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I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree about what constitutes a master architect, but the architecture school at UC Berkeley is named after the principal architect of Capitol Towers, so that's something. Yes, the design is simple and minimalist, but that's one of the hallmarks of mid-century modern architecture.
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I suppose you're right. To each his own.
Honestly, I couldn't care less about the namesake of Cal's architecture school. Never even heard of him. I saw a picture of the "dream team" on the Sac Mod website, they look like extras on the set of Mad Men.
Crapitol Towers won awards? OK. So? Of course it did. Heck, it's an island unto itself! I'll bet a downtown development that feels like it isn't in a downtown won plenty of awards during the sterile, suburban-oriented mid-century. Based on the spirit of the time, Crapitol Towers should have every single award known to man. How did they take a 4 block portion of downtown and make it feel completely cut off and foreign to the rest of the central city? That is the single greatest achievement known to man. Downtown Plaza, eat your heart out.
I'm an "urban hiker". I walked Sacramento for a good year or two before I knew there was anything worth seeing within the super block. (This was before the days of easily accessible satellite images.) I didn't even know I could go in there. When I finally did so, I'd regularly get hassled by garden unit dwellers when I dared to take pictures within their community. I think a new development that not only brings increased housing density, but adds retail, entertainment, visible life, and traffic flow to an eerily quiet area smack dab in the middle of downtown is just what the doctor ordered.
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The idea that this was a "flip" wasn't my idea, it was put forth by David Nybo of the Planning Commission when the plan was reviewed there. But KW has made it clear that they are not a developer and the renderings they show are just theoretical examples--they are not designing the buildings and won't be building them, just preparing a PUD for some future developer to build from. Maybe, someday.
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I never said it was your idea. However, you are the only one in this forum to suggest it. I simply wanted to clarify exactly what you were saying. I think we both can agree that a hole in the ground for years to come is bad news. Surely, there are other options to employ instead of forcing preservation, which could make future development difficult. If the planning commission or the city council suspect Scrapramento Commons (see what I did there?) isn't a credible proposal, then either body can vote NO. But cramming a historical designation down the throat of a property owner who doesn't want it is the kind of "nuclear option" stuff that ticks people off in a supposed free country.
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16 Powerhouse demolished a small, nondescript former motel that not even the most ardent preservationist would put up a fight to defend. It was demolished for a particular plan to build that was followed through on a tight timetable, by a developer who builds buildings, not a speculator hoping to increase the value of the lot on paper through zoning.
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16 Powerhouse has
more density than the former building (frankly, I think the former building was an excellent example of a mid-century motel
). The entitlements sought by Kennedy Wilson also have more density...much, much more density. That whole paragraph was in response to your "key point" that the
best way to repopulate downtown is to direct development to properties that don't already have residents. I can't speak about what is "best" since I operate on different standards than you. However, a development that adds more housing units to a given area will likely add more population and increase density (so long as those housing units are filled). So if your goal is 58,000 residents, wouldn't more density help? I think so. Would it be "better" if that development were across the street on a vacant parcel? Maybe, but Kennedy Wilson doesn't own that other parcel...it owns Crapitol Towers. You use "speculator" as a pejorative. It's not. What's wrong with speculation? It isn't just a crap shoot. There is some due diligence that goes into the whole process.
Come on wburg, you just want control. Well, you CAN have it. Really. Find some investors, become a developer, actually purchase a property and do a major rehab or new construction or both. Be the change. Stop getting way and start leading the way. Freedom is hard, but it has great results for the patient.
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