20 Facts about Sacramento's new iconic Golden 1 Center

1.     Early October 2016 will be engraved in Sacramento history as a turning point for the city’s downtown redevelopment efforts, starting with the highly anticipated opening of the Golden 1 Center. I’m sure you’ve seen it already as you’ve driven by, a modern marvel of sports arena construction with iconic outward-facing windows, aircraft hangar doors and tree-lined balconies and plazas spanning four-city blocks downtown. Not only will the Golden 1 Center be the new home for our reenergized Sacramento Kings, but it will also host concerts, other sporting events, conferences, college sports, private functions and other entertainment.

2.     The Golden 1 Center is the shiny prize in Sacramento’s new redeveloped business and entertainment district downtown called Downtown Commons, or “DoCo.”  

3.     The development includes an additional planned 1.5 million square feet of building including 475,000 square feet of office space, 350,000 square feet of retail, a 250-room hotel, and 500,000 square feet for residential housing units.

4.     While most people will just say the arena is at 5^th and L Streets, the official address for the Golden 1 Center is 500 David J. Stern Walk – named after the former longtime NBA commissioner.

5.     The positive impact on Sacramento will go far beyond selling out King’s games and fostering civic pride. In fact, a neutral third-party study determined that the presence of the Golden 1 Center alone would bring about 1.6 million new visitors to downtown Sacramento every year.

6.     They reported that those 1.6 million visitors were just a part of the expected $11.5 billion positive economic impact for Sacramentans over the next 35 years.

7.     Initial costs projections for the Golden 1 Center valued it at approximately $507 million. Funding included a $233 million contribution from the City of Sacramento, the sale of bonds ($212 million) and parking and economic development funds ($11 million) and the Kings team covering the remaining costs.

8.     Construction commenced as they broke ground on October 29, 2014 with an impressive team of architects, builders, engineers and general contractors including AECOM, ICON Venue Group, Thornton Tomasetti/Buehler & Buehler, Henderson Engineers and Turner Construction. Final costs are projected to come in at $556.6 million.

9.     13,500 parking spaces are planned within ½ mile of the Golden 1 Center to accommodating parking – almost double the 7,000 spaces at Sleep Train Arena.

10. City and arena planners estimate that 10-15% of visitors to the Golden 1 Center for games, concerts and events will either walk, bike or take public transportation.

11. There are five light rail stations within walking distance of the Golden 1 Center, and the Sacramento Valley Station is the hub for train, bus and taxi services only a few blocks away at 4^th and I Streets.

12. Considered a true “smart” arena, part of the state-of-the-art tech amenities at the new arena include lightning fast free Wi-Fi through Comcast. The arena is also an interactive, "smart" building that checks in with attendees offering contextual marketing, targeted offers and postgame information and events.

13. The Golden 1 Center will have seating for 17,500 fans for Sacramento Kings games, making it the second smallest arenas for capacity in the NBA (The New Orleans Pelican’s stadium holds only 16,867 fans, while most stadiums have a 18-20,000+ capacity.) For concerts and other events, it’s expected to accommodate 19,000 fans.

14. But the new center will boast 34 luxury suites that are twice as big as the suites at the Sleep Train Arena, as well as three exclusive clubs and two Skyboxes with a view of the concourse below and a panorama of the city.

15. The moment the Golden 1 Center doors open it will be considered the best Green and energy efficient public venue and sporting arena in the world. Not only will it be completely carbon and grid neutral (unheard of with a venue that large), the arena was developed with the highest standards in mind per the U.S. Green Building Council.

16. Some of these environmental zero-impact measures include regionally sourced and recycled building materials, FSC-Certified forest managed wood, special glass to negate solar temperature gain, smart climate controls that actually integrate the exterior delta breeze to help cool the building, smart lighting systems, an emphasis on mass transit for fans and employees, electric car charging stations, and bicycle valet for some events.

17. The food and drink at the Golden 1 Center will be special as well, with an emphasis on fresh food from local eateries and breweries, not just standard concessions. The farm-to-fork concept will be one of the first in a sports arena setting, and the arena will also integrate responsible food choices by accepting food bank donations and also featuring hydroponic gardens in the outdoor spaces, like hanging tomato gardens.

18. One of the signatures of the modern new arena will be its colossal 84-foot long scoreboard, longer than an 18-wheeler truck and only 10 feet shorter than the basketball court itself.  Developed by Panasonic, the scoreboard covers 6,100 square feet, which is seven times larger than the video screens at Sleep Train Arena. The Golden 1 Center will also greet fans with two 25-foot tall video screens at the main entrance.

19. The new arena will not jut be beautiful inside, but the design will flow with integrated indoor-outdoor spaces and the surrounding development. In fact, the stunning natural design will include a façade with metallic tree patterns to represent our City of Trees, a expansive tree-lined public plaza with gardens, a natural grandstand and grassy amphitheater.

