Sacramento officials studying arena site proposals

[Warhawk]

http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/2492144.html

The conceptual drawings Taylor produced for the city show a grand plaza behind the historic depot, flanked by the arena and a modern transit hub.
The plaza covers a two-story parking garage. Light-rail and Capitol Corridor trains would drop riders off at the edges of the plaza. The drawings show an elevated railway bringing bullet trains in from the Bay Area and Southern California.

more....

article includes some preliminary ideas and drawings on siting and adjacent structures, etc.

 

[Chupacabra]

Perfect. Build it. About the bullet trains, aint happening.

 

[Nikefutbolero]

 

[kennadog]

Perfect. Build it. About the bullet trains, aint happening.

It should. The US train system is a crumbling antique compared to many other countries. I really like the idea of the arena being at the site of the intermodal station, though.

 

[Emma]

Perfect. Build it. About the bullet trains, aint happening.

I thought they were voted on and passed last year.

 

[Trueblood]

I love how the open bowl configuration above is of a concert. I guess they really want the public to think that the Kings are irrelevant to this.

 

[LilMissDiva]

I like the new Arena ideas, however I don't think I really like the one posed in that picture. I'd actually like an Arena that holds more people. that one really isn't much larger than Arco.

I mean, don't just build an Arena just to build it. Make it spectacular!

 

[kennadog]

I like the new Arena ideas, however I don't think I really like the one posed in that picture. I'd actually like an Arena that holds more people. that one really isn't much larger than Arco.

I mean, don't just build an Arena just to build it. Make it spectacular!

The drawings above are not for any of the current proposals. The city had some basic schematics drawn up to see if it would be even possible to fit an intermodal transit system station and an arena on the actual plot of the railyards that will be owned by the city. So that has nothing to do with the proposals being considered.

By the way, the Maloofs don't want an arena that seats many more people than the current Arco. They want to be sure to maintain the intimacy of the current Arco. They do, however, need more and better luxury boxes. I think about the same as what San Antonio has in their arena now.

 

[JB_kings]

Oh I think the Maloofs know exactly what they want in a new arena. And you can bet it will be as nice as any. I'm not sure how they feel about the style. If you look at the Palms, it tends to be more hip, modern and sleek. I think the historic nature of the railyard site would better suit the classic brick style. I love the Conseco Fieldhouse interior and American Airlines Arena extior for style. I think that would fit nicely among the Depot and old rail sheds.

I looked at the Thomas Enterprises drawings and got a decent feel for what they want. I like their plan and they seem to be more detailed. The other drawing from the city needs more detail. In fact the arena is shown as some sort of round building that went out of style in the 1970s. It might be more of "this goes here" kind of sketch.

I think it's going to take some merging of concepts and ideas from a few of these proposals to get it done. But I think they are on to a really nice plan in their site location.

 

[JB_kings]

The drawings above are not for any of the current proposals. The city had some basic schematics drawn up to see if it would be even possible to fit an intermodal transit system station and an arena on the actual plot of the railyards that will be owned by the city. So that has nothing to do with the proposals being considered.

By the way, the Maloofs don't want an arena that seats many more people than the current Arco. They want to be sure to maintain the intimacy of the current Arco. They do, however, need more and better luxury boxes. I think about the same as what San Antonio has in their arena now.

I think the drawing pasted on this thread is from the Thomas proposal. The other one on the Bee's website is the City's. It might be the one that is from the architect they hired. Just doesn't specifically say that.

 

[JB_kings]

More about the Thomas proposal on the railyards website here:

http://www.sacramentorailyards.com/home/Arena Offering Summary (rev).pdf

And one other note I found in looking around. Thomas has filed bankruptcy and has only protected three projects. One of them being the railyards. Work is still progressing, but this is another moving part of the puzzle.

 

[Trueblood]

The drawing shown above seems to be modeled after the Toyota Center in Houston.

I like the idea of using the ATT Center in San Antonio as the actual model since they only have one tier of luxury suites. That way, you aren't way up high if you're in the upper deck. If the Maloofs want to keep the good sightlines and what not, that's the way to go.

Conseco and AAC are great arenas but have multiple layers of luxury suites so fans in the upper deck are far away from the action. San Antonio, New Orleans and Utah all just have one layer but they make sure that the suites are wrapped entirely around the bowl in order to maximize and get over 60 suites in there. In a small market like Sacramento, you don't need more than that so no point in having more than one level of suites.

 

[kennadog]

I think the drawing pasted on this thread is from the Thomas proposal. The other one on the Bee's website is the City's. It might be the one that is from the architect they hired. Just doesn't specifically say that.

I can see it in the Thomas proposal linked below your post, but the article states that the schematics were done by an architect named Taylor at the request of the city back in 2007.

Three years ago, Sacramento City Hall officials quietly commissioned city architect Greg Taylor to sharpen his pencil, spread open a map of the downtown railyard, and solve a puzzle:

Is it possible to squeeze an arena and a modern transit center side by side onto the small plot of city land behind the downtown train depot?

Taylor's dramatic drawings – which showed it's doable – have sat on a back shelf at City Hall until this week.

 

[LPKingsFan]

Cool.

 

[Nikefutbolero]

this is the one in 07..

 

[KevinSalvadori]

I actually don't think the bankruptcy issue for Thomas Enterprises is that big of a factor, as the land swap and protracted sum attached to the loan to the City of Sacramento would usurp any fronted cost by the company. In other words, the value of Thomas Enterprises becomes a "static sum" until the lease to the city is assumed, meaning the total cost would eventually flow from the Maloofs to Thomas Ent. For now, the up-front dollars would be assumed by the city, for construction costs and other finances. The true revenue is earned on the property and interest rate on the loan payments, meaning the city stands to earn on their investment over the 30 year lease. This logic is similar to the way in which Trump Enterprises was able to continue their investments with collateral money despite declaring bankruptcy as a corporation in the late 1990s.

It could potentially be a very smart move, considering the city has now attached the value of their investment to the value of commercial/entertainment property values in the city (and state for that matter)- giving incentive for all sides to pitch in.