Sacramento Development News

[Dr.VitO]

WOW, finally a 700' for sacramento! any renderings yet?

[sugit]

Sacramento - 1.4 Billion Asian Trade Center Proposal

I picked up my copy of the business journal today..here are some of the details

This would be HUGE for Sacramento! Skyline, economy, image, reputation..you name it

Been in talks for a couple years now, only know to around dozen people. Elavated from the talks of a World Trade Center in DT that we heard about a couple years back.

There are about 8 differnt articles so I'll sum it up and we can post them when they come online Sunday night for more discussion

4.5 Million Sqaure Feet in Total
- 28 Story - 550 Room Hotel
- 40 Story - Office Tower
- 26 Story - Residentul
- Exhibition Center - 1.2 Million SF (will "dwarf" the DT convention center)
- Retail, dinning, shopping - 220K SF
- Trade and Finace College - 120K SF
- Internation Shipping Center - 100K
- 2000- Seat Cultural Center and amphitheaer
- Setzer Meseum, 20K SF
- 9000 New Jobs, 1/3 will be from "any country that wants to partcipate"


Architects are Hornberger+ Worstell (couldn't find anything on the website)

The possbile locations are:

- Triangle in West Sacramento
- Land near Arco Arena (I-5 and I-80)
- Natomas
- Railyards
- 3rd and Broadway
- Richard Blvd

Developers say they have raised 900M from investors in Hong Kong, but need additional investor for about 2-10M to carry the project through the entitlement process...Hong Kong investor will not give money until that part is complete

Lot of skepticism among local developers that were approced for money. Some thing it's a "pipedream" (that was kinda my thought too)

WHY SACRAMENTO?
- CA is the largest Asian trader
- Central Location in CA
- Lower Construction Costs than SF, LA or Seattle
- More affordable and better commutes that make it easier to attract foreign talent

They expect entitlements to take 3 years and hope to be open in 2010

This is what I really wanted to see happen at the Dennys block of DT at 3rd and J, but this is just little bit better (major sacrasum there)

I highly suggest picking up a copy for $1.50 at the newstand

[brotolive]

wait so this asian trade center is a completely different project from the golden state building?

[enigma99a]

the golden state building proposal is by the State of California

[enigma99a]

Here is a roundup from another thread of Sacramento news. (Everything over 20 floors)

50-Story- 188m Libeskind "Epic" (Residential, Office, Retail)
38-Story- 128m Libeskind "Aura" (Residential)
53-Story- 183m Towers at Capitol Mall 301 (Hotel & Residential)
53-Story- 183m Towers at Capitol Mall 301 (Residential)
38-Story- 121m Capitol Grand Tower (Hotel and Residential)
23-Story- ?m Residential Tower on 11th & J st.
50-Story- 214m Golden State Tower (or two 31 story towers) (State Office)
24-Story- 122m 621 Capitol Mall (Office)
22-Story- 92m Meridian Phase II

Asian Trade Center towers
28-Story- 550 Room Hotel
40-Story- Office Tower
26-Story- Residential

[hellobubba]

thanks for the heads up on this project to everyone at SSP.
I love the idea. i'm happy with the site pictured. i'm amazed at the ambitiousness of this project. and i loved the response from Rob Fong.

(feel free to repost anywhere)

[hellobubba]

it's like a city within a city.. isn't it?!

[hellobubba]

and i'd also like to add... that in complete irony, that site hold a special place in sacramento history. as some of the first inhabitants of that area were asian rice farmers, who grew crops and had a trading area very close to that site.

[enigma99a]

Thanks for the scan!

[hellobubba]

no problem! thanks for reposting it too.

[612bv3]

Originally Posted by hellobubba

thanks for the heads up on this project to everyone at SSP.
I love the idea. i'm happy with the site pictured. i'm amazed at the ambitiousness of this project. and i loved the response from Rob Fong.

(feel free to repost anywhere)

It kinda looks out of place in that area.

[shotsy]

I actually think it looks really cool! Sure, it may be separated from the rest of downtown, but it's a very attractive design with lots of open space, in a highly visible area. I actually think it fits the location perfectly.

[hellobubba]

I think a mistake is being made in peoples perception of this project.

It isn't a downtown, urban culture project. It is on a much larger scale than that. The trade center will be a driving force in the western united states economy. They are using sacramento as a central location to the entire west.

If you think on that train of thought, it's quite a flattering gesture to this region. The fact that it is being tentaviely placed ONLY 1 mile from the center of midtown sacramento... it's quite exciting.

