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.

Your Sacramento Railyards Fact Sheet.

Last week, hundreds of spectators, residents, and well-wishers gathered to celebrate a seminal moment in the Sacramento’s future: the grand opening of Railyards Boulevard, connecting downtown and the Sacramento Railyards site by joining 7th and Jibboom streets, as well as new extensions to 5th and 6th streets downtown.

Between the photo ops, enthusiastic residents and speeches by city officials, there was a palpable sentiment that, more than just another road, this was really a link between the capital city’s past and it’s promising future.

But if you’re a Sacramentan, you’ll probably get very familiar with grand openings and civic ceremonies, as new landmarks will be unveiled at the Sacramento Railyards frequently over the coming years and decades, transforming the region.

“To get to this point…is a real big milestone for the city,” said Councilmember Jeff Harris. “This project essentially doubles the size of our city center. It’s the biggest infill project right now in the US. This is a big deal.”

A big deal, indeed, since advocates, developers, and city officials have been working tirelessly to make the Railyards project a reality for parts of three decades or more.

In order to keep you abreast of all the exciting happenings with the project, we’ve compiled this Sacramento Railyards fact sheet:

The Vision

The Railyards is a 244-acre site located just north of downtown and south of the River District in Sacramento. Transforming the historic former site of the Union Pacific railroad hub, it looks to develop a state of the art mixed-use urban center, complete with a signature mass transit hub. With plenty of housing, hotels, retail spaces, office space, and entertainment venues like theaters, parks, and museums, the Railyards will be an economic boon for the city and a must-see destination for Californians and tourists alike.

History of the Railyards

At its inception in the 1860s, Sacramento’s rail yards were the central hub of the entire western United States, connecting the country and aiding commerce created by western expansion and the Gold Rush.

The first railroad in the Sacramento Valley was completed in 1856, and The First Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869 after several other railroads like the Central Pacific merged.

As early as 1883, Sacramento’s terminal was the primary point of departure and arrival for thousands of travelers, workers, and innumerable goods.

In fact, in the early 20^th century, the Sacramento railroad network was the largest west of the Mississippi River and employed an astounding one-third of all Sacramento workers!

Proposed Project

Plans for the Sacramento Railyards include:

6,000-10,000 housing units

405,741 square feet of retail space

2,757,027 - 3,857,027 square feet of office space

771,405 square feet of flexible mixed use

1,228,000 square feet of medical campus

1,100 hotel rooms

485,390 square feet of historic and cultural uses like museums

33 acres of open space for parks and recreation

A soccer stadium with 19,621 seats, and potential to expand to approximately 25,000 seats.

Once completed, the Railyards is expected to provide housing for an estimated 20,000 people, a community more populous than Land Park and Curtis Park combined.

The keystone of this redevelopment is the refurbishing of the former “Central Shops” buildings that originally served as the Southern Pacific Depot and maintenance facilities.

An expansive public market place will be at that site, as well as a railroad museum and performing arts center.

It’s estimated that new Railyards site will create 19,000 permanent jobs once it’s opened, as well as employ thousands of contractors and construction workers.

Initial Plan

Developer Millennia Associates tried to buy 70 acres in the southern portion of the rail yard in 2003, with hopes of eventually purchasing and developing the entire property. The project stalled until Thomas Enterprises, Millennia’s financial partner, finalized the rail yard purchase in late 2006.

The first version of the Sacramento Railyards redevelopment that was officially on the books was registered as P05-097 and approved by the City Council on December 11 2007. It was a scaled-down version of the monumental project we now are familiar with, encompassing “only” 12,100 housing units, 1.4 million square feet of retail space, 1,100 hotel rooms, 2.4 million square feet of office space, 485,390 square feet of historic and cultural space, and 491,000 square feet of mixed use.

Current Status

That 2007 proposal was updated in June of 2015, when a new proposal was submitted with a much larger scope, including a change of the land use plan that would incorporate two new additions: a soccer stadium and a Kaiser Medical complex with its 14-story hospital

The Railyards redevelopment has been portioned into five phases. The first phase, Infrastructure Building, is already underway.

Since the Railyards site contains soil and groundwater contaminants that are harmful for humans, environmental remediation has been underway since the 1980s in compliance with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Who is involved?

The Railyards land is owned by IA Sacramento Holdings, L.L.C., under the umbrella of InvenTrust Properties Corp. The project was master-planned by the Jerde Partnership firm. A local development team includes Larry Kelly, who was responsible for turning the MCClellan Air Force Base into a thriving industrial park.

Of course there are many city and municipal agencies and departments involved, but if you have any questions about the Sacramento Railyards or want more information you can contact Associate Planner Teresa Haenggi:

THaenggi@cityofsacramento.org

(916) 808-7554

Next Steps

With the Golden 1 Center opened the fall of 2016, the Sacramento downtown revitalization is in full swing, and that includes the Sacramento Railyards project.

