Business Journal: Work Begins On Crocker Village; Indoor Pot Grows Demand Energy; Bonobos Comes To Midtown

Work Starts On Crocker Village

Construction work began this week on the controversial Crocker Village center near Sacramento's Curtis Park neighborhood, even though a lawsuit against the project is still active.

Developer Paul Petrovich wants to build a retail center and gas station at Crocker Drive and Sutterville Road. Some neighbors are against it. The Sacramento Business Journal's Digital Editor Sonya Sorich says this was a crucial week for the project.

"The developer says work had to get underway now to meet a lease agreement with Safeway which will anchor that center," says Sorich.

The Sacramento City Council denied the developer a conditional use permit for the gas station in 2015, and that led to a lawsuit by the developer against the city. A Sacramento Superior Court judge ruled against the city in the case last year, but the city is appealing.

Supporters of the project say the grocery store would hire 200 employees at union wages, drawing from nearby Oak Park, one of Sacramento's poorer neighborhoods.

Indoor Pot Grows Expected To Increase Energy Use

Electricity consumption in the Sacramento area is expected to spike now that recreational marijuana is legal and more people are presumably cultivating indoor grows.

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District says the amount of energy used annually to support one cannabis plant is equivalent to the energy used to power about seven refrigerators. Sorich says SMUD is looking at possibly energy-saving technologies.

"For growers, a major issue is whether these techniques impact the amount of cannabis that they produce by growing, as well as the potency of that cannabis," says Sorich.

SMUD recently wrapped up two studies of LED lighting alternatives, which the utility says showed promising results. SMUD says future studies exploring other areas are in the works.

Bonobos To Open Ice Blocks Site

Sacramento's Ice Blocks project in Midtown is getting another tenant. It's a men's clothing store called Bonobos.

The company began as an online retailer in 2007. A few years later, it expanded its operations to include physical stores. Sorich says the brick-and-mortar locations are an extension of the online operations.

"These stores are called Guideshops, and male shoppers visit them to find perfectly fitted items such as suits, dress shirts and more," says Sorich. "Then, they place an order and the items are directly shipped to the customer's home or office."

Another planned tenant at Ice Blocks, eyewear company Warby Parker, also has roots in e-commerce.

Meanwhile, Bonobos is expected to open later this year. The local site — the first in the Sacramento area — would join several other locations, including sites in Chicago, Boston and Atlanta. It's among several planned tenants at Ice Blocks, including West Elm, Title Boxing Club and Beast and Bounty restaurant.