. An adjacent building dating back to 1870 was in the process of coming down Monday.

Both K Street buildings were vacant when fire swept through the shuttered sports store, also damaging the former furniture store next door.

They are both part of a collection of properties on the 700 and 800 blocks being swapped by the city and two development teams in order to ease the way for two redevelopment projects.

Capt. James Doucette, spokesman for the Sacramento City Fire Department, said the cause of the blaze has not been determined.

The former sports store was owned by major downtown property owner Moe Mohanna, who has joined forces with developer John Saca on a plan to build stores topped by 30-story housing towers in the 800 block.