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On Wednesday, I went to the Urban Land Institute – Railyard Developer Luncheon. Frankly, I was pretty disappointed. Here we have this incredible redevelopment project the size of downtown Sacramento. Almost the entire discussion was dominated by the Q and R ballot initiatives, even more specifically whether or not the Kings would leave Sacramento.

This is not to say that the debate about this isn’t necessary but my interest lies more in the overall development than just the Arena which, as many probably know, is only one of six “Districts” that will be developed over a 20-year timeframe.

This is an incredible opportunity for the city of Sacramento. Regardless of the Arena outcome, the Railyards Development stands to bring a lot of people downtown. There are 10,000 residential units planned. The districts will include an intermodal transportation hub, a Fifth Street Emporium, a Sports and Entertainment District, a Riverfront District, a Central Shopping District, and a Residential Housing District. So here are a few of the Railyard facts that I found interesting.

1. The site is 240 acres which apparently is the largest redevelopment site in the country.
2. It is a public/private joint venture that will require up-front infrastructure improvements of $500,000,000. Yes that is a half a billion dollars. I did not understand how much of that money was “seed money” and the cities’ responsibility and how much would be put in place by the developer.
3. The project is currently “upside down”. The current market conditions do not support the entire project build-out.
4. The Railyards Development stands on its own without the Arena. This is good to know since the arena deal seems a little out of reach. Rob Fong – Vice Mayor of the City of Sacramento stated that “on their best day they knew the deal had a four in ten chance of passing.” He also said that 32% of Californians always vote down tax increases.

Does the Railyards Development need an Arena? For economic viability, no. Why then? The core issue seems to be about Sacramento’s identity: those arguing for the Arena point to cities like San Antonio, Atlanta, Seattle, Denver and others, all of whom have downtown Arenas.

I guess I’m still just amazed at the scale and diversity of the whole project. And I hope people don’t get so divided about the Arena issue that they can’t see the many other aspects of the project that deserve our attention, besides a sports team and its owners.

Micah