Bold new Sacramento State project could finally revive downtown | Opinion
For years, downtown Sacramento pulsed with energy. State workers filled our restaurants at lunch, visitors packed our hotels for conventions and residents enjoyed a downtown that was finally coming into its own. Then, the pandemic changed everything.
More than five years later, our city’s core still hasn’t fully recovered. Small businesses are shutting down, and the city faces a projected $90 million structural deficit by 2030 that is being exacerbated by the decision. Economic setbacks have deepened inequality and strained surrounding neighborhoods. Sacramento dropped from 9th to 34th in racial inclusion from 2024 to 2025, according to the Brookings Metro Monitor.
The city of Sacramento needs a major downtown project to revitalize our urban core.
Sacramento State President Luke Wood is leading a bold, once-in-a-generation effort to transform a long-blighted stretch of Capitol Mall into a thriving, mixed-use district that places education, innovation and civic life at the heart of our city.
Recently passed Senate Bill 516, authored by Sen. Angelique Ashby, D-Sacramento, allows enhanced public-private partnerships to advance prosperity, clearing a critical path forward for Sacramento State’s Downtown Center. Working with the Department of General Services, Sacramento State has exclusive rights for one year to reimagine a series of underused state properties near the Capitol. This paves the way for up to 5 million square feet of new development: classrooms, housing, research facilities and retail that will make downtown come alive again.
By moving to the heart of downtown, Sacramento State would give new life to our civic identity. The university’s planned School of Public Affairs and AI & Policy Center would build a pipeline of leaders trained at the center of the state’s decision-making hub. This is more than a physical investment; it’s an investment in talent, opportunity and Sacramento’s long-term competitiveness.
Across the nation, transformative higher education projects are driving urban revitalization. Funded by $500 million from the State of California, the University of California Los Angeles’ transformation of the former Westside Pavilion into a biomedical research center shows what’s possible when vision meets investment.
The state was wise to support the UCLA project, and it should show the same commitment to Sacramento State’s downtown vision — just as Arizona did with Arizona State University’s Phoenix campus. Since coming to downtown Phoenix, ASU’s campus has created more than 24,000 jobs and nearly $1.8 billion in total economic output.
As civic leaders and people who love this community, we have a responsibility to rebuild our downtown. It will not be what it once was — it will be better. Sacramento has reinvented itself before, and we can do it again. But doing so requires all of us — public, private and community partners — to rally behind transformative ideas like this one.
Sacramento’s future thrives on innovation, and our community is inspired by Wood’s bold leadership and belief in what’s possible. Let’s seize this moment to support Sacramento State in building a downtown that reflects the strength, pride and potential of our region.
Barry Broome is the president and CEO of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council (GSEC). Mark Friedman is board chair of the GSEC and the founder and chairman of Fulcrum Property.
This story was originally published November 6, 2025 at 12:15 PM.