For some, Sacramento condos are right up their alley
Published: Monday, Apr. 11, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 1B
Downtown alleys have long been home to prowling cats and dingy Dumpsters. Now, a few adventurous developers are looking to add a new breed of alley resident to the mix:
Call them urban grit aficionados, residents who see alleys as real estate diamonds in the rough.
In small numbers in Sacramento, condos are popping up shoulder to shoulder on once-disused back streets, some with sleek, steely, modern designs, others mimicking the woody bungalow style of houses on the main streets.
City officials are helping pave the way, seeing alleys as a new frontier for small, moderately priced urban infill projects.
"We're trying to activate our alleys," said Bill Crouch, the city urban design manager. "We have quite a few acres of valuable land. We want to encourage projects to think about alleys as people places, not just for throwing trash."
The alley lifestyle is not new in Sacramento. More than a decade ago, developers of Metro Square built tightly packed single-family homes on newly constructed alleys between H and I streets. Several rows of homes are tucked away in alleys south of the Capitol.
More recently, though, the success of a condo project called 9onF in Alkali Flat suggests alley living may have a broader niche in midtown and downtown. Of the nine units in that project, the three on the alley sold first, surprising the developers.
This past weekend, the same people who built 9onF – part of a venture called Stitch Development – showed off a three-story condo triplex of corrugated metal, red-hued wood and light gray stucco in an alley off 17th Street.
The three condos, which are neighbors of another alley pioneer, the Old Soul Co. cafe, serve as models.
Stitch's Jeremy Drucker said his company has several other alley sites in mind in the central city, where the company will build to suit at prices ranging from $230,000 to $380,000, and sizes running from 665 to 1,100 square feet.
"Our goal is 10 to 20 locations in the next three to four years, all alley-based, low market rate," Drucker said.
The concept, several years in the works, has progressed slowly, however, in a down economy, Drucker acknowledged.
"We're bumping along the bottom," he said. "It will take a while to ramp up. We're patient."
City planners say they will work with developers to clean up alleys, repave them for better walkability and drainage, and hopefully find some way to rid them of smelly, unsightly Dumpsters.
That task is half done in the Old Soul alley. Garbage bins on wheels still perch at several spots. But street pavers have turned the passage into a friendly pedestrian space. This past Second Saturday, a food truck served dinner in the alley, a band played and listeners put out chairs, turning the alley into an amphitheater.
"We're trying to embrace what is awesome about living in the city," Drucker said.
A half mile away at the 9onF project, resident Christina Ragsdale and neighbors held a party Saturday in the driveway off the alley outside their condos.
Ragsdale, a former San Francisco resident, had been living in Rancho Murieta, but wanted to move closer to work downtown.
"I walked in, I knew," she said of her condo. "It's comfortable. It's friendly. I walk to work."
Her neighbors include a young couple with a baby, and an elderly couple. "It has the appeal of a little community," Ragsdale said.
City officials say they are pleased Stitch and others are interested in expanding urban housing into alleys.
They say they see alley condos as a way to pack more people near jobs, restaurants and retail, offer slightly lower housing prices, and increase property tax revenues for the city.
The grit of alleys may be a turn-off to many. But it's attractive to buyers who like living off bustling main streets, but within walking and biking distance of community amenities.
"You'll find young couples, folks who don't want to deal with the yard, who want to feel connected to the urban experience," said the city's Crouch.
Alley projects have to be appropriate, though, city officials say. A recent proposal for a three-story home in a Boulevard Park alley was rejected by city officials after some residents complained it was inappropriate in a neighborhood of mainly single-story bungalows.
There is a retail opportunity as well in alleys, where rents are likely to be lower, thus easier for small and start-up businesses, Crouch said.
"There seems to be renewed interest for something that reflects local tastes, smaller, more local stores," he said. "Alleys can assist to give retail spaces."
