New 49-unit apartment complex planned for West Broadway area of Sacramento
A developer has filed plans with the city of Sacramento to build a 49-unit apartment building in the quickly developing West Broadway area.
The four-story building will be constructed on a vacant lot at 401 First Ave., near Third Street and The Mill at Broadway, a new development with nearly 1,000 market-rate homes being constructed.
The rental units will be market rate, said Gary Lewis, principal of REgroup, the architecture firm for the project. He did not yet have a price range available.
On the first floor of the building will be retail space, where the developer, N8 Community Inc., hopes to attract a cafe or coffee shop fronting First Avenue, Lewis said.
“The proposed commercial space will add sorely needed small business activity to the area, with the hope that it will become the local cafe or coffee shop,” the application reads.
The building will be a U-shape with a courtyard in the middle, to be used mostly by residents, but also by patrons of the coffee shop, Lewis said.
The building will also feature communal rooftop areas and some units will have balconies, Lewis said.
Construction will start in nine months to a year, Lewis said. The building will open about 14 months after construction begins.
The developers selected the location largely because of the Mill, Lewis said.
“We’re building off that new neighborhood being created,” Lewis said.
The city has been been working in recent years to redevelop the area, which sits just south of downtown, shifting it away from industrial uses. The city’s West Broadway Specific Plan includes a potential new bridge to West Sacramento, zoning changes to allow more high-density housing, and banning additional oil tanks near the river. The Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency plans a major renovation to the Alder Grove and Marina Vista public housing complexes, which house about 2,000 low-income residents about a half mile south of the new 49-unit complex.
The new units are being planned as the city is facing a housing crisis. A whopping 45,580 new housing units, including 16,769 for low-income residents, are needed in the city by 2029, according to a state-mandated report.
The new development does not require City Council or Planning and Design Commission approval, said Kelli Trapani, a city spokeswoman. It will not require a change in zoning.
As part of the project, the developer plans to construct a parking garage with 21 spaces, but has requested city staff waive off-street parking requirements for the remainder of the units, the application said.
Kirk Vyverberg, board member for the Land Park Community Association, said since the project does not contain any affordable units, it should provide all of the off-street parking required instead of getting a waiver.
The group is supportive of the project’s design overall, however.
“In all, the design should make a unique architectural statement in the neighborhood, while fitting with the modern style characteristic of the Mill,” Vyverberg said in an email.
REgroup is also the architect for 18 new market-rate rentals at 18th and D streets in New Era Park, Lewis said.
This story was originally published October 27, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
