City Council Approves Sacramento Commons Project

UPDATE  2 P.M. - The Sacramento City Council approved a downtown project intended to revitalize the urban core. 

A Beverly Hills based real estate investment firm will tear down the low-rise Capitol Towers and replace it with condominium towers and retail space.

Emilie Cameron is the policy manager for the Downtown Sacramento Partnership and urged the council to support the Sacramento Commons project.

"People want to work here, play here, and live here," she says. "We need private investment like Kennedy Wilson's to continue the revitalization of our central city. We need projects like Sacramento Commons, and we urge your support."

Gretchen Steinberg with the preservation non-profit Sacramento Modern said the project will take away from the character of the neighborhood. 

"You have the ability to end the vicious cycle of total destruction and displacement," she says. "Think about the people who call this neighborhood their home. Think about the tree canopy that will be lost."

Nancy Olson, a self-described "reluctant Sacramentan," spoke out against the demolition of Capitol Towers.

"I urge you to leave this beautiful building, these beautiful sets of buildings along with the trees," says Olson. "And to think about possibly putting such a major construction site onto some other already empty space."

The project won support from Michael McKeever, CEO of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments.

"This is an example, if you look at the high-performing transit systems around the country, of the kind of development that generates enough activity in jobs and employment and retail that it helps get us to where we want to go as a city and a region," says McKeever.

The council also refused to designate the property a historic district.

The existing Capitol Towers won't be demolished until the city approves the design and building permits.

Original Post: 

Downtown Sacramento will see new high-rise and mid-rise condominium towers.

The Sacramento City Council Tuesday night approved a plan to build a 10-acre, mixed-use development called the Sacramento Commons.

It'll replace the Capitol Towers, a low rise housing complex spanning four city blocks from N Street to P Street and Fifth Street to Seventh Street.

Preservation-minded city residents objected to the proposal, saying the Capitol Towers should be a historic district.

The council voted six to one in favor of the Sacramento Commons proposal -- Mayor Kevin Johnson and Councilman Larry Carr were absent.

The existing Capitol Towers won't be demolished until the city approves the design and building permits.