SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — The City of Sacramento has been awarded $17.9 million in voter-approved Proposition 1B Bond funds from the California Transportation Commission. The money will be used to improve safety and reduce congestion in the planned Railyards development project in downtown Sacramento, which is being developed by Thomas Enterprises.
The Railyards, a 240-acre mixed-use revitalization project of Sacramento’s historic railways, is now primed with $85 million in infrastructure bonds from voter-approved Propositions 1B and 1C.
“All of these grants mean we can continue to move this project forward, build roads and infrastructure, and open The Railyards to the public within the next few years,” says Suheil Totah, vice president of development for Thomas Enterprises. “The 244-acre downtown Sacramento Railyards development, located at the former Union Pacific railyard, is the largest urban infill project in the country.”
The Railyards will feature a state-of-the-art mass transit hub, in addition to 1.3 million square feet of retail, restaurants, entertainment, mixed-use high-density housing, and 2.9 million square feet of office space, theaters, fine-art venues, parks, hotels, museums and historic buildings. The project is expected to create 19,000 permanent jobs, 2,800 annual construction jobs and result in an annual economic impact of $2.7 billion. Private investment in the project is slated to top $6 billion.
The Railyards will be accessible by Interstates 80 and 5, and U.S. Highways 50 and 99.
Phase I, which comprises construction of the track relocation and the accompanying changes to the city streets, is slated to begin in 2009, with completion scheduled for 2012.