5,000 homes are planned for a Sacramento development. Construction to start on first wave

After more than a decade of planning, the first homes are about to be built in Delta Shores.

The first model homes in the sprawling development along Interstate 5 in south Sacramento will soon be built, setting the stage for more than 160 new homes to be completed next year.

Juliann Cretsinger, vice president of sales and marketing at Signature Homes, said the Bay Area developer is building two communities at Delta Shores. Homes in the communities — called Coronado and Catalina — will average between 2,250 and 2,750 square feet. The developer has interest lists for the neighborhoods on its website.

While the COVID-era work from home dynamic is still a way of life for many, Cretsinger said a big selling point for Delta Shores is its proximity to the freeway, with relatively quick access to downtown and Elk Grove.

The Delta Shores development has been a somewhat unusual project. An expanding commercial center with big box stores, restaurants and a move theater opened on the site several years ago, even as malls throughout the region and country struggle.

Plans for the 782-acre community were first approved by the Sacramento City Council in 2009.

That plan “envisioned a mix of residential and commercial development with up to 1.5 million square feet of commercial uses and up to 5,222 residential units ranging from single unit detached homes to high density, multi-unit dwellings,” according to an April 2021 Planning Commission report.

The residential portion of the development would be among the largest in the region and would help address a severe housing shortage in the city of Sacramento. According to an analysis by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, the city needs to add more than 45,000 housing units this decade to keep up with demand, including nearly 30,000 units for moderate and above moderate income earners.