This is a good case that there is a lot more work that needs to be done and it needs to be done by the public leadership, which hasn’t been doing much of a job for quite some time on downtown development, but one hopes they get this one right, as getting it wrong—combined with the long-term failure with K Street—could result in another 40 years of wandering in the downtown developmental wilderness.
Editorial: Will railyard project pencil out in long run?
Sac City Council should provide more scrutiny, oversight of development deal
Published 12:00 am PST Sunday, December 9, 2007
If you were to believe certain members of the Sacramento City Council, the debate about the downtown railyard is over.
In their minds, this project has been reviewed and vetted for years. The public process has worked. The railyard is ready to leave the station with a lucrative cargo of city entitlements.
The reality, of course, is that key details of this project have emerged only as recently as last week. Others are still unsettled.
Although Thomas Enterprises is anxious for the council to meet Tuesday and approve the project, there's good reason for city leaders to take a little more time. They need to ensure this project is based on realistic assumptions, and doesn't stick the city with hidden costs – or crushing disappointments – if those assumptions fail to pan out.
Financing the railyard redevelopment is the largest challenge. The city and Thomas say that $745 million will be needed to pay for streets, sewers, utilities and other infrastructure.
Of this amount, $169 million will come from the developer and fees placed on tenants. Roughly $222 million will come from city funds and redevelopment monies. Another $354 million is expected from federal and state grants, including $150 million from Proposition 1C, the $2.9 billion housing and infrastructure bond approved by voters last November.
Is the railyard positioned to receive this $150 million? We don't know. Council members didn't drill down on that question last week. At its meeting Tuesday, they need to ask city staff to provide an overview of Proposition 1C funding pots and the likely scoring system for awarding this money.
