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For Immediate Release
Contact: Leslie Valpey
916.329.4500
Unanimous Vote to
Develop One of Nation's Largest Urban Infill Projects
Sacramento, CA – (December 11, 2007) Sacramento City Council
members voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve the development of
the historic downtown Railyards to create an urban, mixed-use, transit
oriented community on 240 acres; an area as large as the existing
downtown central business district.
The Railyards is located at a site of national historic significance –
the birthplace of the western terminus of the 1869 Transcontinental
Railroad. During its peak, the property housed the largest
railroad facility of its kind and was the largest employer west of the
Mississippi. Today seven of the historic Central Shops remain
standing and will be restored, revitalized and re-used.
The Railyards development will create a vibrant new district of 12,000
mixed-use, high-density housing units, affordable housing,
entertainment venues, a public marketplace, retail offerings, offices,
open space, cultural amenities and a state-of-the-art intermodal
transportation facility.
“This is an historic vote to create a legacy project for the Sacramento
region,” said Suheil Totah, vice-president, Thomas Enterprises.
“This public-private partnership will result in thousands of jobs and
billions of dollars in economic benefits.”
Sacramento Mayor Heather Fargo called the project an incredible
opportunity for Sacramento as council voted on the entitlements package
which included a development agreement, design guidelines and a
specific plan to guide the overall development.
Thomas Enterprises cleared a major hurdle over the weekend, reaching
agreement with the State of California which will conditionally restore
two of the historic Central Shops buildings on the property to create a
world-class Rail Technology Museum.
Earlier, two independent studies revealed development of the project
would create 19,000 permanent jobs, and an annual economic impact of
$2.7 billion. It’s estimated the project will result in a net
surplus to the city of up to $5 million each year at build-out in
2027. Additionally, the studies by Economic & Planning
Systems Inc., (EPS) conclude construction alone will produce a
one-time cumulative impact of $5.7 billion over 20 years and 2,800 jobs
annually over the life of the project.
When private investment is combined with funding from federal, state
and local sources, a seven to one ratio of private to public investment
is anticipated, according to Sacramento Economic Development Director
Dave Harzoff.
The council vote was crucial to demonstrate to the state of California
that the Railyards is “project-ready” and eligible for millions of bond
funds following passage of Proposition1C, the 2006 statewide Housing
and Emergency Trust Fund Act. Prop 1C provides close to $1billion
in funding for infrastructure including water, sewers, transportation
and environmental clean-up to facilitate urban infill housing.
Grants will also be made to governments to encourage development
located near public transit. “As an urban infill, brownfield
project, that is transit-oriented in nature, we believe the Railyards
is the poster-child for Prop 1C funding,” added Totah.
State officials have indicated their intent to fund a half dozen
“marquee projects” and will begin accepting applications in early 2008.
The city and Thomas hope to obtain as much as $150 million in Prop 1C
bond money to offset the estimated $745 million price-tag for
infrastructure needs at the site.
Soil clean up at the Railyards is ongoing and expected to be completed
by the end of 2008. Infrastructure design work will commence
immediately in order to facilitate construction in 2009. It’s
anticipated the first phase of the project will be completed by 2012.
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