Over 500 new housing units coming to Sacramento neighborhood. See where
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Sacramento City Council approved 548 new housing units for two North Natomas projects.
- Greystar's Birchway targets middle-income renters with 378 apartment units.
- Lewis Land’s duplex project adds 170 units and promotes walkability, greenery.
Two new housing developments are coming to North Natomas totaling 548 new units, the Sacramento City Council decided Tuesday.
A development called Birchway at Natomas is planned to be built at a vacant lot at 120 Promenade Circle, near a shopping area just north of Interstate 80 and east of Truxel Road.
Greystar Development plans to build 378 rental apartment units in three-story residential buildings on the 13-acre vacant lot, according to the city application. They plan to target the units to “missing middle” households earning approximately 80-120% of area median income, the application said.
“The Birchway Natomas project is proposed as an attainable housing project,” the application stated. “Unit rents will target missing middle households that earn too much to qualify for subsidized tax-credit affordable housing but not enough to afford new market-rate apartment rents. Greystar will target the units to households earning approximately 80 to 120 percent of the area median income. The project will not require a public subsidy nor include deed-restricted units. Birchway Natomas will assist the City in meeting its objective of providing housing for middle- and moderate-income households.”
For a family of four in the Sacramento area, 80% area median income is about $103,000, according to federal government requirements.
“The income level is not a requirement for residents, just a preference, though Greystar will still verify income prior to approving a resident’s application to ensure they can afford the rent for the unit they are leasing,” said Kris Steward of Plan Steward Inc., the applicant.
The development will also include a clubhouse and 483 parking spaces, the application stated. The units will range from one to three bedrooms.
In addition, 165 parking spaces are planned on the site’s south side as a park-and-ride lot for the planned Gateway Park light rail station.
Construction will take about two years to complete.
Councilmember Karina Talamantes, who represents the part of North Natomas where the development will be located, expressed support during the council meeting Tuesday.
“It’s going to create more housing in Natomas, we desperately need more housing — today, tomorrow and yesterday,” Talamantes said.
Construction will start later this year and take about a year to complete, Steward said.
The other project, Independence in Natomas, is planned to be built at the corner of North Park and Kankakee drives, on a 10-acre vacant lot. Lewis Land Developers LLC has applied to build 170 units in 85 duplex buildings, according to a city staff report. The development would also contain about 400 parking spaces and have a mix of two- and three-bedroom units.
The project creates “rental and home ownership opportunities,” said Deja Harris, city associate planner, during the meeting.
Councilmember Lisa Kaplan, who represents the area where the development will be, said the project was originally supposed to be all single-family homes, but that they changed it to duplexes because the city needs more of those. There will also be increased bike and walking improvements, and there’s an effort to get 100 additional trees planted in and around that area.
“There is power when we have these conversations and trying to make things the right way of brining in new housing but also added benefits to the community,” Kaplan said.
The developer called it a new “housing prototype.”
“On behalf of Lewis that we are happy to be advancing Independence in Natomas, which will bring a new housing prototype to Sacramento and the region,” said Bob White of Lewis Management Corp. in an email to The Sacramento Bee.
Both items passed 8-0, with Councilmember Caity Maple absent.
To keep up with its goal of building 45,580 new housing units by 2029, the city would have had to issue 5,698 new housing permits last year, according to a city report released earlier this year. It issued 2,387.
