Natomas Fountains Featured in Sacramento Business Journal

Sacramento Business Journal
Hines starting work on 303-unit Natomas Fountains apartment project

After a lengthy history of development proposals involving a who's who of well-known commercial real estate names — Abe Alizadeh, Ethan Conrad, Sotiris Kolokotronis — a bare site in North Natomas is on the verge of seeing activity. Houston-based Hines is waiting on a few days of good weather to pull the trigger on Natomas Fountains, a 303-unit, market-rate apartment project between Truxel Road and Gateway Park Boulevard. "All the design is consistent with what's been approved," said Manuel Soto, a director and Sacramento city head for Hines.

CSI Construction Company will be the general contractor for the project, which will have six three-story buildings of apartments ranging from studios to two-bedroom units and 540 to 1,185 square feet. Amenities will include a pool, coworking space, fitness center, dog park and multipurpose "simulator space." Construction should take about two years, putting completion in 2026. MBK Rental Living will be the property manager upon completion. On 10.6 acres, the project has existing retail and restaurant development in three directions, including power centers with anchor stores such as Target, Home Depot, Old Navy and Walmart. Directly to the south, the site is bordered by a retail center with eight eateries.

"The walkability is really unique," Soto said. "There's no other location where you get that much retail that's close to the site." Soto said he couldn't share a project cost, though estimates on building permit applications from August 2022 for Natomas Fountains put the price at about $46.7 million. Those permits had project addresses of 3801 Gateway Park Blvd. and 3421 N. Freeway Blvd.

Hines is starting work in the project in a slightly down market for multifamily in the region, with rents flat or falling in the last year, partly because of sizable new supply. But Soto said Hines is committed to Sacramento for the long term, which means investing and developing at all phases of the market cycle. "We're progressing with our plans in Natomas and in the community as a whole," he said. "We want to be a permanent developer in the Sacramento market."

Natomas Fountains' site had development interest going back more than 15 years, starting with the owner at that time, developer Abe Alizadeh. He envisioned an office park on the site but lost it and numerous other commercial properties in the region in foreclosure when his real estate empire imploded in the Great Recession. Real estate investor Ethan Conrad acquired it and envisioned first a retail center and later hotel on the site, before moving toward possibilities for a multifamily project. Four years ago, Kolokotronis' SKK Developments filed plans for such a project there, before Tricap Development and Hines ultimately emerged to acquire it and carry out an apartment project.