20. The inaugural event at the Golden 1 Center is a free public practice for The Sacramento Kings on Oct. 1, followed by a Paul McCartney concert a few days later and 10 more events planned for the first month, including a Maroon 5 concert and WWE event. Aside from King’s games and concerts, the NCAA announced that a series of first and second round games for the 2017 NCAA Men's Division Basketball Tournament will be hosted at the Golden 1 Center in March.

Highlights from Mayor Kevin Johnson's state of Sacramento address

This past Thursday, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson took the stage and delivered his highly anticipated state of the city address for 2016. In front of a packed crowd at the Crest Theater in downtown Sacramento, Johnson talked about what goals he’s achieved, progress that was made, and also a few challenges that are still a work in progress under his tenure.

This will be Mayor Johnson’s last state of the city address after serving seven years as mayor already, as he’s on record as saying he won’t run again to seek a third term in October, stepping down for a newly elected mayor.

The event had the tones of a celebration more than a drab political address, thanks to a performance by the local band Hip Service and some optimistic sentiments by Johnson, himself.

“We can’t just be a city for basketball fans, government officials and tech giants,” said Mayor Kevin Johnson. “We also have to be a city for families, college students and young professionals. We have to be a city for the homeless, the less fortunate and the underemployed. We have to be a city that works for everyone.”

So how is the city he helped govern measuring up these days? Here are some high points of Mayor Kevin Johnson’s state of the city address:

Starting with his first few days in office seven years ago, Johnson always spoke about easing our dependence on jobs in the government and real estate sectors and diversifying into new major employment sectors. A good part of Johnson’s speech at the Crest Theater addressed that same issue:

Mayor Johnson announced that two tech firms were moving to Sacramento within the next couple years, creating hundreds of quality job openings for residents.

AnPac Bio-Medical Science Co., a medical-diagnostics company in China, is looking to relocate to Sacramento and hire about 250 local workers within two years. AnPac’s founder and Chief Executive, Chris Yu, said that the company could eventually hire up to 1,000 workers in Sacramento.

And Flippbox, an innovative tech company that now resides in Tampa, Fla., is buying the historic Eastern Star building at 27^th and K Streets. Once renovations are complete, the building will be home to their Sacramento operations with 25 new hires this year and up to 100 more in 2017.

Flippbox’s parent company, tech investment firm Silicon Bay Partners, is looking to move their operations to Sacramento as well.

Reportedly, some of these firms had serious interest in moving to the Bay Area, but after taking a good look at what Sacramento had to offer, decided that the lower cost of business, highly educated workforce, and accessibility to the Bay Area swayed them to the capital city.

To continue the movement to attract new diversified businesses to Sacramento and create more jobs, Johnson also proposed a plan to invest $1 million of a new city “innovation fund” to attract startup companies, $500,000 for small grants to organizations that train entrepreneurs, and partnerships with firms like 500 Startups, who is looking to aid at least 10 new companies in the city.

There is no denying that a good part of Mayor Johnson’s legacy will be his effort to keep the Kings in Sacramento, and spearhead the downtown redevelopment plan with the under-construction $507 million Golden 1 Center as its jewel.

Looking at a snapshot of Sacramento’s downtown seven years ago compared to today definitely displays the fruits of Johnson’s efforts. The eyesore K Street mall has seen steady progress under Johnson’s leadership, and new restaurants, shopping, condos, and apartments are popping up downtown.

But there is still work to do in order to surround the Golden 1 Center with new hotels, high-end restaurants, and other businesses that are vital to turning the downtown into a landmark that rivals the other major cities in California.

Keeping the Kings in Sacramento was just part of Johnson’s efforts to attract pro sports entertainment to the region, as he also announced plans for the city to build a 25,000-seat soccer stadium that would be home to a Major League Soccer team. In his state of the city address, Johnson predicted that 2016 would be the year that MLS officially came to Sacramento.

Although Johnson stuck to big picture themes and didn’t cover his controversial 2015 in depth, he did speak about his initiative to attract 10,000 housing units in Sacramento over the next decade, the stability of the city’s economy now that the recession is the in the rear view mirror, and renewed support for the arts.

Johnson also recapped his endorsement of a task force that recommended an increase in the minimum wage in Sacramento, which was accepted by the City Council despite some dissention.

Mayor Kevin Johnson also covered the issue of homelessness in his state of the city address, a hot button issue when the city’s anti-camping ordinance drew mass protests at City Hall.

Although the topic is still in need of resolution, Johnson did express optimism that a solution would be found, and shared the good news that Sutter Health has pledged $5 million to identify permanent housing for the homeless population in Sacramento.