Business Journal: US Foods Coming To Sacramento's McClellan Park, Hyatt Submits Plans For Natomas Hotel, City Pushing For More Child Care Options

US Food's McClellan Project In The Works Since 2011

This week's announcement by US Foods that it plans to build a $72 million distribution center at McClellan Park in Sacramento was a long time in coming. US Foods actually bought the 35 acre property in McClellan about seven years ago. The Sacramento Business Journal's Scott Rodd says plans to build the facility were put on hold, however, when the company's competitor, Sysco, revealed that it planned to buy US Foods.

"Sysco already has a distribution center that services the area," says Rodd, "so it would've been redundant to build another one. But that potential deal fell apart in 2015, which revived US Foods’ plan to build the facility at McClellan."

The distribution center is expected to create about 200 jobs. Construction is scheduled to start next summer and the facility will likely open at the end of 2020.

Hyatt Wants To Build $40 Million Hotel In Natomas

Hyatt recently submitted plans to the City of Sacramento for a four-story, 200-room hotel. Rodd says it would be on Duckhorn Drive, near the planned corporate campus of health insurer Centene.

"This is the ninth hotel proposal the city has received for this area, and the largest so far in terms of rooms," says Rodd. "The area has also seen a sharp increase in proposals for apartments and housing over the last year, since the city announced it was in talks with Centene about building a corporate campus in Natomas."

Centene's campus is expected to bring about 5,000 employees to the area. If the city approves the Hyatt project in the next few months, construction could begin by next summer and be completed about 18 months later.

Sacramento Considers Development Incentives To Create More Child Care 

Sacramento is looking at ways to address a shortage of child care options. City Councilman Eric Guerra is a recent father himself and has taken the lead on the issue. He recently held a public hearing and has proposed offering incentives to developers for including child care centers in new projects. Rodd says one big issue is how to make child care more affordable for parents.

"It’s not as expensive as some major cities, like San Francisco or New York," says Rodd, "but on average, child care costs over $1,400 a month in the Sacramento region, according to a recent analysis, and wait lists at child care facilities can be over a year. The wait list is especially long for infants."

Some of the challenges to bringing more child care options include: labor shortages, construction costs, and building requirements for child care facilities that include child-height fixtures and outdoor space.