Downtown Sacramento Partnership

Congratulations to our Executive Director, Michael Ault, for being named Sacramento Metro Chamber's Businessman of the Year! Michael has been at the helm of DSP for nearly 30 years, shaping the identity of downtown Sacramento through public space management and projects that fundamentally transform the central city. Thank you to Metro Chamber for the recognition of Michael's career-long dedication to making downtown a thriving district!

The annual Tree Lighting Ceremony and Theatre of Lights in Old Sacramento Waterfront is just a week away! This year, we're expanding our efforts to open K Street up to the people with a car-free holiday zone on Saturdays, complete with festive activities. Join us next Wednesday to officially kick off the holiday season! You can learn all about what we've got in store at the link below.

Know a nonprofit making an impact in our community? We want to get connected. Dine Downtown 2025 kicks off in January, and we’re looking for nonprofits to partner with us for this year’s program. Each year, $1 from every meal sold is donated to a local charity, averaging a contribution between $8,000–$12,000. This year, we’re opening the selection process to consider new organizations doing impactful work aligned with our mission. If you know a nonprofit that fits the bill, share this Request for Proposal with them — we’d love to collaborate together. To apply, nonprofits should email their proposal in PDF format to marketing@downtownsac.org by next Friday, November 22. Full proposal guidelines can be found at the link below.

“Water always finds its way.” We’ve been known as the City of Trees and America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital, but it’s the water that has drawn people to our city for generations. Though we've faced years of obstacles, pressing challenges, a pandemic, and countless other hurdles, we are finally closer to creating a waterfront experience that reflects the spirit of Sacramento. Today, Mayor Darrell Steinberg announced an investment package including at least $46 million of investment to modernize the Old Sacramento Waterfront. This will allow us to leverage our region’s greatest asset to enhance the quality of life for our residents, and make a lasting impression on the millions of people that visit Sacramento every year. Thank you to the Mayor, City Councilmembers, City staff, Senator Angelique Ashby, John Fraser, Old Sacramento business owners like Janie Desmond Ison, and countless others for staying committed, through good times and bad, to seeing this effort through. This is an incredible reminder that although progress sometimes seems unreachable, steady and focused commitment is successful when our community bands together for a common goal. This investment package goes up for a vote at City Council on Tuesday. It includes extra funding to bring the Convention Center hotel to fruition and to build on the momentum of our great music festivals, all of which have had huge positive impacts on downtown and the city at large.

We're collaborating with downtown property owners to bring some life to our busiest corridors with branded window wraps! Rooted in environmental design principles, this is a simple way to promote a clean, maintained, and inviting atmosphere. Thank you to our property owners and managers for showing your investment in the growth and recovery of our areas hit hardest by vacancies in the last few years.

Today we’re celebrating a monumental deal between The Wilton Rancheria Tribe, Downtown Railyard Venture LLC, and the City of Sacramento to create a new soccer stadium in the Railyards! It will serve as the center piece of a mixed use development complete with housing units, hotel rooms, and restaurants, forming a new entertainment district in the central city. This development is a long time coming — and Downtown Sacramento Partnership is proud to be, among several community partners like Mike Testa at Visit Sacramento, full hearted supporters of this project that will transform the downtown core. After acquiring Sacramento Republic FC, The Wilton Rancheria Tribe is now the first Native American nation to be the majority owner of a professional men’s sports team. Wilton Rancheria making this investment on their ancestral land is historic and a testament to the power of the diversity of our region. Sacramento City Council will vote on this development on Tuesday. We look forward to the potential these projects will unlock for decades to come! 

We had a great visit with Assemblymember Matt Haney (and other special guests!) to tour the district and talk about the state of downtown as 2024 comes to a close. As the chair of the Select Committee on Downtown Recovery, Assemblymember Haney is visiting downtowns across the state to learn about the struggles that have arisen in recent years, the opportunities that have opened to change course, and how the state can partner with local governments and organizations to move downtowns into the future. We look forward to collaborating on innovative solutions that will strengthen our downtown!

The Downtown Ice Rink opens up for the season tomorrow — now's the time to book your group reservations and private parties! Groups of 10 or more can book 2 hour slots for a discounted rate, or you can treat your office, family, or friends to an exclusive session at the rink with a private party. See you on the ice!

The Faces of Downtown Sac: Old Sacramento Waterfront Chelsea and Clayton are the rockstars who handle the historic Old Sacramento. They Coordinate with the city advocating for updated installations (Have you seen the lights and heard the music in K Street tunnel?) Create the best holiday environment and ambiance. They maintain contact with 50+ business owners to coordinate seasonal activities, event reviews, and promotions. Coordinate with our public space teams to maintain the district. And they help prospective business owners find the perfect spot to set up shop. Chelsea and Clayton lead the district with compassion and care, keeping the Waterfront vibrant and evolving — while honoring its roots dating back to 1849.

"It's been a challenging four or five years here in downtown Sacramento, but I believe that the future can be something better if we're working with intention — and if we're strategically impatient about getting there." Check out our Deputy Director Scott Ford in the Nov/Dec issue of Sactown Magazine's 'Q&A,' speaking about the Downtown Sacramento Livability Strategy, co-authored by Brent Toderian. The strategy is an outline of actions we can take (right now!) to create a mixed-use downtown environment worthy of a dense residential population that can support downtown's evolution. Read the strategy here: https://lnkd.in/gM_ZT-t2