CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT
Status Update McClellan Park & The Railyards BY JESSICA HICE
Once a fledgling town with steam engine smoke and entrepreneurial spirit in the air , Sacramento is now a bustling , ever-growing city . McClellan Park , an 8.5 million-square-foot project in North Sacramento , and The Railyards , a 244-acre project in Downtown Sacramento , are expanding each day , attracting new ventures and development .
McClellan Park includes the Lions Gate Hotel , the Officer ’ s Club restaurant and event space and , more recently , an Amazon warehouse . The Railyards are soon to be home to a new Kaiser Permanente medical campus and , hopefully , a new Major League Soccer stadium .
While McClellan Park is nearly 90 % occupied , current projects include constructing two buildings totaling 315,000 square feet , anticipated to be finished by 2022 . Frank Myers , McClellan ’ s executive vice president and chief operating officer , says a 138-unit residential building is also currently in the approval phase .
Ken Giannotti , McClellan ’ s senior vice president of leasing and marketing , says some older buildings with “ good bones ” that originally housed civilian and military offices when the park was an active Air Force base are being renovated for industrial and manufacturing uses . He says there are currently 20,000 employees onsite and plenty of additional employment opportunities .
“ This is an economic engine for the county of Sacramento ,” Giannotti says . “ It ’ s fair to say we have done what we said we were going to do .”
Representatives of The Railyards echo this . “ In the early years of Sacramento , The Railyards ( were ) the economic engine of the region ,” says Josh Leachman , vice president of project development with Railyards developer LDK Ventures . “ Success was driven by the hard work and innovations of the area . The Railyards and surrounding areas continue to evolve .”
The Railyards ’ first mixed-use residential project is currently under construction : a $ 130 million venture called The A . J ., named after railroad pioneer A . J . Stevens . The project will include 345 rental units , including 69 affordable units , as well as 5,000 square feet of commercial space . Completion is slated for late 2022 .
Leachman says additional projects are being planned , including the first phase of the Central Shops District , eight historic buildings from the original Central Pacific railroad yard that are being adaptively reused . The district will be anchored by a 4,000-person entertainment and concert venue located in the historic Paint Shop building . The project is due to break ground toward the end of 2022 , with completion projected by 2024 .
“ This will be a truly special , energizing place ,” Leachman says . “ We all recognize and respect this incredible opportunity we have been given . It ’ s so unique to work on a transformative and catalytic project for the region and city of Sacramento .” the Sacramento River as well as Downtown . Amenities include quartz countertops , stainless steel appliances and open-concept living areas .
“ With Sacramento apartment vacancies reaching all-time lows , the opening of The Strand could not come at a better time ,” says MBK President Craig Jones . Nearly 70 % of available spaces were leased by the time of the grand opening .
WEST Apartments , a project underway by CA Ventures , will further bolster the case for living on the other side of the river . Located on Riverfront Street in the Bridge District , the five-story , 287-unit apartment project will feature views of the river and Tower Bridge on one side and will be no more than a well-hit fly ball from Sutter Health Park , the home of the Sacramento River Cats . The project is expected to be ready for occupancy next summer .
Office
With a glut of unused — but not necessarily unleased — office space left behind in the pandemic , speculative office space projects are few , with long-planned projects backed by the State of California the primary additions to the local skyline . The state ’ s first new Downtown Sacramento office building in nearly 20 years , the 11-story Clifford L . Allenby Building was the site of a ribbon cutting on June 25 . Located at 12th and O streets , the $ 232 million building was designed early on to be telework-enabled but was further modified to better accommodate the state ’ s post-pandemic move to hybrid work schedules .
“ This building includes a modern and open work environment for efficiency and productivity featuring collaborative workspaces , natural daylight and solar shading ,” says Ana M . Lasso , director of the Department of General Services . More than 1,200 staff members from the California Health and Human Services Agency , the Department of State Hospitals and the Department of Developmental Services will occupy the space .
Construction is in the final stages for two other new state office buildings downtown . Completed in August , the new Natural Resources building at Seventh and P streets stands 20 stories high and provides the state with over 800,000 square feet for nearly 3,500 staff members of the California Natural Resources Agency , the Department of Water Resources and more . It also includes a childcare facility that can accommodate 120 children , the largest such facility constructed by the state .
Meanwhile , construction is expected to wrap up in October on the “ swing space ” building on O Street between 10th and 11th streets . It will initially serve as a temporary home for legislative and executive elected officials displaced by the new Capitol Annex project . Once the new Annex is complete , the building will be used as office space for legislative and executive branch staff .
Ken Smith is a freelance writer , public relations consultant and video producer who is also managing editor of Sierra Sacramento Valley Medicine magazine . More at kdscommunications . com .
68 comstocksmag . com | August 2021