Sacramento: It's Just a Matter of Time

I attended a Panel Discussion Moderated by Randy Getz of CBRE in Downtown Sacramento back in September. Chuck Trainor, Managing Partner of Trainor Fairbrook, introduced David Taylor. David highlighted some interesting facts that illustrate how far Sacramento has come.   Notable facts include: 

·     In 2015 Bloomberg ranked Sacramento #6 as the most affordable fun city.

·     Before counting the expense of the arena, in the recent past over one billion dollars has been spent downtown on new developments, of which 58% are privately funded.

·     Since 2014 25 properties have traded hands valued at over $538 million. 

·     Of 900 people surveyed, 1/3 say they would like to live downtown, and 2/3 of the millennial survey want to be in the Grid.

Following Taylor’s presentation, a diverse group of panelists came up on stage. The panelists included: Denton Kelley, Partner with LDK Ventures, oversees the Railyard Development; Sandy Sharon, SVP and Area Manager for Kaiser; Ron Vrilakas, a prolific Central City Architect; and finally Ali Youseffi, Vice President of CFY Development. The Moderator was Randy Getz eloquently led an insightful and interactive discussion with an audience of about 150 commercial real estate experts. Each panelist shed light on their optimistic view of downtown Sacramento’s future and the developments that they have been involved with. 

What surfaced from all the comments is that the game and the players have changed in downtown Sacramento. Downtown’s value proposition has risen (Sacramento's New Value Proposition,) with an abundance of new amenities including health clubs, bars and restaurants.   The Jobs being created downtown are good paying Jobs (Kaiser Hospital took down 18 acres in the Railyard for a future hospital and they bought 501 J for a new medical office building.) And the Arena, it seems, will be the finest Arena in the US. I have seen Paul McCartney and Stevie Nicks there and it is terrific!

 With this momentum, it is only a matter of time until we see a company like Facebook, establish a presence in Downtown Sacramento (this includes the Railyards.) As David Taylor said in closing, "Downtown Sacramento is the Ultimate Corporate Campus with everything right there for employees to work and play."

It’s just a matter of time.