Another major redevelopment is in the works for the Rancho area. In July, the Sacramento County Planning Commission recommended approval of a 1,400-acre development by GenCorp Inc. known as Easton. The longer-term plan for Easton covers some 6,000 acres.
The development plan includes 4,883 units of residential in various densities and 4.2-million square feet of other development, including 1.3 million square feet of retail, restaurants and entertainment venues and 2.9 million square feet of office space and fine art venues, among other things. The area would also include 480 acres of open space and parks and a network of biking and walking trails that would be conveniently linked to the American River Parkway and the Hazel Light Rail station.
The project is located between Hazel Avenue and Prairie City Road south of Highway 50 and will be the first building venture for GenCorp. Sacramento County is preparing a final EIS for the County Board of Supervisors hearings that will occur later in the year. The project also will need approvals from the US Army Corps of Engineers and the US Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service before any more can be done.
“There are still going to be several years in preparing the land”, explains Tim Murphy, GenCorps director of public affairs. So if you’re looking to relocate to a new neighborhood, it might be a long wait for this one. Other investors and builders are concerned about the sharp decrease in housing prices and the lack of people currently in the market for a new home. Not GenCorp. “We’re confident that our timing and the market return will be in sync”, Murphy says.
In addition to the series of Easton developments, the 6,000-acre plan includes the Rio del Oro and Westborough developments located in the City of Rancho Cordova, and Hillsborough near Folsom, CA. The 6,000 acres for which GenCorp is currently seeking entitlements is roughly half of GenCorp’s overall land holdings in this area. The land was originally acquired by Aerojet, now called GenCorp, in the early 1950s for Aerojet’s operational use. Most of the land was used to establish safety zones for Aerojet’s testing and manufacturing operations. The land was freed from use by Aerojet due to operational and manufacturing changes that no longer necessitate the buffer safety zone.
