To build a village, developers reach out to future neighbors
Published: Saturday, Jul. 2, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 1B
Sometimes, it takes a village to build a village.
A Southern California investment company has an expected key date this month with the Sacramento Planning Commission on ambitious plans for a 32-acre urban village south of Broadway in the northwest corner of Land Park.
But first, representatives of developer Ranch Capital are checking in with neighboring community organizations, business groups and schools in an attempt to avoid the kind of bitter fights that can trip up infill projects, particularly ones this big.
The project, within walking and biking distance of downtown, would replace the Setzer wood processing plant with nearly 2,000 residents, many expected to be first-time buyers, including a target group called WINKs: single women with income and no kids.
City officials like the concept. But the tightly packed development, called Northwest Land Park, would sit across the street from existing neighborhoods, schools and businesses. In the political world of urban infill, that means compromise.
"We've been flexible," developer spokesman Kevin Smith said during a round of talks with local groups this week. "I think we've built a good consensus."
A beverage distributing company, however, is concerned that its late hours and noise could create acrimony with new residents. Developers are hoping to mitigate that with a sound wall and notices to homebuyers.
Conversely, redevelopment and school officials want connections, not walls, between the new project and the neighborhood. So developers are talking about linking a community park and rec center with the schoolyard, and sharing an urban farm with students.
And Councilman Rob Fong said he and the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency are talking with the developer about obtaining a federal grant to rebuild the neighborhood's two existing subsidized housing projects.
"I don't want to have this great new neighborhood, and then a wall, and these housing projects," Fong said. "I imagine a blended community."
Land Park Community Association President Mark Abrahams said he'll attend the commission meeting to express concerns about added traffic on Vallejo Way and other streets. But, he said, the developers appear to be listening and winning general community support.
"That's very difficult to do around here," Abrahams said.
For now, the market for new housing construction in Sacramento remains nearly nonexistent, and may stay that way for several more years. Representatives of Ranch Capital, which is based in San Diego, say they are positioning themselves for the next wave of housing in the region – residences on smaller lots, with reduced environmental impacts, close to jobs, restaurants and stores.
Planners at the Sacramento Area Council of Governments say the Northwest Land Park concept is one of several in the works that represents what could become a popular niche. Developers in the Richards Boulevard area, Curtis Park and elsewhere are laying similar plans for urban village-style developments.
One group is marketing condos in midtown alleys for homebuyers with a pioneering spirit and an appreciation for urban grit.
Ranch Capital's Smith says his company has its eye in particular on Generation Y, the children of the baby boomers. The group, now hitting age 30, is less likely to want or be able to afford the suburban spreads their parents loved, Smith said.
"There are too many big houses on big lots, far from jobs and entertainment," Smith said.
Some older empty nesters also want to live in smaller, easier-to-manage properties, close to services. But Smith said his group will market as well to another emerging group: those he calls WINKs.
"We think the GenY group is going to be a significant proportion of our buying public," he said. "That demographic is looking to delay marriage, delay families, have smaller families, and are looking for a smaller carbon footprint. A big part of that is young professional women who are well-educated, not married, and not parents."
It's too early to know what his development's price ranges will be, Smith said. The planned buildings will range from two to four stories, with two to six units in each. Some units will face courtyards and communal green spaces, others the street. The development will have a homeowner's association. Architecture will be a blend of the styles in surrounding communities, including craftsman, Tudor and Spanish-style influences.
But to attract buyers to a site adjacent to a freeway and industrial plants, the project must offer distinctive amenities – in Land Park resident Abrahams' words, "some pizazz."
A rail tunnel under the freeway will be transformed into a bike path, taking cyclists, joggers and walkers to Miller Park on the Sacramento River, with access to downtown, developers say. They may put cameras and viewing screens at each end, allowing a view of what's happening at the other side before they enter the tunnel.
Smith said his company also intends to salvage a row of produce buildings and their loading docks off Fifth Street, including the Market Club restaurant, and turn it into a block-long, open-air marketplace.
A nearby produce building is planned to be transformed into a community center. The Setzer lumber site's 70-foot-tall wood "burner" would remain as a historic relic.
