Gateway at Q project could move forward in 2023
Part of the former Sacramento Bee plant in Midtown Sacramento at 21st and Q streets would become a five- and six-story residential project called Gateway at Q, according to a new application submitted to the city.
HRGA
By Ben van der Meer – Senior Reporter, Sacramento Business Journal
June 5, 2022
Hundreds of housing units are planned at a Midtown Sacramento site once known as part of a commercial "hive."
On the northeast corner of 21st and Q streets, a piece of what was the Sacramento Bee's plant will become a 246-unit apartment project of five and six stories. "We think this project is a natural continuation of the amazing work that SKK and Heller Pacific have done to turn Q and R Street into a top urban infill destination," said Davis-based Gateway Development Co., in an email statement about the project, called Gateway at Q. "With the new theater going in on 24th and R as well as the new train station to San Jose happening on 19th and R we think this project will thrive." Submitted to the city Friday, Gateway at Q would be on a 1.192-acre site. The project site covers the addresses of 1629 21st St. and 2111 and 2123 Q streets.
According to the application, the project's units would range from studios to two-bedroom units, and in size from 470 to 1,122 square feet. Renderings by project architect HRGA show the building would be five stories tall at the intersection of 22nd and Q streets and get up to six stories toward the west.
Because of existing zoning on the east side of the project, the project would start at five stories with a rooftop patio. There would also be an interior courtyard on top of the concrete podium with a pool. The application does not mention any non-residential space, making it among the few purely residential multifamily projects proposed in the central city in recent years. First-floor units would have a live/work aspect, however. Units would not have a subsidy, suggesting they'd be rented at market rates. From Powerhouse Alley to the north, residents would have access to 125 below-grade parking spaces, according to the application.
Gateway at Q would be an all-electric project, and the developers plan to work with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District to have charging stations for electric vehicles on more than 70 parking spaces. A fitness center and lounge would face the interior courtyard and pool, according to project plans. There would also be 124 long-term bike storage spaces.
In the building lobby would be a collection of photographs and letters from the collection of Eleanor McClatchy, a longtime president of McClatchy Co., the Sacramento-based newspaper chain that includes the Bee. The collection would be displayed through a partnership with the Center for Sacramento History. Two buildings on the project site, both formerly part of the Bee's Midtown plant and dating to the mid-20th century, will be demolished for the project. The building closest to the 21st and Q intersection housed the Bee's online arm, SacBee.com, until about 14 years ago. Because part of the project site once had a Chevron fueling station, some site remediation will be necessary, according to the application.
Irvine-based Shopoff Realty Investments owns the Gateway at Q site, which it acquired as part of the overall Bee plant in a 2017 deal for around $51 million. The Bee newspaper itself has since relocated to The Cannery, a business park on Alhambra Boulevard in East Sacramento.
In addition to Gateway Development, members of DBRE Consulting and Carlile Realty & Investments make up the development team. The development team has 950 multifamily units being planned between Davis and the Sacramento urban core, according to an email. Daniel Parrella, a member of Gateway, said in an email he lives at residential/retail building Q19, two blocks from the Gateway at Q project site. "I moved to Midtown during the lockdown and I have seen a remarkable transformation as everything opened back up," he said. "We have something special going on in the Core and I think projects like The Gateway at Q will contribute to it."
