2024 Technical Assistance Panel

Downtown Sacramento: Re-imagining a Capital Destination District

Downtown Sacramento, like many downtowns across the United States, is in the midst of a seismic shift in the way it functions, who calls downtown “home,” and how it generates revenue for the rest of the city. Unlike many other downtowns, downtown Sacramento has benefited from the significant presence of tens of thousands of state employees populating its office buildings, eating in its restaurants, and helping bring its streets to like. Today, downtown is no longer the office location of choice for an estimated 40,000 state employees on any given weekday who have taken the State of California up on its offer to work from home. Permanently.

With the understanding that downtown can no longer rely on state employees to activate its downtown during the daytime and the impacts this is having on downtown’s viability as an office district, the Downtown Sacramento Partnership (DSP) turned to the Urban Land Institute Sacramento District Council (ULI) for guidance in shaping a new vision for downtown and identifying a new value proposition for the downtown district that would serve the region and its residents, draw visitors to the city and downtown, and provide the Capital Destination District specifically with opportunities for improved connections, activation, and economic vitality.

ULI, using its trusted technical assistance panel (TAP) program, convened a group of real estate professionals with the expertise needed to address these challenges for downtown Sacramento. The TAP panel, following a briefing, tour, and stakeholder interviews, refined the area of focus for the Capital Destination District, shifting to include the area bound by J Street to the north, the convention center to the east, the Capitol Mall (the Mall) to the south, and the waterfront to the west. With this revised geography in mind, the panel delivered the following recommendations to DSP.

Final Summary TAP Report here: Downtown Sacramento: Re-imagining a Capital Destination District TAP

Special Thanks to Our TAP Panel

• Randy Sater, StoneBridge Properties, Panel Chair
• Kate Collignon, HR&A Advisors, Panelist
• John Dangberg, Dangberg Consulting Services, Panelist
• Deana Ellis, Cresleigh Homes Corporation, Panelist
• Allen Folks, Ascent Environmental (retired), Panelist
• Kimberly Garza, ATLAS Lab, Panelist
• Jamie Gomes, Economic & Planning Systems, Panelist
• Jason Kenney, California Department of General Services, Panelist
• Paul Levy, Philadelphia Center City District, Panelist
• Tom Murphy, Former Mayor of Pittsburgh, Panelist
• Nikky Mohanna, Mohanna Development, Panelist
• Mary Clementi, ULI Sacramento, Project Staff
• Kelly Annis, Branch Communications, Project Staff