A” Collideoscope” of possibilities...

Collisions, Co-Learning and Connectedness.  Or setting the stage in Downtown Sac for innovation and growth from chance meetings. “Collisions”.

At DSP’s recent “State of Downtown” breakfast, Keynote Speaker, Mark Roland spoke of his vision of how downtown could be re-shaped to fuel innovation, using his experience as a ROCeteer consultant for (Las Vegas) Downtown Project. The ROC stands for Return on Community.

Mark founded ROCeteer to fuel innovation within Las Vegas’ Downtown Project. ROCeteer provides coaching, mentoring, training and consulting support to the Las Vegas Downtown Project’s startup ecosystems and entrepreneurs.

Excerpts of Mark’s vision:  It’s all about Accelerating Collisions, Co-Learning, and Connectedness, which in turn will lead to Happiness, Luckiness, Innovation, and Productivity

We should focus on maximizing long-term ROC (Return On Community & Return On Collisions) and institutionalizing ROL (Return On Luck) – Accelerating Serendipity, as in finding valuable or agreeable things you weren't looking for.

Mark's 3 INGREDIENTS FOR SERENDIPITY:

1.    Residential density of 100 residents/acre

2.    Street-level activity for residents to collide

3.    Culture of openness, collaboration, creativity, diversity and optimism

This all sounds a lot like where Downtown Sacramento is headed to me, how about you?

[Attribution: Gleaned from Mark Roland’s (Las Vegas) Downtown Project presentation, DSP (Downtown Sacramento Partnership) and Internet sources.]

Just 84 homes a month, that’s all we ask…

Mayor Kevin Johnson wants 10,000 housing units downtown over the next 10 years.  So we’ll need to average 84 homes a month to make that happen!

The DSP (Downtown Sacramento Partnership) also identified housing as a critical component of any effort to improve the urban core in their 2013 “3 Point Plan for Moving Sacramento Forward”, part of a broad assessment that identified the key initiatives necessary to support growth downtown.

A lot of housing proposals have come and gone and new ones are in the works; but what’s (still) missing in current development proposals are concrete plans to develop "moderately priced", owner occupied housing in mid-range price points of $250,000 to $450,000 that will attract young families and young professionals, and empty nesters that want to come back to Downtown.

Now the mayor has publicly recognized the need for housing in Downtown’s rebirth as reported by Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee recently:

Repopulating downtown

The mayor set out this ambitious goal Thursday night: 10,000 new housing units in the next 10 years. Those people, he said, will be getting around via streetcars and light rail, not so much in cars. That way, the downtown will finally become a people place again. The downtown is getting its arena, and new businesses are emerging. “Housing is the missing component,” he said.

Downtown arena

A big topic in his last two speeches, the Kings and the downtown arena got only a few mentions this time around. The mayor said ESPN plans to air a documentary later this year on how the city kept the Kings and got a new arena built.

What do you think?

Is a street car really desired by DT businesses?

It’s more than a streetcar:  It’s the Downtown Riverfront Streetcar Project (DRSP) and it’s about connectivity.  Connecting people to businesses and entertainment events – think baseball at Raley Field, a concert or basketball game at the ESC - be it the Kings or College March Madness! Or even an event at the Community Theater/Convention Center.

Are DT business leaders really supportive of DRSP?

So far, local business leadership – in the form of Downtown Sacramento Partnership (DSP) has been seen as neutral although behind the public scenes they certainly have been actively studying and discussing how the project might get financed and how it could affect Downtown property owners.

And a SACOG committee has been focusing on a detailed economic study done in 2013 that showed that the cost to affected property owners was about 1% of the value of a building or 1% of rents on an annual basis.  The benefit to property owners was 3-5 times the cost at a minimum; and that does not include potential benefits to individual retailers and businesses into the future.

It was also recently reported that the City and SACOG had hired a consultant to work on public and business outreach about the Project and outreach meetings have been scheduled.

Meanwhile, DSP staff, have been drafting guiding principles that include moving light rail off of K Street (to accommodate a Streetcar), and a cap on private property owner assessments among other issues.  These principles will be presented to the City for consideration and shows that the downtown business community does indeed support the concept of a streetcar to improve connectivity to the city’s core business districts.

Our DT rebirth continues…

As reported in a previous Blog, demolition of the old Downtown Plaza has gone well and now the effort is concentrating on fashioning a “bowl” where the area seating will be built using pre-cast concrete from West Sacramento. 

Getting the bowl dug out is the priority now so that the superstructure can be built that supports the roof.  The main outer roof is planned to be on by early Fall 2015 with “dry in” (work on the interior of the new area beginning around mid-December, 2015.  Concrete for the construction beginning soon will come in primarily after hours according to Turner Construction.

Workers at work.  On any given day right now, there are up to about 125 workers on the site; previously demolition type trades and now excavation and infrastructure trades. But as construction of the new building kicks into high gear in the Spring well see that number increase dramatically, and by the time the roof is finished and work on the interior can begins there will be a congestion of trades including electricians, plumbers, technology installers and so on, perhaps numbering 500 or more.

All of this work, of course has to be coordinated with many different specialists and many city and county agencies.  The General Contractor has said that there has been terrific cooperation among the city, county, water agencies and others to keep this huge project moving along as scheduled.

They said the area would bring more development – and that is starting to happen!  Our Downtown rebirth continues...  with a recent proposal for a 16 story high rise to be built next to the new ESC (Entertainment and Sports Complex – aka the Kings new area).

Recent plans for development around the new arena envision public space between the arena and the high rise to potentially be built on the southwest corner of J and 6^th street.  The public space will connect the area and retail businesses.

