Battle Over Future Of Capitol Towers Heads To Sacramento City Council

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Sacramento preservationists are pushing to protect a decades-old apartment complex in Downtown Sacramento as it goes before the City Council.

Capitol Towers includes two of the tallest residential buildings in Downtown Sacramento, surrounded by garden villas. It's a neighborhood spread out on an entire city block off of N and Seventh streets.

For Judith Lamar, it's a precious piece of history worth preserving.

"I came here and wanted to live here because it's stunning," she said.

Lamar is fighting with the owners of the building, a global real-estate investment firm with plans to turn Capitol Towers into Sacramento Commons. The proposed project would replace two-story villas with 25-story rises with at least 1,400 units, a hotel and retail shops.

Many like Jared Ciccone love the idea.

"I empathize with them but I think progress is more important to the city," he said. "I'm from downtown L.A. and it's booming down there and I think that's just where we're going."

Gretchen Steinberg submitted Capitol Towers for historic preservation status. Her nonprofit, Sacramento Modern, created a video offering an alternative that builds around the existing apartments within the parking lot space.

"There are examples of that being done in other parts of the city for instance warehouse loft on R Street," she said. "They can coexist."

Insiders believe the Sacramento City Council will approve the original project plan, but Lamar refuses to give up.

"We are fighting for our friends our community the people that we spent 26 years living with here," she said.