Sacramento to hear ambitious railyard plan

"City to hear ambitious railyard plan" by Mary Lynne Vellinga, © Sacramento Bee, March 9, 2006. (News Article)

"The developers of downtown Sacramento's 240-acre railyard today will submit a new plan to the city that includes high-rise housing along the river, a 1,000-seat live theater and a new sports arena anchoring an entertainment district. ... it would ... take at least 15 years to build out ... The plan also has 10,000 housing units, including high-rise towers of up to 40 stories, 3 million square feet of office space and 1.3 million square feet of retail. Picturesque but dilapidated old railroad shops would become a museum of railroad technology and a public market similar to San Francisco's Ferry Building. ... The railyard is considered one of the nation's most significant downtown "infill" sites. Just north of downtown, it is about the same size as the existing central business district. But the site has proved difficult to develop, in part because of its lack of streets and other infrastructure, and because it was so soaked with toxic leftovers from the rail industry that it was labeled a Superfund site. ... "People think there are issues with the railroad and there are not," ... "It just takes time, and we want to do it right. This is probably the most complicated land deal in the country." ... One issue that needs to be solved before development can occur is how to come up with $20 million for moving the train tracks several hundred feet to the north – a move that UP says will improve railroad operations. ... " [More]

[Courtesy Bruce C. Cooper.]