And, if the city can't find a way to stash nearby garbage bins? Ron Mellon of the Stitch development group shrugged. Not ideal, he said. But, "it's sort of part of the urban vibe."
Call them urban grit aficionados, residents who see alleys as real estate diamonds in the rough.
In small numbers in Sacramento, condos are popping up shoulder to shoulder on once-disused back streets, some with sleek, steely, modern designs, others mimicking the woody bungalow style of houses on the main streets.
City officials are helping pave the way, seeing alleys as a new frontier for small, moderately priced urban infill projects.
"We're trying to activate our alleys," said Bill Crouch, the city urban design manager. "We have quite a few acres of valuable land. We want to encourage projects to think about alleys as people places, not just for throwing trash."
The alley lifestyle is not new in Sacramento. More than a decade ago, developers of Metro Square built tightly packed single-family homes on newly constructed alleys between H and I streets. Several rows of homes are tucked away in alleys south of the Capitol.
More recently, though, the success of a condo project called 9onF in Alkali Flat suggests alley living may have a broader niche in midtown and downtown. Of the nine units in that project, the three on the alley sold first, surprising the developers.
This past weekend, the same people who built 9onF – part of a venture called Stitch Development – showed off a three-story condo triplex of corrugated metal, red-hued wood and light gray stucco in an alley off 17th Street.
The three condos, which are neighbors of another alley pioneer, the Old Soul Co. cafe, serve as models.
Stitch's Jeremy Drucker said his company has several other alley sites in mind in the central city, where the company will build to suit at prices ranging from $230,000 to $380,000, and sizes running from 665 to 1,100 square feet.
"Our goal is 10 to 20 locations in the next three to four years, all alley-based, low market rate," Drucker said.
The concept, several years in the works, has progressed slowly, however, in a down economy, Drucker acknowledged.
"We're bumping along the bottom," he said. "It will take a while to ramp up. We're patient."
City planners say they will work with developers to clean up alleys, repave them for better walkability and drainage, and hopefully find some way to rid them of smelly, unsightly Dumpsters.
That task is half done in the Old Soul alley. Garbage bins on wheels still perch at several spots. But street pavers have turned the passage into a friendly pedestrian space. This past Second Saturday, a food truck served dinner in the alley, a band played and listeners put out chairs, turning the alley into an amphitheater.
"We're trying to embrace what is awesome about living in the city," Drucker said.
A half mile away at the 9onF project, resident Christina Ragsdale and neighbors held a party Saturday in the driveway off the alley outside their condos.
Ragsdale, a former San Francisco resident, had been living in Rancho Murieta, but wanted to move closer to work downtown.
"I walked in, I knew," she said of her condo. "It's comfortable. It's friendly. I walk to work."
Her neighbors include a young couple with a baby, and an elderly couple. "It has the appeal of a little community," Ragsdale said.
City officials say they are pleased Stitch and others are interested in expanding urban housing into alleys.
They say they see alley condos as a way to pack more people near jobs, restaurants and retail, offer slightly lower housing prices, and increase property tax revenues for the city.
The grit of alleys may be a turn-off to many. But it's attractive to buyers who like living off bustling main streets, but within walking and biking distance of community amenities.
"You'll find young couples, folks who don't want to deal with the yard, who want to feel connected to the urban experience," said the city's Crouch.
Alley projects have to be appropriate, though, city officials say. A recent proposal for a three-story home in a Boulevard Park alley was rejected by city officials after some residents complained it was inappropriate in a neighborhood of mainly single-story bungalows.
There is a retail opportunity as well in alleys, where rents are likely to be lower, thus easier for small and start-up businesses, Crouch said.
"There seems to be renewed interest for something that reflects local tastes, smaller, more local stores," he said. "Alleys can assist to give retail spaces."
And, if the city can't find a way to stash nearby garbage bins? Ron Mellon of the Stitch development group shrugged. Not ideal, he said. But, "it's sort of part of the urban vibe."
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