SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento city officials cut the ribbon on the new SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in Downtown Sacramento Thursday morning.
Construction on the project started in December of 2018. It’s mostly complete but crews expect to finish before “SacAnime,” the first event with guests scheduled for September.
The project cost $245 million. Inside people will find an extra 100,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space and three lobbies instead of the single lobby in the old convention center.
Floor-to-ceiling windows let the outside in and allow for an abundance of natural light.
“It is going to be one more piece of Sacramento being a destination city, and a destination region that is going to not only expand our reputation but more important be good for the people who live here because with that increased tax space we can do more for our city and the people of our city,” Mayor Darrell Steinberg said.
According to the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, the convention center brings more than $700 million to Downtown Sacramento and the region. With conventions coming back to Sacramento, local business owners and employees said this is a chance to recover some foot traffic that was lost throughout the pandemic.
"Having that vitality that’s downtown is so necessary for all of us small businesses here and it's so integral specifically to this K Street corridor," said Christopher Sinclair, who owns The Good Bottle in Downtown Sacramento. "I would argue that that has a stronger influence on the businesses around here than the arena does."
"It literally brings people into town from out of town who wouldn’t necessarily be here, it’s not just from the suburbs," he added. "They’re staying in hotels and adding a lot to the local economy and it’s a really big deal."
Since opening his boutique liquor store in December of 2019, Sinclair said his business had a great start, but, like many businesses, pandemic shut downs heavily impacted his business.
"When we first moved in this 11th Street sidewalk, walking mall area, we would have to zig in and out of people just to get to our front door," he explained. "As soon as lockdown happened, we lovingly called it the apocalypse. Everything was boarded up, no one was downtown."
After getting word that the convention center was on its way, paired with the slow trickle of state employees coming back to work, Sinclair said he was beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
"Without a doubt," he said. "We built up ton of debt and luckily we’re still open, luckily we're still here, but it’ll be really nice to be able to sleep at night, comfortably without stressing about whether or not I’m going to close my doors."
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