Retail business, including restaurants and bars (food and beverage) would be on the first two levels, then a boutique hotel, with the 5 residential levels on top.  It is not yet settled whether there will be owner occupied units, but currently the thinking is there will be luxury rental units that may be purchased later as condominiums.

...And, Macy’s will reopen its 5^th street entrance with a possible makeover of the store’s interior.  Stay tuned…

From a Hole, comes a Bowl...

Just a few months ago demolition began of 2/3rds of the Downtown Plaza on K Street to begin to make way for the new, state of the art Entertainment and Sports Center (the ESC).  Demolition went well and excavation is proceeding on schedule with contractors working every day of  the week except Sunday and ending their day as promised at 11 PM (except for one incident that went later due to a sub-contractor not adhering to the schedule – but that was quickly corrected).

With the removal of the demolished buildings finished, the workers are now digging out a huge hole in the ground that is to become the stadium seating bowl for many future entertainment and sports events; and the work is going fast – hauling out a truck load of dirt and material every 3 1/5 minutes!

Going down to come back up.  They’ll get down to about 4 feet above the water table; that’s what they need to support the micro piling equipment that will drill down to bedrock below to secure the new building.  The micro piling equipment consists of 8 foot sections of drills screwed together as they are bored into the ground.

The majority of the seating for the new stadium will be below ground level and the seating structure will be built with pre-cast concrete from the West Sacramento firm of Clark Pacific.

For now we see a huge hole in the ground but the owner’s goal is to have some event going on there 360 days a year!  Stay tuned for more…

Pitching the Pitch - Soccer in Downtown’s future?

At a recent meeting with local business leaders, Warren Smith , Manager and President, Sacramento Republic Football Club explained some of the key things that Major League Soccer is looking for in a league expansion city and shared some interesting insights about how we are positioned and how we got to where we are.

The national pro soccer league leadership is primarily looking for 3 legs or pillars in a potential city: 1) Demographics; 18 to 34 year olds, 2) Restaurants and bars nearby, and 3) a Public Transportation system  to the stadium; and in addition, of course, they’d want to see a strong fan base.

Do we fit the bill?

Our demographics are good in the 18 to 34 year old strata and growing.  The envisioned stadium at the currently preferred site at the north east corner of the old rail yards will accommodate 20,000 fans and would be set up to be useful for other sports and venues.  Development plans could well included restaurants.  And, it’s long been an area with a transportation focus thanks to previous city leadership.

In terms of city size and makeup we’re most often compared to the MLS team cities of Portland (Timbers), Seattle (Sounders - an expansion team in 2007), Montreal (Impact), and Vancouver BC (Whitecaps since 1986). 

And a soccer fan base?  We've had no trouble filling the stands with rabid fans, breaking league attendance records, so no problem!

Just soccer?  No, the forward thinking Sacramento FC leadership group is also looking at future opportunities to capitalize on the wealth of sports talent in our valley; looking toward an Academy for youngsters to learn the fundamentals and a Soccer Player Development League that will develop prospects for pro teams.

Why the sudden surge of interest?  Not sudden at all really, it’s been building for 25 years or more.  When I came to Sacramento in 1985 I was impressed by the youth soccer opportunities for our children.  The Pocket area Greenhaven Soccer Club at that time was a mature organization providing soccer experiences to hundreds of elementary aged kids – I was told it was the 3rd largest soccer club in the US.  Soccer then gradually expanded into high school and college sports programs.

With our long time local interest in “the world’s sport” it’s no surprise that Sacramento now is ready for more. Our local experience is why soccer has “suddenly” blossomed to excitement about a local pro soccer team that could be coming to a new stadium near you!

What is an SRO? Their impact on Downtown

SRO, the abbreviation for Single Room Occupancy, refers to housing consisting of a single room or a studio, typically in a former hotel catering to an earlier era of travelers.  In the late 1920’s there were many small hotels in urban settings where travelers would stay when they had business in town or were visiting.

After WWII, with the rapid expansion of the ownership of automobiles and the Interstate highway system, motels became the vogue and the traveler inns became a relatively inexpensive (and luxurious) accommodation for people who wanted to live in town.  William Burg, a local historian, wrote an excellent overview of the history of our downtown hotels that became SRO’s in his piece about the closing of the Hotel Berry in the online Sacramento Press edition a few years back.

But by the 1970’s and beyond, many of these building fell into disrepair, contributing to the blight of our downtown.  Local business leaders recognize that to meet their goal of a clean and safe environment in the Downtown district, the dilapidated SRO’s needed to be cleaned up along with addressing the issues of homelessness, low income housing, mental health treatment, and crime.  And they are actively supporting efforts to tackle these problems.

The city of Sacramento partially addressed the SRO/housing issue by passing an ordinance requiring that there be a minimum of 712 SRO units in the city but unfortunately the code does not focus its affect where it should - on ensuring that the owners/operators of the SROs make the units habitable.  (This ordinance is part of the city’s 10-year plan to end chronic homelessness.)

But the city has made some progress in addressing the housing needs of homeless and low income citizens by building and opening the 8 story affordable housing complex at 7^th and H; the result of years of hard work on the part of Mercy Housing, the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency, and the city of Sacramento.  It contains 150 affordable housing units with on-site medical clinic and comprehensive resident services.  Each self-contained studio and one-bedroom apartment is equipped with a full bathroom and a kitchen.  Half of the 150 units are reserved for people just off the streets.

Slowly but surely, all of this activity is helping the Downtown district become a viable community for urban homeowners.