Perhaps this movement by public and private leadership, here and on K Street, is the beginning of the ending of our long downtown lethargy. One hopes so, and the sense that is so does grow as we watch.
It is a wonderful vision!
Varied interests vie for inside track at railyard
By Mary Lynne Vellinga - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, September 13, 2007
Sacramento's downtown railyard is a blank slate, and everybody wants to write on it.
History buffs have asked for a 39-acre historic district surrounding the old railroad shops. Chinese leaders want a museum and perhaps a Chinese garden. Local arts groups envision a complex with performing arts venues and a kindergarten-12th grade arts conservatory.
A year after a failed city-county effort to build an arena in the railyard, a planned development of up to 12,000 housing units, a historic and cultural district, and millions of square feet of office and retail space is working its way through the approval process.
As it moves closer to approval, more people are trying to stake their claim on what's considered one of the most significant "infill" sites in the country.
The plans are big. And so are the problems.
Not only must developer Thomas Enterprises juggle the competing agendas of interest groups clamoring for a piece of the railyard, it must figure out how to come up with hundreds of millions of dollars needed to extend roads, utilities and other infrastructure to the site.
To that end, the Atlanta company is working with the city for quick approval of its development plan and environmental impact report, which was released last month.
If the project obtains the city's blessing by November, Suheil Totah, Thomas Enterprises vice president, said the project stands a better chance of winning up to $200 million in state bond funds.
"One of the criteria for the money is project readiness," Totah said. "We want to show that we're ready."
The situation in the railyard is still uncertain enough that the NBA has turned its sights to Cal Expo instead of the railyard as a possible arena location.
Still, Totah and community leaders who appeared at the city's first formal hearing on the railyard proposal Tuesday expressed considerable excitement.
If it obtains money from the state's $2.85 billion housing bond, Totah said that could pay for enough public improvements for the first phase to proceed.
He called the railyard a "marquee project" for the infill and transit-oriented pots of money in the state bond fund.
"The mayor has appeared before the Legislature to present the railyards as an example of a project that could be funded under them," he said. "We've had meetings with the Governor's Office. We're hoping that we can secure $100 million, but perhaps up to $200 million."
It took Thomas Enterprises six years to reach an agreement with Union Pacific to buy the railyard. Since the sale closed in December, the planning process has picked up steam.
On Tuesday, the city held the first of three joint hearings by its Planning, Design and Preservation commissions at the Sheraton Hotel. Normally, a developer would have to go before each commission separately, which can take many months.
City officials said it was the first time they knew of that the commissions had met jointly to consider a project. The idea is to get the railyard plan to the City Council by November -- warp speed by city standards.
