Mega-Project to Transform 244 Acres into Riverfront Destination

SACRAMENTO—LDK Ventures’ The Railyards is a new mixed-use development project located along the Sacramento Riverfront. The mega-project looks to transform 244 acres of historically significant acreage into a downtown mixed-use community.

The Railyards is slated to feature a total of up to 5 million square feet of class-A office space, together with a substantial amount of new retail space. The project will initially kick off construction with the delivery of 300,000 square feet of office space in two 150,000-square-foot multi-story buildings collectively known as The Foundry. The initial phase will include a small-scale retail element and is expected to be shovel ready in the fourth quarter of 2020.

“We are another step closer in making our vision of The Railyards a reality and delivering something truly spectacular to this historical and in many senses, iconic community,” says Denton Kelley, managing principal of LDK Ventures. “The Railyards brings an exciting new vision of thoughtful urban development in Sacramento community: a dynamic mixed-use district that connects the community to its roots, neighbors, culture and the future of Sacramento.”

Cushman & Wakefield has been hired by LDK Ventures to provide office leasing services. The leasing team consists of Ron Thomas, Mark Tabak and Mary Kate Banchero in Sacramento, J.D. Lumpkin in San Francisco and Brandon Bain in Silicon Valley.

“The Railyards is a project set to become one of the most innovative and monumental new developments in the history of Sacramento as well as Northern California, a region greatly recognized for its cutting edge world-class real estate design,” Thomas says. “Utilizing our deep, inter-connected platform, our team will work tirelessly in helping fill this extraordinary development with companies of the highest quality and who we hope will be just as excited in being part of The Railyards and Sacramento’s urban fabric as we are.”

To date, the Railyards has been successful in securing the following anchors for the development: a new Kaiser Permanente campus on 18 acres (estimated completion 2025), a new Major League Soccer stadium and grounds on 18 acres (estimated completion 2022), and a new 18-story 550,000-square-foot County Courthouse (estimated completion 2023/2024). Other significant Railyards projects that are currently in the development pipeline include a 345 unit multifamily/mixed-use project (estimated completion end of 2022); The Paint Shop, a historic building in the Central Shops featuring a 3,500-seat music venue along with, pubs, restaurants and retail; a new 316-key hotel; and potentially 90,000 square feet of fitness space integrated into a mixed-use residential development. There is also the potential for an additional 5,000 to 6,000 residential units to be developed in The Railyards.

“The Foundry will represent the first new significant class-A office construction in Sacramento’s downtown urban core in over a decade, since 2009,” Thomas tells GlobeSt.com. “Class-A office vacancy in downtown is currently sub-5% with virtually no large-block class-A space available in the central business district. Additionally, class-A office rents are at an all-time high, while occupancy growth remains very positive in the region. Given these favorable market conditions aligned with our continued solid economic conditions, the timing is ideal for LDK Ventures to deliver a class-A project of this scale in downtown Sacramento.”

Named after its prosperous past, the site of The Railyards once served as the western terminus of the Transcontinental Railroad. At the time, it was a hub of innovation, entrepreneurship and technology, and was the largest employment center in the region. That historic era is represented by the Central Shops Historic District, which serves as the foundational cultural amenity of the project. The project is also near the many other shopping, dining and entertainment amenities of the central business district, including the Golden 1 Center arena. The project is truly a transit-oriented community, providing direct access to Sacramento Valley Station intermodal facility, which includes passenger rail, light rail and bus.

“The Railyards is arguably the most exciting and dynamic mixed-use urban redevelopment project on the West Coast,” Lumpkin says. “It is rare to see all of the amazing components of a project of this scale materialize in fairly short succession. The ability to grow at scale in Northern California, with access to an amazing talent pool and incredible quality of life in Sacramento right in the buzzing downtown of our state capital—that will prove a pretty compelling proposition for employers headquartered in the Bay Area, as they expand their footprints to complimentary markets to access new employee talent.”