State to sell $2 million site for upscale condos overlooking Capitol Park

Downtown officials say they will decide next month which of four competing developers will win the right to build upscale condominiums overlooking Capitol Park.

The winning team will buy a parcel at 14th and N streets from the state for $2 million and begin construction next year on what likely will be some of the most expensive condos in the region.

“We’ve always considered this one of the premier sites among state-owned properties because it is right across the street from Capitol Park,” Capitol Area Development Authority head Wendy Saunders said.

Four development teams presented proposals to the CADA board last week, and board members said they were pleased with the quality they saw.

One proposal includes a 2,659-square-foot penthouse that the developer would market for $2,395,750. The least expensive unit, included in another proposal, is a 587-square-foot loft condo for $440,250, CADA officials said. Amenities in the proposals include 24-hour valet, concierge service, private pool and a rooftop restaurant.

“We are looking into each team’s financial capacity and bandwidth to carry this out,” Saunders said. “Who really has the resources available to deliver what they are promising?”

The proposing teams are:

▪ Clippinger Investment Properties: 46 units, eight floors, with 76 parking units and retail

▪ Cresleigh Homes: 78 units, nine floors, 80 parking spaces and retail

▪ SKK Developments and The Grupe Co.: 55 units, seven floors, 71 parking spaces, no retail

▪ Urban Core Development and PILOT Real Estate Group: 70 units, eight floors, 74 parking spaces, no retail

This is the third time CADA has attempted to market the property as a site for condominiums. Projects did not pencil out the previous two times. Saunders said developers now believe the downtown Sacramento housing market is strong enough to support the project. CADA, a state-city joint development authority, will not offer any subsidies to the developers.

“We want to prove the viability for condos in downtown Sacramento,” Saunders said. “So hopefully others follow suit. The market has really changed.”

This would be the second condominium project attempted in downtown since before the recession in the mid-2000s. The Sacramento Kings are currently building 45 condo units on top of a mixed-use tower next to the Golden 1 Center plaza downtown. The team says it will begin marketing those condominiums next month. The team has not released potential prices but has indicated the condos will be upscale.

Saunders said the two projects will test the high-end downtown market but will offer differing experiences: She said a developer likened the Kings’ project to living at Times Square, and the CADA project to living along Central Park.

CADA has recently worked with private developers to build a handful of apartments in the capital area, including the WAL on R Street and 16 Powerhouse, Legado de Ravel and Eviva apartments on 16th Street.

Saunders said CADA will focus next on an apartment project in midtown offering 40 percent of its units to lower-wage income earners.

That site is an empty lot on S Street between 17th and 18th streets. CADA will partner with CFY Development of Sacramento. Site soil cleanup is set to begin in June.

The goal there, Saunders said, is to provide needed housing that allows lower-wage downtown and midtown workers, such as those in the restaurant and retail industries, to live near work.

This story was originally published March 26, 2017 at 2:42 PM with the headline "State to sell $2 million site for upscale condos overlooking Capitol Park."