Yamanee Project

Yamanee Project @ 25th St & J ST

2/1/2016

Images courtesy of the City of Sacramento

This project was approved by the City Planning and Design Commission (see the minutes and the video of the Commission hearing) and the City Council (see the minutes and video of the City Council meeting).

The Midtown Neighborhood Association supports this project. See our letter here.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The Yamanee project is a planned 178-foot (14-15 stories) condo tower across from a 9-story SHRA senior housing tower.

The Yamanee project is a multi-story, mixed-use condominium building that proposes almost 14,134 square feet of ground floor and mezzanine commercial uses and 134 for-sale residential units. The project is located on approximately 0.44 acres at the southeast corner of 25th and J Streets in the General Commercial (C-2-MC) zone and located in the Midtown Commercial overlay zone.

Video of the Sacramento Planning and Design Commission Dec. 10, 2015, hearing with City staff and Yamanee applicant presentation, public comments supporting and opposing the project and commissioners’ comments are available here.

You can find more information on the project by clicking on the meeting agenda here. Yamanee is item No. 12 on the agenda.

Anticipated Entitlements: Based upon the current proposal, the entitlements required would include: 1) Tentative Map for condominium purposes; and 2) Site Plan and Design Review with deviations for height and to waive the requirement for an off-street loading space. The project is scheduled to before the Panning and Design Review Commission in March 2016.

PROJECT DETAILS:

Project Name:                           Yamanee Project
Project Location:                      Corner of 25th and J Streets
Assessor's Parcel Number:     007-0103-001; 007-0103-002

Applicant's Name:                    Matthew Keasling, Taylor & Wiley
Owner:                                       Ryan Heater, 2500 J Owners, LLC
Contact:                                     Teresa Haenggi, Associate Planner, (916) 808-7554
                                                    Evan Compton, Senior Planner, (916) 808-5260

City of Sacramento Staff Report

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Thank you!

Bill E

2/3/2016 03:04:13 pm

This proposal, at 14-15 stories, is too high and not in accord with the neighboring buildings and context. Per the proposals own submission, "The height of existing buildings range from single-story commercial and residential uses to a 9-story senior residential apartment building".

As a long time home owner within 1/2 block of this proposal; I am excited about the redevelopment concept, but adamantly opposed to anything that exceeds the existing 9 story high building across the street (that exceeds most other structures in the immediate area). Midtown has balanced growth and opportunity while still retaining the 'walkable' nature of the community. This proposal would work directly in contrast to the nature of that balance and the existing community.

Thank you for your work at making Midtown a wonderful place to call home. May you keep the residences and business owners in mind when considering this and all future proposals.

MVL, midtown resident

2/6/2016 10:51:51 am

This development has some great ideas and I appreciate the enthusiasm of the development team but this building, as proposed, will (a) severely disturb the neighborhood’s character, (b) negatively impact the residents, and (c) would set a bad precedent for the entitlement process.

It would disturb the core dynamic of this 'urban low' neighborhood. These medium density, historic, mixed-use neighborhoods are the backbone of Sacramento’s unique 'hip but friendly' urban character.

Impact on Neighborhood’s Character
As important as new development is to this neighborhood, the proposed 15 story/ 170 ft height would do more harm than good. A shorter (5 story) building would be much more conducive to sustainable mixed use infill high density development.

Impact on Residents
Residents in the neighborhood of such a tall building face the sustained effects of the scale mismatch on a daily basis. I currently live on the edge of the central city and can attest to the fact that the scale of the buildings makes a huge negative impact on how pleasant it is to walk on a street. And this building at the proposed height is going to do just that.

Bad Precedent
A deviation of 200% sets a bad precedent. What is the point of having this very excellent general plan to guide our growth if its goals are completely upended in the name of “deviation”? What is to stop the next building from getting a 200% variance, and then the next? These might seem like harsh words but that is exactly what this deviation, if allowed, implies. This will set a bad precedent at so many levels.

Deviation
The general plan allows a deviation only if balanced by significant community benefit. The negative impacts of the requested deviation substantially outweigh the projected benefits, thus the proposed deviation violates the general plan.

So the question that begs an answer is, why can this development not be 7 - 9 stories? That would still be almost twice what is permitted, and still make for a great mixed use project.

Barbara Steinberg

4/18/2016 10:38:22 pm

4/18/2016 08:55:35 pm
As a past member of MNA and Board for 16 years, I appreciate the new guard and know great things will come. Regarding this project, however, I can't begin to describe how disappointed and discouraged I am to hear that MNA wrote a letter supporting this project. With two well-reasoned opposition comments and people raising these concerns at the MNA meeting the association still sent an overwhelmingly supportive letter it is hard to comprehend. Twenty people at a meeting do not constitute a representative sample of the over 3,000 people who live in Midtown. It's completely out of place in the Midtown -- a creative village where structures of this mass do not belong. The loss of the "historic" Art Ellis building -- what are you thinking? Midtown can evolve but the authentic feel of the place will be gobbled up by projects such as this.

If this project is approved it will only be the first on many -- the door will be open. There are other places in the Central City where this project makes sense but not in the heart of Midtown. The developers are circling and will profit heavily, but the quality of life will never be the same. Change is good and inevitable, but this is too much!

Barbara

Matthew Piner link

4/19/2016 09:39:46 am

I think our planning needs to be more proactive and not project by project. We end up with a "whatever" City with no real plan or pattern to how we grow. Here's a quote from an article on "The Solar Envelope: How to Heat and Cool Cities without Fossil Fuels"
- (please pardon the formatting, I cut and pasted) Google the phrase and you can find the article, it's quite detailed and informative. I have provided this to the Planners and to the Applicant.
...
Architects all over the world have demonstrated the usefulness of buildings which are heated and cooled by design rather than by fossil fuel energy. What has received much less attention, however, is the possibility of applying this approach to entire urban neighbourhoods and cities.
Designing a single, often free-standing, passive solar house is
quite different from planning a densely populated city where each building is heated and cooled using only natural energy sources. And yet, if we want passive solar design to be more than just a curiosity, this is exactly what we need. Modern research, which combines ancient knowledge with fast computing techniques, shows that passive solar cities are a realistic option, allowing for surprisingly high population densities.

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Yamanee Project @ 25th St & J ST

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