Another apartment complex is planned for Midtown Sacramento, near the culturally significant R Street Corridor. The developers, CFY Development, are focused on building and rehabilitating middle- and low-income housing across California.
The developers are partnered with Sacramento’s Capitol Area Development Authority (CADA). In keeping with CADA’s mission, 40% of the new apartments will be offered at discounted prices for low-income renters. The remaining 60% will be offered at market-rate.
The former site of an industrial building, the property is currently an empty lot. The area surrounding the site consists of a mix of single family residences (SFRs) and smaller multi-family homes on S Street and a small shopping center with a Safeway along 18th Street. The new apartment building will include about 150 residential units with some space reserved for retail use, according to the Sacramento Bee.
However, if environmental testing indicates groundwater remediation will prove too costly, CADA may abandon the plans. Testing is scheduled to be completed this summer.
Revitalization of the right type, in the right place
The R Street Corridor has seen a renaissance in recent years, much of it pioneered by CADA and CFY Development. However, this proposed apartment complex represents the first time they are teaming up on a project together.
Other parts of Midtown Sacramento are also continuing to develop, including the popular Sutter District.
Sacramento, a city still recovering from the effects of the 2008 recession, is ideally placed to benefit from downtown revitalization efforts.
Coastal cities like Los Angeles, San Diego and parts of the Bay Area are causing their residents extreme financial burden for lack of affordable housing in downtown areas. Zoning regulations in California’s most expensive regions works against homebuyers, as property prices increase out of reach for most.
In Sacramento, planners’ willingness to invest in low- and middle-income housing in the urban core not only provides more housing, but it also creates needed jobs and boosts local property values by transforming dilapidated buildings suffering from functional obsolescence and empty lots into attractive properties — the very definition of revitalization.
Jobs in the construction and real estate industries have a long way to go before reaching full recovery in Sacramento. But more construction projects indicate the jobs market is picking up, and with it, the local economy. Read more about Sacramento jobs here.
Cities are the future of California real estate, as the younger generation looks for housing near their places of work and close to cultural amenities not found in the suburbs. Homebuyers are willing to pay more to be in cities, and leaving room in the city plan for middle- and low-income residents ensures they are not forced out by gentrification but continue to be important parts of the community.
