(The following story by Barbara Barte Osborn appeared on the Sacramento Bee website on January 27.)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A project that would double the size of Truckee’s historic downtown has entered the public review process.
In the planning stages for several years, the ambitious “railyard project” would involve realignment of Donner Pass Road and relocation of the railroad’s balloon track – a large circular track used for turning snowplow engines.
“It took two years, but Union Pacific has agreed to move the balloon track half a mile east,” said Rick Holliday, developer of the 75-acre project.
The project features a mix of retail, residential and office buildings with pedestrian, bicycle and vehicle access. If approved, it would be built in three phases over about 10 years.
The first phase would include a 60-room hotel, a 1,000-seat theater with up to six screens, a 25,000-square-foot civic center, a 20,000-square-foot grocery store and some work-live buildings – living quarters over retail shops.
While the Truckee Downtown Merchants Association hasn’t yet taken an official stand on the project, “overall the merchants are very supportive of it,” said Stefanie Olivieri, association president.
“We see it as an expansion of the downtown – something that would give it vitality,” said Olivieri, owner of Cabona’s clothing store.
Holliday said Sundance Film Festival founder Robert Redford potentially could be involved with the theater planned for the first phase of the project.
“Redford has created the Sundance Theater Co., and he really likes Truckee,” Holliday said. “He says it’s a nice place that’s more authentic than others. There’s no commitment yet, but he said he wants to take a look at the project.”
Construction could begin this summer, Holliday said.
Overall, plans call for the project to have 570 residential units, 70,000 square feet of retail shops, 15,000 square feet of office space, a parking structure, a civic center, a grocery store, a theater, a hotel, and open spaces for uses such as a farmers market.
Both the railyard project and the town’s draft railyard master plan will be reshaped somewhat during a public review process, said Denyelle Nishimori, a town associate planner. “We’re just in the process of getting information to the public and soliciting comments,” Nishimori said.