As well as continuing to develop the infrastructure at the Railyards and connect more streets, the city will look to finish construction on nearby F and G Streets, finish new retail and housing projects on the 7000 block of K Street, and break ground on a new county courthouse building.

Now that our downtown is linked to the Railyards by the new boulevard, the first hosing units are expected to be completed sometime in 2018.

The new 20,000-seat soccer stadium could be built as soon as 2018 or 2019 in hopes of attracting a MLS pro soccer team.

The Kaiser Permanente major medical campus is expected to take six to nine years to open.

The proposed Superior Court building at the Railyards does not yet have a firm timeframe for construction.

In the short term, the city of Sacramento is expecting to finish their rehabilitation of the train station that sits at the entry of the railyard some time this winter. The $34 million revitalization of the block-long former station will mark the start of the process to attract retail and office tenants, as well as establish a new Amtrak station.

 “We are seeing a lot of momentum,” said Sacramento city official John Dangberg who oversaw the downtown arena. “But it still takes time for markets like Sacramento to mature.”

While we’d love to see that maturity come to fruition in the Railyards sooner than later, patience will be a virtue as the project marches on towards its epic finale, that will surely reenergize Sacramento.

How much will the new downtown arena really benefit Sacramento's economy?

If you’ve drive through downtown Sacramento lately, it’s impossible to miss the area’s signature construction project, a downtown arena to host the Sacramento Kings, called the Golden 1 Center and set to open in 2016. This ambitious $507 million arena build is already changing the look of Sacramento’s skyline, but will it have the same impact on the economic horizon? It’s hard not to welcome the arena to a city that desperately needs it on several levels – a new home for the Kings that ensures they won’t bolt to Seattle or Las Vegas, a chance to revitalize a shabby and underutilized downtown, and a chance to shed a reputation as a second city, despite being the capital.

But past all of the banner waving and encouraging rhetoric, what are the cold, hard, facts that display how the Kings new arena will affect the local economy?

Of course we can analyze the financials, but a better way to predict the economic impact of the new arena is to look at how similar arena projects across the nation have flourished – or floundered. .

First, the prognosis through rose colored glasses; despite a Sacramento city $258 million subsidy left on the books, Mayor Kevin Johnson and the Kings predict the new downtown arena – will spark the local economy to the tune of a $11.5 billion windfall, revitalizing the downtown and bringing renewed prosperity to the city’s business climate and citizens.

Critics of the arena deal, however, point to the imbalanced and somewhat ambiguous financials of this particular deal, as well as numerous studies that reveal that sports arenas help communities far less than thought. In fact, they say writing a blank check for the arena like that can even jeopardize the city’s budget and actually set the region back in the long run.

So who is right?

Only time will tell, but here are some key points to consider:

The city isn’t shy about citing an $11.5 billion economic impact, but it’s important to note that those numbers project over 35 years.

The fine print on the arena studies reveals that approximately 50% of that projected economic benefits is expected to come from bars, hotels, shops, real estate values, taxis, tourism, convention business, and other commercial development. Together, all of these are called “ancillary developments” and aren’t guaranteed.

Critics of the arena deal – not necessarily the arena – point to the uncertainty of those ancillary developments, as the term sheet approved by the City Council only guarantees the Kings will spend $189 million on the arena – not a cent to develop the rest of the Downtown Plaza or surrounding neighborhoods.

The city’s financing plan is largely based on borrowing against future parking garage revenue below the arena.

The huge bill pushed to the city’s side of the table after dinner will include $19 million a year in principal and interest payments. However, City Treasurer Russ Fehr predicts that the city will receive $2.7 million in new tax revenue once the project is completed –a meager return on investment that would have any first year economics student shaking their heads.

Numerous studies have analyzed the economic impact of new sports arenas and stadiums on their surrounding communities, including arenas in Atlanta, Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago, Denver, Indianapolis, and Cleveland, Milwaukee, San Francisco, and Oklahoma City.

Here is the short version of what they found: stadiums can and often do benefit the cities they’re built in, but so much depends on context.

For instance, NFL football stadiums, with only 8 regular season home games per year, offer the least economic returns for cities.

However, a well-placed baseball stadium in a downtown or industrial area in need of revitalization can provide a “major” benefit, probably the most of any sport. With 81 home games and 40,000+-seat attendance, baseball stadium builds provide the greatest immediate economic benefit.

However, basketball arenas sometimes provide the best combined returns, as there are at least 41 home games played in cold weather months when people usually otherwise stay indoors and don’t spend as much. Most importantly, the facility can be used for other venues like concerts, shows, events, and hockey and other sports.

