Sacramento railyard makeover finally in motion - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee
Sacramento railyard makeover finally in motion
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By Tony Bizjak
tbizjak@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Apr. 23, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 1A
For years, it seemed nothing would happen in the barren space that is the downtown railyard. Today, Sacramento finally sees the launch of a much-awaited makeover of the massive downtown railyard site.
Crews begin laying the base for three major roads and two bridges in downtown Sacramento's northwest corner, setting in motion what developers say will be the biggest urban infill project in the country.
"This is a historic moment," said Suheil Totah, the Sacramento head for Atlanta-based railyard owner Thomas Enterprises. "This is the beginning of the future of (downtown) Sacramento."
But, in keeping with the project's history of fits and starts, today's launch remains shadowed by financial uncertainty.
To start construction, the Thomas development company was forced to front funds by leveraging some of its properties in other parts of the country, representatives said.
But it's counting on tens of millions of dollars in promised state infrastructure bond funds to keep the project on track, and more in city and federal funds this year.
"The sooner, the better," Totah said Wednesday after a nail-biting winter when the state, in a budget crisis, froze funding for this and other projects.
State officials recently began selling bonds to finance projects. The railyard was identified Wednesday among the California projects that will receive their promised funding; however, state finance officials said that money won't start flowing for at least a month.
The Thomas company will host a formal groundbreaking ceremony today for what is expected to be a 20-year community-building project.
When done, officials say, the 240-acre site will nearly double downtown's size. It will be home to thousands of residents, hundreds of businesses, anchored by a major train and transit center, possibly including bullet trains to Los Angeles and the Bay Area.
And, although a basketball arena is not currently part of the plan, some officials hope the centrally located redevelopment site may yet be a future home for the Kings.
The project's first phases involve constructing extensions of Fifth and Sixth streets and two bridges over the Amtrak and freight rail tracks.
Developers also plan to build the site's major east-west road – Railyards Boulevard – connecting a rebuilt Jibboom Street to the west and Seventh Street to the east.
Work has to start now, despite the down economy and uncertain financing, so the developer and the city can meet a $20 million deadline in December.
The foundations of the two bridges need to be in place by then so the city can begin moving the passenger and freight tracks to a new site in the railyard.
The federal government appears poised to forward $20 million in economic stimulus funds for that move, if the project is ready to start by December.
City officials have their fingers crossed.
"Everything hinges on the track relocation," the city's Fran Halbakken said.
The prognosis is so minute-by-minute that even as Totah was touring the construction site Wednesday, he was receiving funding updates from Halbakken on his BlackBerry.
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, said Wednesday that she is pleased that construction finally will begin. She believes that the project financing "is going to be OK" but warned that she and other government officials must continue to push to make sure that the project doesn't stall.
"Everybody has to keep their eye on the ball," Matsui said. "We have to keep it going because if it stops, it is difficult to get it going again."
So far, $288 million in public funds from local, state and federal sources has been authorized for the project's roads and utilities, as well as the track move and a new transit facility at the south end of the railyard – an indication of the project's economic importance to the city and state.
City officials have not yet decided what role the existing historic train depot will play when the tracks are moved a few hundred feet north but say they intend to keep the depot in some way a part of the new transit center.
Despite the promise of government funds, and support from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the downturn has made it difficult for builders to say how fast construction can move.
"If funds are available, you can be driving here by next year," said Elias Rashmawi of Thomas development.
It doesn't mean there will be much reason to drive through the railyard for a few more years, until businesses begin to arrive, he acknowledged.
Once Fifth and Sixth streets are connected to downtown, workers are expected to begin rehabilitating the locomotive shops on site.
The shop building nearest to Fifth Street is planned to become a farmers market, similar to the Ferry Building in San Francisco and the Oxbow Market in Napa. Thomas Enterprises representatives say they are in talks with the developer of those two Bay Area projects.
When asked this week, project officials said there is still room on site for a professional basketball arena.
Earlier site plans had included an arena, but those were tossed aside after voters rejected a public-financing plan. The National Basketball Association currently is working with state officials on a plan to build an arena at Cal Expo, but Totah of Thomas Enterprises says his company is open to reconsideration of an arena on its site.
"We'd be very interested in including it," Totah said Wednesday. "We can still do that."
His company faces another potential stumbling block.
Two years ago, it agreed to sell the lower 33 acres of the site to the city for its transit center. The sides, however, are far apart on a price.
The dispute is scheduled for arbitration this summer.
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