Sacramento City Council has approved plans to turn its historic Sacramento Valley Station Area into an environmentally friendly regional mobility hub.The primary goal of the project is to catalyze growth in downtown Sacramento with a walkable, livable civic district and develop a network of alternative modes of travel, eliminate on-site parking demand for transit users, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Living Community Challenge (LCC) – a framework for master planning, design and construction – has already granted the project certification for environmental innovation.
“This plan is more than four years in the making,” said project manager Greg Taylor. “The plan positions Sacramento as a regional centre for sustainable transportation and a leader in sustainable design technologies, which will help combat climate change. Achieving this certification aligns our significant city and regional resource with the mayor and City Council’s agenda on climate action,” Taylor said. “Sacramento is the first city in the world to achieve this recognition.”
The new development will be mixed-use – incorporating residential, hotel, and office buildings. All the buildings within the development will run on 100 per cent renewable energy.
“The placement of market-rate and affordable housing, office space, hotel, community spaces, and amenities like restaurants, shops, pedestrian plazas and bike trails complement the convergence of trains, regional and local buses, light rail and micro-transportation offering at this regional multi-modal hub,” added Geeti Silwal, a principal and urban designer at Perkins&Will.
The plan was designed by the city and the design firm Perkins&Will, along with Arup, Grimshaw Architects, EPS, and Aim Consulting. Numerous public meetings were held with more than 50 stakeholder groups during the design process. Construction is expected to begin in 2026.