Studies show that for a basketball arena to be a cash cow to the community, annual attendance needs to be at full capacity. The Kings only attracted 680, 049 people to their home games last year, one of the lowest in the NBA, although that could be a symptom of a bad arena and a bad team, not an indicator of a potential attendance cap. But the new Golden 1 Center is going to be one of the NBA's smallest arenas, with a capacity of 17,317 seats and only 30 luxury suites.

The Brookings Institution and Heartland Institute both back up research that shows that new pro sports facilities have “little impact or even a negative impact on net personal income of residents in the surrounding area.”

That’s because most of jobs created are minimum or low-wage jobs, the increase in real estate values prices many average people out of the rental and housing market, and dollars spent on sports games takes away from other events.  In fact, some research found that per capita income in cities with new arenas actually dropped by about $2,430.

Huge gains are expected for already-wealthy restaurateurs (Randy Paragary), hotel, commercial, and real estate developers – not the average Sacramentan.

Notable sports economist Roger Noll at Stanford University, thinks that a city the size of Sacramento can expect only $10 million to $15 million a year in new revenue from the arena.

Other comprehensive studies, such as the one conducted by Geoffrey Propheter of George Washington University and published in The Journal of Urban Affairs, indicates a half empty, half full glass when it comes to the question, “Do basketball arenas act as catalysts for economic development?”

According to Propheter, “The results suggest that basketball arenas do not add economic value on their own but instead are highly dependent on the local economic, social, and cultural context where they are located.”

Within that open door of “context” is where hopes for the King’s arena can enter.

Considering that Sacramento is the capital of California yet still just a big town compared to metropolitan areas like San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, and San Diego, the city is sorely in need of a thriving professional sports franchise, a revitalized downtown, and a signature project to rally around.

The arena is expected to be a shot in the arm for the struggling hotel industry in Sacramento, which declined to an all-time low of 50% vacancies six years ago, but already on the uptick to a normalized average of 62%. Already, several luxury and big-money hotel projects are underway, and analysts predict a 6% increase over the next few years as the arena is built.

Along with a huge boost to hotel business comes unlimited potential to Sacramento’s convention and conference business and increased revenues for the region’s Sacramento International Airport, which is already planning expansion and a beautiful new hotel complex.

One independent study found that the Sacramento arena will attract 1.6 million new visitors a year to downtown, spending $230 million parking, eating, drinking, shopping, and yes – watching Kings games.

But more than just the arena, Mayor Kevin Johnson is most excited about the four-block, one-billion-dollar real estate development that will bring restaurants, new offices, hotels, and family entertainment downtown, bolstering his city.

"We’re in a new era called Sacramento 3.0,” says Johnson. “Where we do things differently and where we control our own destiny. It’s bigger than basketball. We’re revitalizing our downtown. It’s about civic pride."

So what’s the answer to the burning question, “Will the arena really benefit the economy of Sacramento?”

We’d love to hear your thoughts, opinions, and concerns, so email us or comment below:  

30 Things you didn't know about our Sacramento Kings!

1.  The current Sacramento Kings organization was born from the semi-pro team, the Rochester Seagrams, in 1923 under owner and player Les Harrison.

2.  Most fans know that the Kings didn’t start out in Sacramento, but did you know they called five cities home throughout their history? Their addresses included Rochester (1923-57), Cincinnati (1957-72), Kansas City (1972-85), Omaha (parts of 1972-5) and finally, Sacramento (1985-present.)

3.  Through that time, they’ve also been known by four names: the Seagrams, the Pros, the Royals, and the Kings.

4.  Back in Rochester in 1945, the team name “Royals” came from a 15-year old fan named Richard Paeth, who won an essay content to name the team.

5.  The Rochester Royals joined the Basketball Association of America in 1948. A year later, the BAA was absorbed into the newly formed National Basketball Association, and the Royals became new members along with the Fort Wayne Pistons, Minneapolis Lakers, and Indianapolis Jets.

6.  In 1949-50 the Rochester Royals were 33-1 at home for a .971 winning percentage, the second-highest mark in NBA history. The best home winning percentage in basketball history was the 1985-86 Celtics who went 40-1 at the Boston Garden for a  .976 record!

7.  The Rochester Royals won the NBA championship in 1951 after defeating the New York Knicks 4 games to 3, still the only NBA championship in team history.

8.  But the Royals did win a National Basketball League (NBL) championship in 1945-1946 in Rochester. That year’s team included Otto Graham, who would go on to a Hall of Fame career in the National Football League.

9.  In 1960, Cincinnati Royals player Jack Twyman became the first NBA player ever to average over 30 points per game (31.2 ppg).

10.  In 1972, Royals player Nate Archibald became the only NBA player ever to lead the league in points and assists, averaging 34 points and 11.4 assists.

