New owners discuss plans for downtown Sacramento skyscraper that sold for $21 million
Downtown Sacramento's high-rise Renaissance Tower sold to Ethan Conrad Properties for more than $21 million after going to auction earlier this week.
The 28-story office building is on K and 8th streets, blocks from the Golden 1 Center.
The new owners say they plan on getting new tenants into the building by slashing rent prices.
"If I can buy something at a good price and I give tenants a great deal and they're happy and I'm happy, well, that's a win-win, right?" said Ethan Conrad, the CEO of Ethan Conrad Properties.
The property currently has an occupancy rate of 27%— a significant decline since pre-pandemic numbers when the building previously sold in 2016 for $80 million.
Conrad says his lower rent prices are a good starting point to get tenants back into the building.
"The previous owners had it at about $3.20 a square foot. I would make it, depending on the floor, be in the range of $2.45 to $2.65 a square foot. So, a significant reduction in rent," Conrad said.
Conrad plans to renovate the existing office spaces to make the building more appealing to new tenants. There are also plans to add restaurants and cafes into the building as well.
Scott Ford, the deputy director of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership believes new ownership in the Renaissance Tower is the right move for downtown.
"These two blocks in here really need new ownership, new activity, and need new life and new uses breathed into them. So I'm really excited that, we've got a local ownership group there making significant investments in downtown Sacramento," Ford said.
The Partnership says they plan on collaborating with Conrad to ensure his vision becomes a reality.
"The relationship that buildings have with the streets, with the public realm, is really important for driving increased pedestrian activity, giving the perception that this is a safe, clean, welcoming, activated environment," Ford said.
Conrad has no official plans to turn a portion of the building into mixed-use residential spaces but mentioned that nothing is off the table.
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