Michael J. Heller: Don't stop developing this huge Midtown opportunity

When I graduated from Jesuit High School in 1982, I could not wait to get out of town. I was frustrated. I needed to experience life beyond the safe and boring confines of my hometown. Growing up, I was very fortunate to have parents who exposed me to travel, to other cultures, to the arts, to architecture and to the vibrancy of city life. Sacramento just did not have this to offer and I needed to go away to find it.

Over the next decade I satisfied my desire to experience city living with amazing stays in Santa Monica, San Francisco and Chicago. This was my greatest decade of personal and intellectual growth. I soaked it all in and craved more. I studied these cities and tried to identify what made living there so special. As my book of inspirations grew, I started to get excited about bringing them to Sacramento. Rather than continue to complain, I decided to try to do something about it. In 1992 I moved back home, determined to help elevate Sacramento's stature as a true city.

In my opinion the city's evolution really started in 2003 when my partners and I at Loftworks developed the Elliott Lofts at the corner of 16th and J streets. That key intersection was languishing yet had so much potential. We decided to raise the bar and create a project that Sacramento had not yet experienced. We went the extra mile to bring in world-class architecture. We brought in two fantastic restaurants – Mikuni and P.F. Chang's China Bistro – who up to that point, had not considered downtown as a viable market. We built the first authentic, upscale residential lofts. And we combined this all in an innovative, vertical, mixed-use development that also paid great respect to the historical significance of the old structure.

It was truly a pioneering project. And what we found out after this odyssey was that people were thrilled. People were inspired. People could not believe this was Sacramento. People loved the views of the downtown skyline. People began to see the potential for another style of living, an urban style. The response we received was so positive, it became clear that Sacramento was truly ready for change.

And now only five years later, that area has exploded with several new projects – The Park, The O1 Lofts, Lucca restaurant – and a district has formed. That was just the beginning. New districts are being established in other locations throughout the urban core such as the Handle District (18th and Capitol), the Arts District (20th and J) and the Sutter District (28th and J), to name a few.

We have incredible momentum right now. The current economic malaise is not halting our progress; it is merely slowing it down. We will get through this downturn and when we do, our city is poised to explode with countless exciting and innovative projects.

On the horizon is our first boutique hotel called the Citizen. Finally we have the best hotel operator in San Francisco coming to our town to do business. What a great project! We have a dining/cabaret theater operation opening on K Street. The Crocker Art Museum is undertaking a major expansion with world-class design. There are numerous mixed-use towers in the works. Suddenly, the private sector is embracing the virtues of "green development."

And for the first time in my life, a pedestrian experience is flourishing on the streets of midtown. The Second Saturday Art Walk is evidence of this amazing cultural shift. These are all incredibly positive signs and absolutely consistent with the vision set forth by our city leaders.

Sacramento is in a state of transition. There is so much more to do. So much more passion and intensity required. We have clearly not achieved all of our goals, but progress is indeed being made.

But with transition comes challenges. It is understandable to me that some people are not pleased with this transition. To some it only means parking frustration, nighttime noise, traffic and unruly crowds penetrating their neighborhoods. I understand this and accept this as their rightful opinion.

To me, these are the unsavory realities of progress. If the goal is to become a 24-hour city as stated repeatedly by the City Council, then these growing pains are a necessary evil. The goal should be to work effectively with neighborhoods to strike a balance and to mitigate the growing pains as best as reasonably possible. But in no way should we run the risk of stopping progress by catering to the minority who simply don't want any change in their world.

We are in a battle of wills here, and I say let the majority rule.

I love being back in my hometown. My angst has diminished considerably. There is literally nowhere else I would rather live. I am energized by the notion of being part of something special. To participate in the evolution of a city!

Now is not the time to retreat; now is the time to strike and advance our city to new heights.

About the writer:

• Michael J. Heller is the president of Heller Pacific Inc. and co-managing partner of LoftWorks, both urban development companies. He has developed nine projects in the urban core over the past 12 years and has several more in the works.