"Those are ways to keep some of what has been, and give it a sense of place," Smith said. "It defines the location. Years from now, we hope people will say, 'I live by the burner,' or 'I live by the festival market.' "
A Southern California investment company has an expected key date this month with the Sacramento Planning Commission on ambitious plans for a 32-acre urban village south of Broadway in the northwest corner of Land Park.
But first, representatives of developer Ranch Capital are checking in with neighboring community organizations, business groups and schools in an attempt to avoid the kind of bitter fights that can trip up infill projects, particularly ones this big.
The project, within walking and biking distance of downtown, would replace the Setzer wood processing plant with nearly 2,000 residents, many expected to be first-time buyers, including a target group called WINKs: single women with income and no kids.
City officials like the concept. But the tightly packed development, called Northwest Land Park, would sit across the street from existing neighborhoods, schools and businesses. In the political world of urban infill, that means compromise.
"We've been flexible," developer spokesman Kevin Smith said during a round of talks with local groups this week. "I think we've built a good consensus."
A beverage distributing company, however, is concerned that its late hours and noise could create acrimony with new residents. Developers are hoping to mitigate that with a sound wall and notices to homebuyers.
Conversely, redevelopment and school officials want connections, not walls, between the new project and the neighborhood. So developers are talking about linking a community park and rec center with the schoolyard, and sharing an urban farm with students.
And Councilman Rob Fong said he and the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency are talking with the developer about obtaining a federal grant to rebuild the neighborhood's two existing subsidized housing projects.
"I don't want to have this great new neighborhood, and then a wall, and these housing projects," Fong said. "I imagine a blended community."
Land Park Community Association President Mark Abrahams said he'll attend the commission meeting to express concerns about added traffic on Vallejo Way and other streets. But, he said, the developers appear to be listening and winning general community support.
"That's very difficult to do around here," Abrahams said.
For now, the market for new housing construction in Sacramento remains nearly nonexistent, and may stay that way for several more years. Representatives of Ranch Capital, which is based in San Diego, say they are positioning themselves for the next wave of housing in the region – residences on smaller lots, with reduced environmental impacts, close to jobs, restaurants and stores.
Planners at the Sacramento Area Council of Governments say the Northwest Land Park concept is one of several in the works that represents what could become a popular niche. Developers in the Richards Boulevard area, Curtis Park and elsewhere are laying similar plans for urban village-style developments.
One group is marketing condos in midtown alleys for homebuyers with a pioneering spirit and an appreciation for urban grit.
Ranch Capital's Smith says his company has its eye in particular on Generation Y, the children of the baby boomers. The group, now hitting age 30, is less likely to want or be able to afford the suburban spreads their parents loved, Smith said.
"There are too many big houses on big lots, far from jobs and entertainment," Smith said.
Some older empty nesters also want to live in smaller, easier-to-manage properties, close to services. But Smith said his group will market as well to another emerging group: those he calls WINKs.
"We think the GenY group is going to be a significant proportion of our buying public," he said. "That demographic is looking to delay marriage, delay families, have smaller families, and are looking for a smaller carbon footprint. A big part of that is young professional women who are well-educated, not married, and not parents."
It's too early to know what his development's price ranges will be, Smith said. The planned buildings will range from two to four stories, with two to six units in each. Some units will face courtyards and communal green spaces, others the street. The development will have a homeowner's association. Architecture will be a blend of the styles in surrounding communities, including craftsman, Tudor and Spanish-style influences.
But to attract buyers to a site adjacent to a freeway and industrial plants, the project must offer distinctive amenities – in Land Park resident Abrahams' words, "some pizazz."
A rail tunnel under the freeway will be transformed into a bike path, taking cyclists, joggers and walkers to Miller Park on the Sacramento River, with access to downtown, developers say. They may put cameras and viewing screens at each end, allowing a view of what's happening at the other side before they enter the tunnel.
Smith said his company also intends to salvage a row of produce buildings and their loading docks off Fifth Street, including the Market Club restaurant, and turn it into a block-long, open-air marketplace.
A nearby produce building is planned to be transformed into a community center. The Setzer lumber site's 70-foot-tall wood "burner" would remain as a historic relic.
"Those are ways to keep some of what has been, and give it a sense of place," Smith said. "It defines the location. Years from now, we hope people will say, 'I live by the burner,' or 'I live by the festival market.' "
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