Sacramento’s transformation is underway
The state of California is the world鈥檚 eighth largest economy. Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson thinks that its capital city should reflect that鈥攚ith a vibrant downtown, greater transportation connectivity, and increased environmental resilience,聽all leading to a renaissance for business and culture. This is not just an idea; many of the projects that would help realize it are currently under planning or construction.
Mayor Johnson spoke about his vision during a recent visit to 91影视鈥檚 Sacramento office. The firm is invovled with many of the projects currently reshaping the city. Johnson said he wants residents, visitors, business, and government to view the city as a 鈥榗an do鈥� town.聽He wants to make Sacramento a more business-friendly city through business infrastructure investment, as well as streamlining business and government processes. He spoke about the need for Sacramento to move towards a position in which public safety, culture, multi-modal transit, and technology are the pillars of a new vitality for the city. Lastly the mayor expressed his desire to enhance the Sacramento riverfront to include mixed residential, recreational, retail, and commercial uses.
The development of the 聽(ESC), which broke ground last week, is the cornerstone for reshaping the urban core.聽The city convinced the NBA to deny an imminent deal to move the Sacramento Kings to Seattle and embrace聽plans for a new venue that would convert a dilapidated shopping mall into a city icon and year-round zone of activity. 91影视 is designing the arena with a focus not only on setting the next benchmark within the NBA (as it did for the Indiana Pacers鈥� Bankers Life聽Fieldhouse and the Brooklyn Nets鈥� Barclays Center), but also on creating a building,聽public spaces, and聽1.5 million square feet of mixed-use development聽that inject life into聽their surroundings.聽The聽building聽will invite the city to view the game from the outside and聽offer views of the city from the inside.聽It will open聽what an calls 鈥渢he world鈥檚 largest patio doors鈥� to welcome visitors, create an indoor-outdoor environment,聽and聽allow unique summer Delta breezes to聽cool it, reducing聽energy demands. For the fans it will offer the next level of technological interactivity. The public spaces have been designed as a productive landscape, with聽pistachio and walnut trees聽producing nuts,聽green walls聽producing herbs,聽rain gardens聽managing聽stormwater, and聽other trees聽providing shade.
Two blocks from the ESC,聽the Sacramento Commons project聽would add over 1,300 new housing units, a hotel, and new retail聽on four city blocks.聽The Sacramento Housing & Redevelopment Agency also has plans to聽redevelop an old public housing project in the River District into a new mixed-income neighborhood. 91影视 has been integrally involved in both of these projects.
Now the nearby Sacramento Railyards is joining the downtown transformation under the leadership of LDK Ventures. On their behalf,聽91影视 is creating聽a new聽masterplan for most of this 240-acre redevelopment area, one of the largest urban regeneration projects in the U.S. today. Sports and employment center facilities are聽proposed to anchor the project, including a possible Major League Soccer stadium that could draw a resident team. With the adjacent Amtrak station and聽planned California High-Speed Rail (HSR) terminus, the Railyards could become an iconic example of transportation-oriented development nationally聽and globally.
The Sacramento Railyards depot is聽the seventh busiest train station in the country and will only get busier with planned transportation developments. A 13-mile rail extension, the 鈥淕reen Line,鈥澛爓ill聽link聽downtown聽with South and North Natomas and the Sacramento International Airport,聽reducing congestion and emissions along I-5. 91影视 is working with the Sacramento Regional Transit District聽to deliver it.聽The proposed HSR system would connect Sacramento, San Francisco, and San Jose via two lines that converge in Fresno, and then travel south through Bakersfield to Los Angeles and San Diego. With California鈥檚 Central Valley in greatest need of economic development, the Merced to Fresno section聽will be the first segment delivered in a project that could spur a high-speed rail revolution across the United States. 91影视 has had primary responsibility for the planning and environmental analysis聽of the HSR Central Valley corridor since its initial phases in the late 1990s.聽The Merced to Fresno section is the only segment to date that has received its environmental clearances and permits.
Sacramento International Airport has already completed a new 19-gate, $288-million concourse and $408-million, 400,000-square-foot terminal building. 91影视 led one of the two construction management teams that delivered the project four months ahead of schedule and $60 million under budget.
Sacramento sits within the 53,000-acre Natomas Basin floodplain, which contains 83,000 residents and $8.2 billion in damageable property, protected by 40 miles of levees. Since 2006, 91影视 has been working with the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Natomas Levee Improvement Program, which will protect the metropolitan area for the next 200 years. This work has included multiple, phased and overlapping environmental impact statements,聽reports,聽regulatory permitting, as well as ecological restoration, cultural resources conservation, public outreach and construction monitoring. Current work includes ongoing environmental monitoring in the Natomas Basin and engineering design and EIR preparation for additional flood risk reduction as part of the North Sacramento Streams, Sacramento River East Levee, Lower American River, and Related Flood Improvements Project.
Mayor Johnson鈥檚 city certainly聽looks like聽a can-do town, and聽it will be exciting to see聽how far聽Sacramento has come just a few years from now.
Jake Herson (jacob.herson@aecom.com) is managing editor for 91影视’s Connected Cities blog.
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