The City of Sacramento retained EPS for multiple engagements over the past several decades for critical economic and financial studies needed to create and implement the Railyards Specific Plan, approved in 2016 as one of the nation’s largest urban infill redevelopment sites. Located on 244 acres immediately north of downtown Sacramento, the Railyards Specific Plan provides for high-density mixed-use development that will integrate with the existing Central City, essentially doubling the size of the downtown core. The Plan includes up to 10,000 residential units, nearly 5.6 million square feet of office, retail, and historic and cultural space, and 1,100 hotel rooms, anchored by a 1.2 million square foot medical campus and potential Major League Soccer stadium.
Once serving as the western terminus of the 1860s Transcontinental Railroad, over a century of use as a railroad hub left the Railyards site with major environmental remediation and infrastructure upgrades needed to accommodate high-density urban development. As public and private land use planning goals and objectives evolved over the years, EPS has collaborated with multidisciplinary consulting teams, the City, and private developers to prepare a public financing plan, evaluate the fiscal and economic implications of development, ensure market and financial feasibility, and support on-going implementation efforts.
The Railyards Public Facilities Financing Plan (Financing Plan) identified funding sources for all backbone infrastructure improvements, public facilities, and administrative costs needed to support the proposed land uses. Subsequent EPS public finance analysis contributed to (1) Railyards development impact fee program, (2) a Community Facilities District (CFD), (3) an Owner Participation Agreement (OPA) restructuring analysis which identified the property tax revenue flow of funds in a post-redevelopment environment, and (4) a pioneering Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD).
