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For Immediate Release
Contact:
Deborah Pacyna
916-601-7771
pacynad@yahoo.com
Railyards Development Now Primed with $65 Million in Infrastructure Bonds From Voter Approved Propositions 1B and 1C
(September
2, 2008)
The City of Sacramento and The Railyards have been awarded $17.9 million in voter approved Proposition 1B Bond funds from the California Transportation Commission (CTC). The money will be used to improve safety and reduce congestion in the planned Railyards development in downtown Sacramento.
The award follows the recent approval of $47 million in July from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) Proposition 1C grant program to create infrastructure and affordable housing near transit. At that time, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger presided at a ceremony designating The Railyards as the recipient of the largest Prop 1C award in the state. Schwarzenegger called The Railyards plan a “spectacular project” noting it will create 19,000 permanent jobs, 2,800 hundred annual construction jobs and result in an ongoing annual positive economic impact of $2.7 billion. Private investment in the project is slated to top $6 billion.
“Both of these grants mean we can continue to move this important project forward, build roads and infrastructure, and open The Railyards to the public within the next few years,” said Suheil Totah, vice president of development for Thomas Enterprises. The 244-acre downtown Sacramento Railyards development, located at the former Union Pacific railyard, is the largest urban infill project in the country.
The CTC award is funded through Proposition IB’s Highway Railroad Crossing Safety Account Program and will be used to extend 6th Street to the north and to construct a pedestrian tunnel at 7th Street.
Sacramento’s bi-partisan state legislative delegation, Congresswoman Doris Matsui, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG), the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority sent letters of support on behalf of the request.
Construction of this portion of the project is slated to begin in 2009.
As a large, multi-phased, brownfield infill project, The Railyards development will complement, integrate and connect to the existing downtown. The Railyards will create a vibrant new neighborhood of mixed-use, high density housing in the heart of Sacramento, with entertainment and retail venues, a transportation hub, offices, a public market, open space and cultural offerings in a setting that celebrates the connection to Sacramento’s historic past. The development will be anchored by a new state-of-the-art intermodal transportation facility to be built by the City of Sacramento. The first phase of the project will be completed by 2012..
For more information visit www.sacramentorailyards.com
Thomas Enterprise is an Atlanta based real
estate development company known for its innovative real estate
projects. In the last decade, Thomas Enterprise has developed in excess
of 20 million square feet of commercial/retail projects valued at more
than $2 billion.
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