Many Sacramentans are interested in the community benefits associated with the building of a new Sacramento Entertainment and Sports Complex (SESC) in the heart of our downtown. Such an arena development brings with it many new entertainment options and social benefits for those who can afford to attend basketball games, concerts and ice shows– and the potential is also there for economic and community development opportunities for those who can afford to invest in new businesses proposed to surround the project. Unfortunately, the majority of hard-working, tax-paying Sacramentans will feel the impact of the SESC largely in diminished public and community services in their neighborhoods due to a quarter of a billion dollars of our civic resources being diverted to the project’s development, and operation and the transfer of our publicly owned assets to the developers. Most of the jobs created by arena-building projects are usually temporary, or limited-term contracting jobs—which have limited contribution to our local economy, and many of the on-going operating jobs are also low-wage paying, temporary, part-time and seasonal. Downtown neighborhood residents will deal with traffic jams and rowdy crowds which require the redirection of police, fire and other important public safety resources. However, the Coalition is asserts that many of the negative impacts can be mitigated by a strong Development Agreement between the city and the SESC developers, and ancillary binding agreements between the Coalition for Shared Prosperity and the Developer.
The Project Financing section of the City of Sacramento’s Arena website states:
“A downtown (S)ESC will provide the greatest community benefit to the City. The City’s return on investment, whether in the form of revenues or future development, infrastructure or amenities, must be commensurate with the level of public investment. The City and team owners will agree on a local that best meets the interests and goals of the City and stakeholders.”
The CBA is a vehicle for ensuring that this goal becomes a reality. Our broad Coalition of organizations has assessed the Arena’s impact, residents’ public subsidy, and the needs of everyday Sacramentans as they relate to jobs, housing, transportation, public safety and development. The proposed Community Benefits agreement seeks to guarantee that residents receive these Community Benefits in exchange for their public investment, just as the City of Sacramento envisions.
The SESC is to be developed by the Sacramento Basketball Holdings, LLC (Developer) pursuant to a number of Development Applications submitted to the City. These include applications for a Special Planning District and Planned Unit Development for areas of the Downtown Plaza owned by the Developer and not part of the SESC (Ancillary Projects) consisting of retail, hotel and residential uses. Any reference to “Development” in this letter refers to the development of both the SESC and the Ancillary Projects.
To ensure that the Development and our City’s investment of public funds benefit all residents of Sacramento, a broad-based coalition of Sacramento community organizations has formed to develop a comprehensive list of community benefit enhancements to guarantee that all residents of Sacramento benefit from the Development throughout its construction phase and continued operation.
Across the nation, communities have negotiated benefit and Development Agreements that provide for good jobs, affordable housing, the utilization of environmentally sound building technologies and the application of appropriate smart growth attributes. Sacramento needs to ensure, just as other cities have done, that our community receives a return commensurate with the investment our City has made to keep the Kings basketball team here. The residents of this City will subsidize the building of the SESC with at least a $260 million of their public assets. The residents of Sacramento, community organizations, the City government and the Developer need to work together to make this the smartest possible public venture for the benefit of all its citizens.
The Coalition’s items and issues listed have been contributed by the following organizations:
The Sacramento Housing Alliance (SHA) CA Reinvestment Coalition Neighborhood Associations Labor Groups Organize Sacramento Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) Capital Regional Organizing Project (CROP) Next Generation Sacramento Regional Coalition to End Homelessness (SRCEH) Others
Join us in supporting a community benefits element for the SESC Development Agreement. Our coalition brings together competing interests who are willing to work together for livable neighborhoods and responsible development. By working together, we can ensure that the Development works for the common good. We aim to incorporate community benefit items identified by the coalition into the City’s Development Agreement and ancillary binding agreements between the Coalition for Shared Prosperity and the Developer. The City of Sacramento can support the community benefit element of the Development Agreement and terms by requiring the agreement be completed and agreed to by all parties before full entitlement is approved. Incorporating community benefits into the Development Agreement will help guarantee the project creates good jobs, a healthier environment and a prosperous Sacramento.
Our community coalition has identified the following opportunities for the City and the Developer to strengthen Sacramento’s economy and community. These community benefits will be incorporated into the Development Agreement between the Developer and the City or adopted in a separate Community Benefits Agreement between the Coalition and the Developer as appropriate. The Developer will ensure that all its community benefit obligations will be fulfilled as appropriate by contracts or other documentation with its contractors, subcontractors, operators, vendors, suppliers, consultants, lessees and land transferees.
Jobs
In meeting “local hire” requirements for the Development, the Developer and the City of Sacramento shall apply the following priorities:
First priority: Residents of and businesses located within the City of Sacramento
Second priority: Residents of and businesses located within the County of Sacramento
Third priority: Residents of and businesses located within the six county SACOG region
Fourth priority: Residents of and businesses located within the San Joaquin COG region
SESC vendors/operators shall retain all labor agreements and employees of the old Sleep Train arena.
SESC vendors/operators shall give preference for employment and job training opportunities to City of Sacramento residents with extremely low household incomes, (earning 30% of AMI or below,) and/or residents with an extended history of unemployment.
SESC vendors/operators shall “Ban the Box” by removing questions about criminal history from all SESC vendor/operator job applications. The City should require Labor Peace Agreements covering any developer, vendor, or operator at the Development, and at sites donated by the City to the Developer in order to protect the public's investment in the project.
