Client: City of Rancho Cordova

The City of Rancho Cordova owns a vacant parcel of land of approximately 35,000 square feet on Folsom Boulevard. Adjoining the City-owned parcel is the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District (“Fire District”) Station 61 located at 10595 Folsom Boulevard. The Fire District property includes five buildable parcels located behind the Station which fronts on Folsom Boulevard. The land area of the Fire District property totals approximately 77,000 square feet. To the immediate east of the Fire Station at the intersection of Folsom Boulevard and Aramon Drive is a liquor store occupying a 2,400-square-foot building on approximately 14,000 square feet of land. If assembled, the nine lots would represent a potential site of approximately 127,000 square feet or 2.9 acres of land.

Gruen Gruen + Associates (GG+A) was asked to evaluate whether by combining properties in an assemblage, the individual properties would be worth more than their worth as standalone properties and whether a more desirable development could be created than if each property were separately developed or stayed in the current use. Additional study purposes include identifying a potential development use strategy; whether the potential value added would justify the Fire District relocating the current Station 61 facility to the east toward or on the current privately-owned property and rebuilt on a smaller footprint in a two-story configuration; and a potential financing strategy to support the relocation and capital facilities construction.

In order to accomplish the study purposes GG+A formulated potential use options for individual properties and for potential assemblage scenarios. GG+A conducted market research including interviews with home builders, real estate brokers, and developers to evaluate the potential market support for the assemblage use option. GG+A evaluated the relative financial feasibility of the assemblage use options and the potential value of the properties on a standalone basis. GG+A estimated the potential increase in land value and property taxes from the potential developments made possible from assemblage. In addition, based on an identified potential development and financing strategy GG+A estimated the scale of capital facilities that could be financed from implementation of that strategy.

GG+A prepared a report and held a workshop with Rancho Cordova representatives to review the findings and conclusions and strategic implications.