I live a few blocks down broadway and either walk or ride 2 stops on light rail to land myself in the center of the city. Maybe it's the rendering or angle that makes this look far away, because it most certainly is not.

The business people attending this trade center will be riding in limos or cabs anyway.

[snufalufugus]

Don't forget about the Chinese trade center proposal which is completely different than the Korean proposal!!




Chinese buyers in talks with Metro Air Park

Mike McCarthy
Staff Writer

A group of Chinese nationals hunting for a place to build a trade center on the West Coast are talking with the owners of Metro Air Park, according to three sources who know about their interest, possibly about buying the whole 1,886 acres.

Meanwhile, a separate and local group is talking with some of the owners of the embryonic business park about buying 100 acres for an auto mall.

Neither deal is sealed -- far from it. But both undertakings might have been lured by the interest created as construction nears for the park, which is located just east of Sacramento International airport. Infrastructure work begins this year, and the first industrial warehouses could be built as early as 2006.

The tract is zoned by Sacramento County for 21 million square feet of warehousing, office, retail and high-tech space, plus a golf course.


Driven by trade

The bigger deal comes as rising economic powers in Asia have expressed a general interest in increasing trade with the United States. American businesses, lured by the potential of selling to 2 billion new customers, have returned the interest.

The deal sounds similar to a separate proposal to build an Asian trade center near Interstate 5 and Broadway in Sacramento. (See related stories, Pages 1 and 6.) That project would have ties to a Korean trade center.

Sources who didn't want to be named and close to the Metro project report that Hong Kong-based businesspeople, unable to find enough land or an attractive cost of living for potential employees in Southern California or the Bay Area, started scouring the valley.

"They want to build a center to display their merchandise," said a source close to the park.

The potential buyers have been in talks with the Metro Air Park owners for several weeks. An amazing veil of silence has been drawn over the park, considering that 22 ownership groups, including developer Buzz Oates and Jack Sioukas, own parts of the property.

They're looking at Metro Air Park because the land is available, the site is close to the airport, and it's about 10 miles from McClellan Park, which can handle cargo planes on its runways.


Landowners get asked for a consensus

The Chinese developers haven't made an offer yet, but they have asked for a consensus among the landowners to allow an offer, one source said.

They want to put down a deposit and study the purchase for 30 days.

If it proceeded, the project could be as big as 7 million square feet and employ 20,000 people, the project's landowners were told.

"They're looking in this country because vendors are reluctant to go to China," said another source. "They can set up here and meet."

The Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade Organization is coordinating the effort, he added.

Bob Burris, the deputy director of SACTO, said he couldn't comment.

The potential sale price is unknown. One informed source estimated the land alone would be worth $350 million, plus or minus. Only some 1,300 acres of the tract can be developed, with the balance constrained in various ways, he said.

If the deal were to include cost of development, the price would be higher.

The auto mall has been in the works for a longer period. An undisclosed auto group has been in talks with one of the landowners for 100 acres as a home for the mall.

Some observers doubt it can happen, because Sacramento County has opposed an auto mall in Natomas for fear of the competitive damage to auto dealers on Fulton Avenue.

© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.

[ltsmotorsport]

I think they should just bring every Asian country into the project that wants to come (Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, etc), call it the Pan-Pacific Trade Center, add a few more towers for the expanded scope of the project, and call it good.

[hellobubba]

maybe i got the wrong impression... but i thought it was just that?!

from what i read, it's being modeled after the Korean center, but it's not an extension of it. i thought they were just using it as a comparison due to the grand scale of the proposal and the tremendous success of the korean international trade association's world trade center.

[ltsmotorsport]

Don't listen to me, I think I was the one who got the wrong impression. If it really is for all the asian countries, that would be an impressive project.

[J.A.C.]

I actually love this design...


pretty impressive. I hope it gets built.

[brotolive]

I like the site shown in the asian trade center rendering. Since Sacramento has a relatively small downtown area compared to other cities, this could be a major step towards widening the skyline. Who knows? It is possible that this could create a domino effect of skyscrapers further away from the heart of the city. If the project is successful in drawing emplyees to the region (due to the lower cost of living), then it may prove as an adequate example of Sacramento's potential office market. In the past some major companies have been weary and reluctant to establish offices in Sacto, but this could be the key healing the I-got-only-a-few-office-towers-blues. Yes, the possibility is out there, for Sacramento to be a wider, taller, and more dense city. But first, the asian trade center needs to be approved.

[enigma99a]

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