Developer and vendor/operators will make every effort to ensure that the employees hired at the Development, and at sites donated by the City to the Developer, are representative of the current demographics of the City of Sacramento, including by gender, race and ethnicity.
Developer- and operator/vendors pay sustainable living wages and health benefits to all employees working at the SESC and any developments on sites donated by the City to the Developer. “Sustainable wages” will be determined by the Sacramento Workforce Investment Board (Sacramento Works).
Housing
The developer will work with community based affordable housing developers to build or cause to be built 380 universally accessible housing units in the City of Sacramento that are affordable to the retail and service industry workforce of Sacramento. The units will be considered affordable if their rents are regulated, universally accessible and the units do not exceed 80% AMI for a family of 4 or below. The 380 units will be broken down in the following way: 1) 228 units or 60% do not exceed 80% AMI, 2) 76 units or 20% do not exceed 50% AMI, and 3) 76 units or 20% do not exceed 30% of AMI.
The City, in partnership with the developer, shall continue to implement the Single Room Occupancy (SRO) ordinance, ensuring no net loss of Downtown SRO units and providing funding and other resources for the rehabilitation of 100 existing SRO units and the construction of 200 new studio (efficiency) units in the City.
*The Developer will contribute to Sacramento Steps Forward to establish a foundation grant to fund 50% of the first two first-step housing sites, and support the first four years of operation by providing for 50% of the operating expenses.
Environment and Transportation
The Developer will provide subsidized public transportation in the form of reduced-cost transit passes for all employees of the Sacramento Kings, operators and vendors of the SESC, and a vanpool for said employees who do not reside within 1 mile of public transportation options and/or who work after regular Regional Transit service hours have ceased.
The Developer and Operators will reimburse Sacramento Regional Transit for any costs associated with extended public transportation service hours added for events held at the SESC.
Developer and Operators will ensure that all SESC event tickets sold, also act as public transportation day-passes for both Yolo Bus and Sacramento Regional Transit, and that both agencies are reimbursed for the costs associated with this transportation program.
Development meets Gold level or above LEED certification on all building elements and landscaping at the Development and at sites donated by the City to the developers.
The Developer will ensure that the SESC is equipped with state of the art solid waste disposal and composting systems for all refuse produced at the SESC.
The Developer will ensure adequate and secure bicycle parking in the design of the Development so cycling to work by employees and patrons at events is encouraged.
Small Business
The Developer will seed a city-wide small business revolving loan fund (RLF) of $1,000,000 to be managed by a local Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) or the Economic Development Department of the City of Sacramento. The RLF will offer financing for acquisition of land and/or facilities, façade and landscaping improvements, building renovations, refinancing existing debt as part of a business expansion, machinery and equipment acquisition, working capital, and new construction.
The Developer shall compensate small businesses owners located within 3 blocks of the SESC development for any evidenced loss of revenue during the construction of the arena and ancillary projects.
The Developer shall reimburse small business owners located within 3 blocks of the SESC development that provide evidence of costs associated with necessary relocation due to loss of revenue, business front accessibility, loss in off-street or on-street parking, automobile traffic in front of their business, excess noise, dust, and other disruptions and/or the introduction of new business that reduce commerce for or compete with the existing businesses during construction and the ongoing operations of the SESC and ancillary projects. Safety and Community
The Developer will retain and restore for development and reuse (rather than demolish) listed and eligible historic properties on land parcels either within the Development or donated from the City to the Developer as part of the arena deal.
The Developer will reimburse the City of Sacramento for any costs incurred for the mitigation of neighborhood traffic and parking impacts, and necessary regulation changes, in downtown and midtown streets and corridors affected by increased traffic caused by the development and operation of the Development.
The Developer will ensure that the design of the SESC includes a daycare center facility for the children of all employees associated with enterprises in the SESC and that the necessary partnerships are in place for the operation of the center.
The Developer will design, develop and manage a furnished meeting room within the Development for use by the residents, and local organizations of the City of Sacramento.
The Developer will provide adequate, free, 24/7 public restrooms with access to potable drinking water, within a 3 block radius of the Development, similar in concept to the Portland Loo, etc.
The Developer and/or the City of Sacramento will ensure archaeological professionals from local educational institutions including CSUS, UCD and Los Rios CCD Anthropology Departments are onsite at the Development construction site and at sites donated by the City to the Developer to monitor excavation activity in order to ensure the preservation of findings of historic significance and to catalog and preserve historical artifact collections.
The Developer and the City of Sacramento will ensure that security call box systems are installed in all public parking lots within a 3 block radius of the SESC.
The Developer will provide funding to the Downtown PBID for private security patrols in the Alkali & Mansion Flat, Downtown and South Side Park neighborhoods. The security patrol will be in force on every day events are held at the SESC, beginning 1 hour before events, and ending no earlier than 3 hours after any event to manage the crowds of people attending the events.
The Developer will create a Cultural Equity Grants Foundation and contribute $600,000 to the foundation to supports culturally diverse arts organizations and individual artists working in culturally-specific and historically underserved communities of the City of Sacramento.
Transparency
All documents, agreements, and data related to the development of SESC, Ancillary projects and at sites donated by the City to the Developer, as well as efforts to meet the obligations of this agreement, are made publically available immediately upon submission.
Representatives of the Developer will meet with the Coalition and the City no less than quarterly to monitor and review compliance with community benefit obligations.
*Ask item to be approved by Sacramento Steps Forward Board of Directors