New housing is hitting the market at the former Sacramento Bee complex, as Atlanta-based Beazer Homes finalizes the first of eight planned condo buildings on one of the news organization’s former parking lots.
Each building will have six units, for a total of 48 when the R21 complex is complete, at the corner of 21st and R streets. Depending on the pace of sales, Beazer may open the final building in about 18 months, said Robert Walmsley, vice president of sales.
The company plans to hold a grand opening Saturday morning at 11 a.m.
The firm hired local muralist Raphael Delgado to paint the wall of an adjacent tile company building that faces the complex. Delgado is known for several of midtown’s signature murals, including the angular golden bear at the corner of 21st and N streets, and the mother and child at 6th and L streets.
Artist Raphael Delgado stands in front of a mural he is working on at the R21 housing development in Sacramento on Thursday. HANNAH RUHOFF hruhoff@sacbee.com
Delgado and Michael Ruiz, the artist assistant on the project, created a honeycomb pattern over a black background, and filled some of the hexagons with local references, such as Delgado’s signature golden bear, and a quail, the California state bird. They plan to add the Tower Bridge to complete the mural when weather permits.
“I like angles and sharp lines,” Delgado said. “I want your eye to dance around.”
Inside the condos, the kitchens and bathrooms are lined with hexagonal tiles, a nod to The Bee and to the tile company. One of the units had a series of hexagonal mirrors ascending the stairway.
A kitchen inside one of the display units at the R21 housing development in Sacramento on Thursday. HANNAH RUHOFF hruhoff@sacbee.com
A bathroom inside one of the display units at the R21 housing development in Sacramento on Thursday. The unit uses hexagonal tiles as a part of drawing inspiration from The Sacramento Bee, the parking lot of which the housing development is built on. HANNAH RUHOFF hruhoff@sacbee.com
“We sprinkled that in as much as we could, to try and bring attention to the history,” Walmsley said.
Each unit has a washer-dryer, and a two-car garage. The least expensive units, which feature two bedrooms and 3.5 baths, are priced at $878,990. The most expensive unit is priced at $962,990.
“We have coffee shops, restaurants, yoga studios, workout studios. Ice Blocks is right there,” Walmsley said. “So we really envision people that appreciate that I can ride my bike down to the river, and then walk over and catch my hot yoga class, and go to the farmers market on the weekend.”
A dining nook inside one of the display units at the R21 housing development in Sacramento on Thursday. The unit used hexagonal tiles as a part of drawing inspiration from The Sacramento Bee, the parking lot of which the housing development is built on. HANNAH RUHOFF hruhoff@sacbee.com
A bedroom inside one of the display units at the R21 housing development in Sacramento on Thursday. HANNAH RUHOFF hruhoff@sacbee.com
McClatchy, the news organization’s parent company, sold two of its sites — the Sacramento home of The Bee and the Missouri home of The Kansas City Star — for a combined $56.75 million in 2017. The Bee building was bought by Irvine-based Shopoff Realty Investments.
Shopoff leased the building back to the newspaper after the purchase. McClatchy filed for bankruptcy in 2020 and was sold to Chatham Asset Management, and The Bee relocated its newsroom in 2021 from the Q Street building to The Cannery complex on Alhambra Boulevard.
Shopoff secured entitlements for housing on the property and began offloading pieces of the real estate. Beazer acquired its portion for $9.8 million.
The portion of the site that was once occupied by The Bee building was acquired for $18.5 million by Tim Lewis Communities, a Roseville-based homebuilding firm with a reputation for luxury housing.
The firm previously said that construction of 61 townhomes and 60 single-family condos could begin as early as this summer. A spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment on that project.
Construction continues at the R21 housing development in Sacramento on Thursday. HANNAH RUHOFF hruhoff@sacbee.com
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Annika Merrilees is a business reporter for The Sacramento Bee. She previously spent five years covering business and health care for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.