11.  The Royals officially became the Kings in 1972-1973 when the Cincinnati Royals moved to Kansas City-Omaha. They chose to change their name to the Kings because Kansas City already had a major league baseball team called the Royals and they wanted to avoid confusion.

12.  The first Kings game in Sacramento was on October 25, 1985 when the L.A. Clippers defeated the Kings 108-104 in front of a sold-out crowd of 10,333 fans at Arco Arena.

13.  After making the playoffs in 1986 during their first season in Sacramento, the Kings had a long run of bad luck and wouldn’t make the playoffs again until 1995-1996. Part of that “Kings curse” was the suicide of star guard Rick Berry during the 1989 offseason, a career-ending car crash by Bobby Hurley in 1993, and several questionable draft choices.

14. There are rumblings that the curse went all the way back to 1957, when the Royal’s All-Pro star Maurice Stokes suffered a head injury after falling on the court while pursuing a rebound. He was unconscious on the court for a moment but he seemed to shake it off. However, three days later, Stokes’ head injury was aggravated by the cabin pressure while flying back to Cincinnati for game two. He suffered a seizure and was permanently hospitalized, never to play again. At that point, Stokes was 2^nd in the NBA in rebounds and 3^rd in assists.

15. In 1960, the Royals drafted Oscar Robertson. He became one of the best players in the NBA, averaging a triple-double in 1961–62 and winning the Most Valuable Player award in 1964. However the Royals traded him to Milwaukee in 1970, where he immediately won an NBA championship with that franchise.

16. The Kings are the only franchise never to trail in a single NBA Finals series. (With only one championship to their credit, that obviously that means they’ve only been there once.)

17.  The Kings now hold the dubious distinction of having the longest active streak of draft lottery appearances (7).

18.  We all know and love the King’s current mascot “Slamson”, who started gracing the court since 1998. But before that, the Kings mascot was “The Gorilla” from 1985-1998.

19.  Sacramento can thank some odd circumstances for landing the team at all. During the 1979-1980 season in Kansas City, the roof collapsed on Kemper Arena after a severe storm, forcing the team to play in the much smaller Municipal Auditorium. The move cost ownership a lot of money in attendance, and the owners sold the team to a Sacramento group for $11 million, paving the way for their move.

20.  The general manager of the Kansas City Royals was once fired after he was caught reusing marked postage stamps.  

21.  The Kings had 18 lottery picks throughout their history, third behind only the Clippers (22) and Warriors (20).

22.  In their 28-year history in Sacramento, the Kings have only won the right to pick first in the draft once. In 1989, they only had a 6.3% chance of winning the first pick but did so, choosing Pervis Ellison #1. Atlanta, Dallas, and Toronto are the only other teams to pick no. 1 just once in the lottery era.

23.  In fact, the Kings have finished with the sixth-best odds of winning the lottery four different times. Those sixth-place odds resulted in picks #7 in 1992 (Walt Williams), and in 1990 (Lionel Simmons), and picks #6 in 1985 (Kenny Smith), and 1985, when they chose Joe Kleine.

24.  The 1990-1991 season was perhaps the most enigmatic in NBA and Kings history, after they went 1-40 on the road but 24-17 at home!

25.  Sports Illustrated featured a photo of Kings players Jason Williams, Doug Christie, Peja Stojakovic, Chris Webber, and Vlade Divac on the cover of their February 2001 issue, along with the title “The Greatest Show on Court.” That year they finished with a 55-27 record, their best in 40 years.

26.  Former Kings general manager Geoff Petrie, who was responsible for the trades and draft picks that brought in most of those players, won NBA Executive of the Year Award on two occasions.

27.  During that 2001-2002 season, the Kings went 61-21, a league best, and won 36 of 41 games at home. They played the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, which is still considered one of the best playoff series ever. The Kings lost the series in seven games but it was immersed in controversy.

It certainly looked like the fix was in, according to basketball commentators and sports journalists all over the country. The prevailing theory was that the referees made sure the Lakers won because the league would lose a lot of money if the Kings – a small market team - were in the finals or won the championship. During game six of that series, the Lakers were awarded 27 free throws on foul calls so ridiculous they became comical.

28.  Years later, a scandal erupted around allegations by former NBA referee Tim Donaghy of league fixes and improprieties. They reviewed game six of that Lakers-Kings series in detail and announced they found bad officiating, but no concrete evidence of a fix.

29.  The Kings sold out every home game at Arco Arena between 1999 and the 2006-2007 season. Attendance the next year was dismal, with only three sell outs all season and an average of 13,5000 fans per home game, about 4,000 below full attendance.

30.  Shaquille O'Neal purchased a minority share of the Sacramento Kings in 2013, renaming the team in his image, the "Shaqramento Kings".