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Key Downtown Investors Could See Big Boon From Sacramento Kings Arena

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Two of the key investors in Sacramento's proposed Downtown Plaza arena are already heavily invested in sites near the floundering mall.

Darius Anderson controls the Sacramento docks project south of Tower Bridge. Mark Friedman is developing the bridge district in West Sacramento.

Now each is investing in an arena that could lead their other developments' values to skyrocket.

"I would say they're doubling down, and my advice for everybody else in the region is they better double down as well," said Scott Syphax, the developer of Sacramento's largest current infill site—Township. "This project comes with 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail in it."

He says Friedman and Anderson's arena financing strategy is common sense.

"When you can go ahead and have sites that are either adjacent, or in close proximity to that main nuclear reactor-type development, the halo effect is enormous," Syphax said.

Two new bridges are also planned to link downtown Sacramento with West Sacramento, along with a new streetcar line that could run across the Tower Bridge.

If it's built, the floundering Downtown Plaza site would be an epicenter for a flourishing new scene along the Sacramento River and a pleasant change for people who live here.

On Friday, the Sacramento group bidding on the Kings put half their offer into an escrow account. A final decision is expected from a May 15 meeting of the NBA Board of Governors.

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