Sacramento Bee
By Theresa Clift
February 11, 2026
After more than a year of organizing and opposition, East Sacramento residents are bracing for a key decision on a proposed apartment complex along Alhambra Boulevard.
Demas Enterprises is seeking approval to build a six-story, 312-unit market-rate apartment complex along Alhambra Boulevard between 30th Street and C and D streets. On Thursday, the city’s Planning and Design Commission is set to decide whether the project can move forward.
The site, east of the Capital City Freeway and the midtown neighborhood in East Sacramento’s northwest corner, currently houses the former Mary Ann’s Bakery warehouses, which has been vacant for at least a decade. The project, according to a city staff report, would also include a parking garage with 332 spaces, as well as ground-floor retail space, the report said.
On Thursday, the commission is expected to consider granting the project a conditional use permit allowing it to exceed height limits, the staff report said. Buildings in the Alhambra special planning district cannot exceed 35 feet without a permit. The proposed complex would rise to about 63 feet. The commission will also consider a tree permit for the removal of seven trees.
The commission is also scheduled to consider exempting the project from review under the California Environmental Quality Act. Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom loosened CEQA rules to allow exemptions for certain infill housing projects, aiming to prevent opponents from using environmental laws to block construction. City staff said the Alhambra project meets the criteria for that exemption.
In recent years, the Planning and Design Commission has routinely approved new housing projects as Sacramento pushes to increase its housing supply. To meet its goal of building 45,580 new housing units by 2029, the city would have needed to issue 5,698 new housing permits last year, according to an April report. It issued 2,387.
The project does not require City Council approval, said Kelli Trapani, a city spokesperson. It would reach the council only if the commission approves it and an appeal is filed. Ahead of Thursday’s meeting, public comment has skewed heavily against the project. Six people submitted letters in support, while 34 submitted letters opposing it, the report said.
The project does not require City Council approval, said Kelli Trapani, a city spokesperson. It would reach the council only if the commission approves it and an appeal is filed.
Ahead of Thursday’s meeting, public comment has skewed heavily against the project. Six people submitted letters in support, while 34 submitted letters opposing it, the report said.
Leaders of the East Sacramento Preservation, a neighborhood association, have argued that the project would worsen traffic, parking and noise in the area. They have also said the building’s height could block sunlight and reduce privacy in nearby backyards, particularly from upper-floor units.
The group held a meeting last year to organize opposition to the project. A flyer for the meeting described the development as “massive” and emphasized that it is largely surrounded by single-family homes.
The six-story Sutter Medical Center stands at 29th and K streets but is nearly a mile south of the site.
After neighborhood pushback, the developer considered lowering the project to five stories, said Jeffrey Berger of University Capital Management, speaking on behalf of Demas. The proposal before the commission, however, remains six stories, he said Tuesday.
Berger has said privacy should not be an issue because new tenants would not be able to see into nearby backyards. He said parking would not be negatively affected because the project includes a parking garage. On traffic, he said the former bakery generated significant commercial truck activity.
The city as of last year no longer requires any parking spaces to be included in new housing projects, Trapani has said.
The commission is scheduled to meet at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Sacramento City Hall. It will also be livestreamed on the city’s website.