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Downtown vs. The Railyards?
Friday, January 11, 2008
It was Thoreau who said that "the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." Downtown property owner Moe Mohanna's desperation, however, is a bit louder. The Sacramento Business Journal's Michael Shaw reported that Mohanna has--through partners and interested parties--sued the City of Sacramento and Railyards developer Thomas Enterprises, "objecting to the entitlement approvals for The Railyards and claiming the project will hurt downtown businesses."
The suit, filed Wednesday in Sacramento County Superior Court, makes broad claims that the project's environmental impact report doesn't address the effect on existing retail locations like K Street, where Mohanna owns properties. The landlord and the city are locked in a battle over those properties.
Although entitlements granted to The Railyards include housing, office buildings and entertainment venues, the suit claims the project is "nothing but a huge, new 1.1 million-square-foot regional shopping mall."
That's one way to make friends and influence people, but Mohanna begins to look less like he's standing up for the rights of the little guy and more like a toddler throwing a temper-tantrum. ♦
Labels: downtown, Moe Mohanna, Moe_Mohanna, Railyards, Sacramento_Business_Journal, Thomas_Enterprises
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posted by Rob McQuade @ 11:23 AM,
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"Yes, there will be a neon sign..."
Thursday, January 11, 2007
-Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo speaking at the 2007 State of Downtown, on the City Council's Tuesday vote to contribute property and as much as $6.75M for redevelopment of the long-vacant Woolworth building at 10th & K downtown.
From the 2007 State of Downtown
Michael Ault, Executive Director of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, reviewed the City's recent purchase of the final piece of the 700 block of K Street and the City Council's financial support of the transformation of the 10th & K property to include a venue for the California Musical Theater and new dining from Randy Paragary.
Sacramento County Supervisor Roger Dickinson looked to the future: a new Terminal B at Sacramento Intergalactic Airport by 2011, light rail extensions, levee improvements, a ten-year plan to end homelessness in the region, and the "Share the Vision" Coalition's continuing efforts to bring an arena to the urban core.
Lloyd Harvego, Board Chair of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, touted the success--and the national recognition--of the "Navigators" program that connects homeless with services.
Mayor Heather Fargo highlighted successes--the UP Railyard transfer to Thomas Enterprises, restoration of historic Old Sac sites (the Ebner, Magnolia, and Orleans hotels), the purchase of the Crystal Cream & Butter Co. site downtown by Anthony Giannoni and partners--challenges--relocating the Greyhound Bus Station--and informally formally announced her plan to run for a third term as mayor.
"Developing Walkable Urbane Places"
The high point of the morning was the above-titled presentation by Chris Leinberger of the Brookings Institution. Once viewed as a doomsayer for his predictions about the health of cities over the past ten years, Leinberger has more recently watched his predictions prove themselves accurate.
Key concepts from the presentation:
- demand for walkable urbane places to live and work has come from empty-nesters, Gen Xers, and young people who have never seen a suburban, car-oriented lifestyle as the ideal
- a "walkable distance" is 1500-2000ft, or an area of approximately 300-400 acres--the size of a downtown area
- the "built environment" comprises 40% of the country's wealth
- walkable urbanity migrates from downtowns to downtown adjacent neighborhoods (like Midtown) to suburban town centers (like Del Paso Blvd in North Sacramento) and strip malls to greenfield developments
But what did he have to say about Sacramento?
"An arena must be built downtown--not in the adjacent railyards, but shoe-horned into downtown. Two blocks of downtown... Without subsidides... And don't add any parking."
He emphasized things that a lot of us have said: that parking is underutilized in the central city, existing parking structures could provide up to 50% more parking. He also encouraged a shift in thinking away from subsidizing development and toward "partnering", away from supporting sprawling suburban development and toward adding impact fees equivalent to the real cost of that sprawl.
The bottom line: it is our moral imperative to change the way we shape and grow our communities for the health and well-being of its people and places. ♦
» You can visit the Downtown Sacramento Partnership's website here ››.
» You can visit the Brookings Institution's website here ›› and find out more about Chris Leinberger here ››.
» As always, you can email Rob here.
Labels: 10th-and-K, arena, downtown, Downtown_Sacramento_Partnership, events, Heather_Fargo, Lloyd_Harvego, Michael_Ault, old_sac, Paragary, redevelopment, Roger_Dickinson, State_of_Downtown_2007, Thomas_Enterprises, walkability
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posted by Rob McQuade @ 9:08 PM,
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