State of Downtown highlights: Urban Kinesis
With a theme of Urban Kinesis, Harnessing Our Collective Energy, a sold-out audience of approximately 700 business and community leaders attended the high-energy 2016 State of Downtown breakfast on January 12, 2016 at the Memorial Auditorium.
A stunning new time-lapse video created by local photographer and filmmaker Justin Majeczky was unveiled during the event which captures the invigorating energy pulsing through Sacramento.
During the annual event, DSP Executive Director Michael Ault took a moment to highlight a number of ways Sacramento’s downtown core is in the midst of one of its most transformative eras in its history with some impressive facts to back it up, including:
- Sacramento has seen more than $1 billion in public and private investments over the past decade;
- In the next 10 years we anticipate an extraordinary $5 billion in investments
- More than 20 properties were sold in the last year alone in 36 square blocks totaling $400 million in property sales and two million square foot of space;
- Property values are rising…as an example, the Citizen Hotel sold for $60 million with a room value of more than $300K per key, a 15 percent increase over the last hotel sale eight years ago;
- Downtown’s “Top 10” restaurants exceeded $50 million in sales in 2014; a 22 percent increase from a year ago;
- The Wall Street Journal named Sacramento #6 on their list of the Nation’s Greatest Small Cities for Food Lovers;
- Southwest: The Magazine recently named Sacramento America’s Next Great Food City;
And the list goes on…
Of course, Ault pointed out the incredibly exciting construction of the Golden 1 Center is the catalyst for the transformation. Plus he went on to explain why Sacramento is just getting started with developments happening with DOCO (Downtown Commons), The Bridge District, the Railyards and much more.
Uplifting remarks were also provided by Mayor Kevin Johnson and Golden 1 Credit Union President & CEO Donna Bland. The event’s engaging and knowledgeable keynote speaker was Ron Blatman, Executive Producer/Producer of upcoming television series Saving the City: Remaking the American Metropolis. Blatman shared insights and anecdotes about successful and not-so-successful examples of urban redevelopment throughout the US and Canada with a focus on downtowns and nearby neighborhoods.
If the energy and enthusiasm at this event is any indication, Sacramento is indeed well on its way to becoming The Next Great American City.
Please take a few minutes to share your feedback on the event, take our State of Downtown 2016 Survey.
