SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to approve planning entitlements for a new teaching hospital and medical school at the site of the former Sleep Train Arena in North Natomas.
“This was a promise made and now it’s a promise kept,” said Mayor Darrell Steinberg.
According to city leaders, the California Northstate University Medical Campus and adjacent development are projected to create about 8,000 jobs over the next 10 years.
"Lots of amazing people pushed really hard," said Vice Mayor Angelique Ashby, who spearheaded the project. "You're talking about a full-service, 11-story hospital, with medical schools and housing. And that's a pretty ambitious timeline, 8 to 10 years."
California Northstate University has reached an agreement with the Sacramento-Sierra Building & Construction Trades Council to build the project with local union labor.
Before the Sacramento Kings played their last game at the Sleep Train Arena, hundreds of fans helped keep them in Sacramento. In the end, the Golden 1 Center became a downtown fixture but Natomas lost its arena.
"You had the restaurants, hotels, and other things develop around there, so it was a big loss for them to let it move downtown," said Kings fan Ron Klint.
Klint says North Natomas deserved an economic engine in the deal.
"And in the end, it all worked out," he said.
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