The Sacramento Convergence

The following is an exact copy of the proposal by the Kamilos Companies & Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc presented earlier today for the development of an Entertainment and Sports Complex facility in Sacramento

The Sacramento Convergence

The Kamilos Companies & Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc

Intro

After conducting extensive analysis of numerous development options, Central Valley-based the Kamilos Companies and global financier Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc., with the support of the National Basketball Association, have joined to propose an exciting new project for the Sacramento region. The proposal project, known as The Sacramento Convergence, solves the ongoing issue of funding an entertainment arena complex by utilizing the Performance Based Infrastructure statute adopted by the California Legislature and signed by the Governor in 2009.

The Sacramento Convergence concept offers Sacramento, the Central Valley, and the State a solution to feasibly construct a new multi-use Entertainment and Sports Complex using private financing and created the opportunity for a new, relocated Cal Expo Facility. This program will create the infrastructure to support 12,000 new direct jobs and over 5,000 engineering, technical, and constructional related jobs. By the “convergence” of multiple major public facilities and public transportation access throughout Sacramento and the Central Valley, and create a substantive economic engine for downtown Sacramento and the entire metropolitan region.

The Concept

Within the city limits of Sacramento three major sites are considered as prime properties for redevelopment.  The downtown brown field rail yard site (either just the City-owned portion or acquired potions of the greater site); the Cal Expo site in the Point West area and the Arco Arena site in North Natomas. Various proposals have looked individually at these three sites for the development of a new arena. However, the Sacramento Convergence proposes the coordinated redevelopment of all three sites in order to develop and privately finance a project providing statewide high-quality access via the City’s planned downtown Regional Intermodal Transportation Center and its potential connections to a new multi-use Entertainment and Sports Complex and a potential new Cal Expo facility.

The Performance Based Infrastructure (aka Public Service Partnership) approach used in The Sacramento Convergence is one in which a private partnership designs, builds, finances, and maintains the facilities and lease them to the users for a fixed term. The public entity (City, State, and possibly the County or other jurisdictions) will partner with the private firm to facilitate revenues streams which will offset the annual finance payments in conjunction with the lease payments from the facilities tenants. After the fixed term (30 years) the ownership of the facility transfers from the “private partner” to each project’s respective “public partner.”

The City’s planned Regional Intermodal Transportation Center (RITC) will provide enhance mass transportation (rail, bus) opportunities for business and tourist visitors to Sacramento and these new public facilities from throughout the Central Valley and Bay Area as well as local job commuters and visitors to downtown via light rail and regional/ shuttle buses.

The combined redevelopment of all three sites, totaling about 565 acres, provides for increased economies-of-scale. The Sacramento Convergence program includes redevelopment of the existing Cal Expo site and remaining property downtown to mixed urban/ suburban land uses complementing the character of their surrounding areas. Monetizing the increased value from the redevelopment of these existing sites will provide equity capital assistance to the PBI financing process, while achieving highest and best land uses for the redevelopment sites.

The Vision

The Sacramento Convergence program will construct a new Entertainment and Sports Complex, associated parking structure and support retail, commercial, office, and residential land uses. It also provides resources to the state for an opportunity to develop a new Cal Expo facility in North Natomas.

Located in the downtown core on the City-owned portion of the Railyard Specific Plan site, the new Entertainment and Sports Complex (ESC) will center on a 19,000 seat state-of-the-art arena facility capable f hosting not only the Sacramento Kings NBA franchise, but also concerts and events Sacramento has come to expect. Integrated around the arena and RITC facilities are a variety of entertainment, dining, retail, office, parking, and residential uses. The new ESC will represent another significant milestone in Sacramento’s ongoing redevelopment of the City’s most visible and symbolic neighborhoods. The Kamilos/ Macquarie team envisions a major facility that both reflects and accelerates a resurgence of the City’s downtown business district.

The new ESC will be the centerpiece and primary anchor of this opportunity to reinvigorate Downtown Sacramento. The venue will be one-of-a-kind design specifically tailored to the needs of the citizens of Sacramento, providing state-of-the-art facilities for professional sports franchises and a mix of concerts, ice shows, circus, and other sports and entertainment events, and will also be well positioned to host major collegiate and national amateur athletic events. It is anticipated the arena itself will host in excess of 200 events annually, offering luxury suite opportunities to the regions corporate sector, club seats to interested patrons, sponsorship opportunities, and individual event suites. The Sacramento Convergence arena will become the new must-see destination and a dynamic backdrop for a lively new entertainment district.

