The city of Sacramento and UC Davis announced Thursday that they will build a 25-acre technology and innovation campus, called Aggie Square, on the university's medical center property, along the Stockton Boulevard corridor bordering Oak Park. The site could eventually fit about 1 million square feet of research space, parks and entertainment venues. Housing may be built on private land bordering the campus.
UC Davis Chancellor Gary May and Mayor Darrell Steinberg said the campus would serve as a research center, teaching space and job creator aimed at providing the university with a strong presence on the Sacramento side of the Yolo Causeway.
University and city officials said Aggie Square development would take years, and Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, said it would eventually cost "tens of millions, if not hundreds, for this to be implemented."
Stockton Boulevard was picked over sites in downtown, in North Natomas and at the Sacramento Center for Innovation, a mostly industrial area seven miles east of downtown near Highway 50 and California State University, Sacramento.
Research and medical offices already dot the Stockton Boulevard corridor near the hospital campus. City officials have long envisioned an expanded "med zone" in the area.
May and Steinberg are also looking into building quicker, more reliable transportation options between Davis and Sacramento, possibly using a fleet of electric buses over the Causeway.
McCarty said he would push for "a couple million dollars" in the May budget revision process for the planning stages of Aggie Square. Steinberg said he expects the city of Sacramento to contribute, but did not provide specifics. May said the university would also raise money for the project.
"More economic activity here is certainly a win for the neighborhoods up and down Stockton Boulevard," McCarty said. "For the city of Sacramento, we're looking to diversify our economy ... and we're looking to get more technology, more innovation right here in the capital city and this is a wonderful opportunity to further those goals."
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