Sacramento Railyard Plans Shed Light On Major League Soccer Hopes

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Plans for building up the Railyards area are continuing to take shape.  On Thursday, the planning commission reviewed details about the future of the 244-acre space and when we'll see if start to take form.

"We hope and we really expect that Sacramento will be one of the next four," said Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber during a visit to Sacramento four months ago.

Since then, plans for a major league team in the city seemed closer to being a sure thing.  The setting for the stadium is just east of the Sacramento River at the Downtown Railyards.

"It makes Sacramento an active, vibrant city," said Alan Hersh, the principal planner for Downtown Railyard Ventures.  "It'll be known throughout the country.

He told CBS13 once the property is zoned for a stadium, his company plans to sell it to the new MLS team.  Back in April, Garber said he hoped to make a decision about a Sacramento team before the end of Mayor Kevin Johnson's term.  CBS13 reached out to MLS today for an update to the timeline but did not hear back.

"While soccer is big and it's important and it captures a lot of attention, it's one piece of a larger project, of a larger urban fabric," Hersh said.

Development of the 244-acre space includes 10,000 apartments and condos and 6 million square feet of office space.  A helicopter pad for Kaiser Permanente and extensive parking plans are also in the works.  The biggest two steps to the process are getting the right entitlements and word from MLS that they're coming to Sacramento.

"Once that happens, nothing will hold us back from getting the stadium built, it's then just a question of when do they want to open," Hersh said.

Hersh said the construction of housing and medical facilities is not contingent upon securing an MLS team.  The company is set to present the final plans to the city council on November 8th.

If the entitlements and zoning are secured by the end of 2016, the 2017 can be spent on finalizing construction plans.  Developers could break ground by 2018.