The ESC’s downtown location offers unique and distinctive opportunities to:

v  Establish a synergy of entrainment, convention, sports, and performance uses adjacent to Sacramento’s existing downtown area,

v  Create a new civic identity articulated in expression of architecture and contribute to the revitalization of the rail yard brown fields and underused surrounding properties

v  Capitalize upon pedestrian, transit, and vehicular networks ringing the site to address a multitude of civic needs and facility requirements while capturing the unique advantages of this location

v  Embody an urban design response that enhances the unique environments on all sides of the facilities and amplifies positive development trends in surrounding areas, and

v  Share parking facilities with the RITC, creating a functional and financial synergy between the two facilities

The concentration of these new facilities, coupled with the enhanced access to both Old Sacramento and Downtown Plaza, will contribute to the renewing of downtown Sacramento’s urban fabric into a more vibrant, sophisticated and engaging experience. To seed and encourage the establishment of new high quality business, Kamilos/ Macquarie, in conjunction with Vision Maker Worldwide, also proposes the possibility of partnering with a major global brand in providing groundbreaking “edutainment destination – a next-generation indoor theme park – for potential inclusion in The Sacramento Convergence program. Vision Maker Worldwide oversees the design, development and operation of leisure destinations such as theme parks, urban entertainment centers and resort. The company was originally founded in 2001 by former executives from the Walt Disney Company, Universal Studios, and other leading organizations.

This program also provides an opportunity for the State to develop a state-of-the-art Cal Expo facility on the existing Arco Arena site in North Natomas. A locational move of Cal Expo is consistent with its historic roots, in that approximately every 40 years Cal Expo (State Fair) relocates, first at 20th and H, then along Stockton Blvs., then to its present location in the Point West area. Such a new facility could incorporate year-round attractions, thus increasing visitors and revenue streams that would allow Cal Expo to function with even greater financial stability in a new facility. The existing Arco Arena could be recycled/ renovated to create an exhibit hall for Cal Expo, repurposing the structure in accordance with sustainable urban design principles. As in the downtown core, private mixed-used development could be incorporated by the state into the land planning of the North Natomas site to augment the potential new Cal Expo facility and create and even greater attraction and success.

If the state does develop a new Cal Expo facility in North Natomas both it and the downtown ESC wil be directly connected by light-rail via Regional Transit’s planned extension to serve the airport with the downtown Natomas Airport line. This connection through the RITC, coupled with the connection to the Airports, will facilitate statewide access to all of these public facilities.

The existing Cal Expo site in Point West will be entirely redeveloped to mixed urban/ suburban land uses, incorporating the latest techniques for sustainable planning, design, and construction

Through the course of preparing The Sacramento Convergence program, numerous alternatives have been evaluated consisting of various combinations and permutation of facility location, land acquisition and lad redevelopment. These alternatives have been evaluated financially as well as qualitatively. The concept previously described is the alternative selected to best facilitate The Sacrament Convergence program’s development of a premier ESC that will catalyze job creation, cultural revitalization, and broader economic and community development across the Sacramento metropolitan region.

However, this is not necessarily the final or refined concept. The next steps in our program consist of additional detailed evaluations of various aspects of the program. These may include review and re-evaluation of prior and/or further alternatives based on new information or changed parameters.

Regional Benefits Resulting from The Sacramento Convergence

General Benefits: The Sacramento Convergence offers the City and the state considerable economic opportunities in these challenging times, including:

v  An unprecedented and privately-financed viable means to develop a new multi-use Entertainment and Sports Complex without new taxes

v  A substantial economic stimulus for the Greater Sacramento Region, Central Valley, and state without a tax increase

v  Development of “grouped-together” facilities creates significantly synergies, providing additional day worker, citizen and consumer use of downtown Sacramento’s businesses and public facilities.

v  Redevelopment of the Cal Expo site into a feasible, sustainable master-planned neighborhood.

v  The funds used in a PBI financing approach are private and therefore independent of the hurdles confronting public financing at this time

v  The three sites combined will accommodate between 4.300 and 8,500 housing units (plus appropriate affordable housing units), dispersing the housing to all three sites, thus lessening the stress on the success of ongoing housing revitalization programs in the current downtown and midtown locations

v  Incorporation of retail and employment components into all three sites in a manner consistent with existing businesses and nearby regional retail facilities

v  Immediate creation of approximately 300 direct professional and technical jobs to design the project plus an additional 150 indirect jobs

v  Creation of 5,000+ construction-related jobs during most of the build-out period and the Convergence Facilities, and

v  Consideration of developing a Regional Performing Arts Center within the Convergence Prject

Financial Benefits: Depending on the specific alternative, full build-out of The Sacramento Convergence programs is anticipated to provide up to:

v  An estimated gross value up to $4 billion for the entire program, of which $3 billion is directly attributed to construction

v  An annual injection of approximately $1 billion to the Greater Sacramento Region’s economy

v  Creation of approximately 12,000 direct permanent jobs, 20,000 indirect jobs and many more induced jobs throughout the GSR

v  Property tax revenue estimated to be up to $39 million per year, and

v  Sales tax revenue generated (exclusive of the ESC and Cal Expo operations) estimated to be in excess of $20 million annually