Historic warehouse saved

With flashlights in hand, they made their way way through the dusty old warehouse, inspecting the redwood beams and brick walls like they were planning to buy the place, their laudatory voices echoing through the abandoned structure.

“There’s some serious timber in here,” observed Dennis Bylo, the Sacramento architect whose interest in the building brought this party of 10 civic officials and community activists to the corner of R and 11th streets on that August afternoon.

But Bylo didn’t want to buy this 100-year-old brick warehouse, which was originally a railroad support building, then a furniture warehouse, then a state building. He simply wanted to see it preserved, saved from the wrecking ball that at that time was its proposed fate.

As part of the Central Area Development Association (CADA) Warehouse project, the developers at Regis Homes of Northern California and Holliday Development planned to knock down and rebuild this warehouse and another building next door and to preserve and redevelop the CADA Warehouse at R and 12th streets.

The block would include 102 new homes, mostly upscale lofts and live-work spaces with a decidedly urban flair. Utilizing a $4.1 million public subsidy, the project was to be the catalyst for the rejuvenation of the R Street corridor, where long-range plans call for more than 2,400 new homes in a mixed-use neighborhood.

Yet before the CADA Warehouse project could be the next big step in Sacramento’s revitalization of its urban core, the developers and their partners at CADA had to contend with Bylo and the preservationist opposition that he stirred up.

For two or three weeks before he arranged with CADA’s Tom Kigar to tour the warehouse, Bylo had been on the phone, alerting preservationists, journalists and city officials that the beloved CADA Warehouse project was going to destroy a building on the city’s list of equally beloved historic buildings.

“If Sacramento lets this one go, the preservationists can bend over and we’ll take it long, dry and hard,” was the colorful Bylo quote that appeared in an SN&R cover story ("Adding Money to the Mix,” Aug. 10) on the day before the tour.

Change of plans

The original CADA Warehouse project, developed more than three years ago, called for the preservation of the warehouse at 1801 11th St. as well as the one at R and 12th. But after concluding that seismic retrofitting and other rehabilitation costs would tack up to $1 million onto the project’s nearly $19 million price tag, developers decided the 11th Street warehouse had to go, and CADA’s Kigar concurred.

Yet by the time of Bylo’s tour—which included such prominent local preservationists as Kathleen Green and camera-wielding city staffers—Kigar was already talking preservation. “A lot of things are happening now to help save the building,” Kigar said that day, noting that he was working on securing state preservation funds.

Originally set to go before the Sacramento City Council in August for approval of the funding package, the item was pulled while the project was redesigned. Released last month to rave reviews by Bylo, the Design Review and Preservation Board and the Planning Commission (which discussed the project last week), the project goes to the City Council next month.

The preserved warehouse will likely be used as retail and office space. Regis Homes is even talking about making the office portion of the warehouse into its new Northern California headquarters.

“The plans are for the developer to move into that building,” Kigar said. “It’s obviously a sign of their commitment to downtown.”

The costs of preservation are being partially offset by increasing the number of housing units to 106, including nine townhouses above the parking structure and 16 units in a new building adjacent to the preserved warehouse, two features not in the original plans.

Bill Heartman of Regis Homes said the project was redesigned after they got the message from CADA and the city that knocking down the warehouse “was problematic and could complicate the approval of the project.”

Kigar said Bylo’s efforts were a significant factor in the latest project redesign but said everyone involved is pleased with the latest version: “We all feel very positive about this project proceeding.”

Risk factor

<s> </s>Yet Heartman admits he is not pleased with the delays he has faced since taking on the project, saying his company considered pulling out: “I have to question that every day, because I don’t have it approved yet.”

Heartman sympathizes with Post Properties, the Atlanta-based developer of urban-infill projects that last month decided to abandon plans for a major project at 6th and P streets after encountering strong opposition from neighbors.

“This project only works in a decent economy, and if the economy turns down we can’t do it,” Heartman said. “The longer the project takes, you not only have more costs, but you have unforeseen risk.”

Yet for Bylo and the other preservationists who toured the warehouse, the redesigned project stands as a testament to what can be accomplished once developers are forced to appreciate the unique historical character of the central city.

“Historical preservation is a pain in the ass going in, and it’s a diamond coming out," said Paul Harriman, an Area 1 Neighborhood Advisory Group board member. "It just makes the place richer."