This Bee headline is making me laugh. It has awkward phrasing. Sadly, the Experience motel in West Sac (picture stolen from this flickr set) is going to make way for-da da da*-Luxury motherfucking lofts. Will West Sac continue to be the best sac (as some, not me, have termed it) or will it revitalize itself into blandness? Stay tuned.
You probably already know this, but Joe Sun is toast. At least they got a big payoff. I'm glad to read that "the breakthrough on the payoff was greeted warmly". If they mean warmly as in intense, heated anger that it is going to be replaced by a Z gallerie (that's not how you fucking spell gallery!) then they got that right. Which Z Gallerie will I shop at, the one in the mall, or the one right next to the mall (I know, I know, they are probably closing the other one)?
*that is supposed to indicate some sinister music
i really hope the new lofts don't fuck with capitol bowl. that would be too much to handle. although i suppose it's pretty much a guarantee.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that lofts are somehow the salvation of downtown Sac has always seemed ridiculous to me - but I do recognize that someone must be buying the hype & I'm sure some of them will be succesful. But I seriously can't believe that ANYONE thinks that building them on West Cap is a good idea!! Somewhere else in West Sac maybe - but there??!! Do they have some idea that rich people are gonna swoop in with the noble intent of "rehabilitating" that area?
ReplyDelete-miller
i hear they are going to build lofts on top of capitol bowl for the "luxury bowling lifestyle". hi alice! you should email me. i didn't save your new email address.
ReplyDeleteWhy would anyone in their right fucking mind be starting construction on lofts right now? and in west sac no less. There is no proof that they will ever sell the 63,000 that are under construction right now. I can't wait til all they all sit empty. with granite counters dusting over. Because although I wil never be able to afford even a fucking shitty loft I want the people who build them to suffer.
ReplyDelete-natalie.
I heard that the men's wharehouse next to joe sun can't be torndown and instead will be turned into an urban outfiters.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I heard that joe sun was playing some mega=hard ball with the city. Rumor has it they where asking for 15 million dollars for there building! i have been told by the same source that the building is barely worth a million.
I know also Joe sun is having a big sale on it's summer items. 30% i think.
Charles
ps Why don't we move "the loft" to west capitol bowl?
None of the buildings on the 700 block are going to be torn down, just emptied out and sort of un-remodeled to a 1920s appearance. The building with Men's Wearhouse is pretty much intact, they aren't going to have to do much to the outside. Heck, if there wasn't so much work needed on the building where Records sits, sealing up the roof and cleaning out bat poo, they probably wouldn't have to move.
ReplyDeleteThe 700/800 K project is very bittersweet to me. On one hand, it's good that they're restoring the buildings instead of tearing them down, but losing the many rad businesses on the block (and many rad places to put flyers) is definitely sad, annoying and frustrating, especially when Zeiden initially made noises about wanting to keep Records and Joe Sun where they were.
On the plus-side of all this Urban Loft Living (TM), at least some of the swanky-ass apartments at 800 J and 1801 L are being utilized well: the low-income and very low-income units are available for rent and are filling fast. (Currently, "low-income" in Sacramento County is defined as a single person making less than $36,600 a year.)
One assumes that if the theorized masses of upwardly-mobile jerks predicted for the Urban Loft Living Renaissance fail to materialize, they could be used to make up for the lack of inexpensive SRO housing instead.
I'm just curious, and I realize this is days later so I probably won't get a response, but...
ReplyDeleteWhat are these 'low-income' units renting for? Has anyone been in one? I might have to go on an exploratory mission.
jana.
ps.and, please, not because I want to move. just because i'm nosey.
Sweet, I am still low income.
ReplyDeleteKeepin it real just in time for turkey day.
-natalie.
The guidelines for low-income housing is that rent should be between 30-33-1/3% of income. So for someone "low-income" making $36,000 a year, rent of about $1000 a month (33-1/3% od 36,000 divided by 12.) There are several categories of affordable housing: "moderate" is 81-120% of median income, "low" is 51-80%, "very low" is 31-50% (about $24,000) and "extremely low" is less than 30% (around $15,000.) So-called SRO housing is generally considered to be in that "extremely low income" housing bracket. Currently, housing receiving redevelopment funds is supposed to provide 15% affordable housing, but projects that don't need public funding don't have to put in any low-income units.
ReplyDeleteThe idea with low-income units in a new development is that they are identical to the non-low-income units. I have been inside a low-income unit at Fremont Mews and they're a nice little one-bedroom apartment.