Developers broke ground on the corner of 16th and T street to build a 134-units of all-electric affordable housing community in the Midtown neighborhood. The project is being carried out through a partnership between the Capitol Area Development Authority (CADA) and Mutual Housing California.
The project is largely funded by a $38 million state grant for Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities. Developers estimate that the building itself will cost approximately $34 million to construct. The grant that helped fund the project is part of a statewide effort to connect affordable housing with accessible transportation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Workers prepare the foundation at the future Sakura housing site in Midtown Sacramento on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2025.Tony Rodriguez/CapRadioDanielle Foster, the CADA Executive Director, said the development will allow working families to live closer to where they work and help people balance other living costs.
“It helps provide a place where people can pay 30% of their income towards rent and utilities and then have enough income to spend for food, clothing, and transportation,” Foster said.
The development will sit on what was once a former smog-check and auto-repair shop. The development will also include 2,500 square feet of ground-floor retail space and on-site programs that offer residents financial literacy and digital skills training.
Developers and city officials break ground on the Sakura affordable housing project in Midtown Sacramento on Oct. 29, 2025.Tony Rodriguez/CapRadioSacramento City Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum said the build location in the city’s most walkable area, near light rail, will help families save even more on daily costs.
“If folks are spending half of their income on housing, they’re spending another third on transportation,” Pluckebaum said. “And if you can live in a walkable community like this and reduce your vehicular expense, your transportation expense, that’s a significant savings to families.”
Foster said the redevelopment marks an important shift for a stretch of Midtown that is now more people-centered and no longer needs so many auto shops.
“There used to be oil changes and smog checks and those kinds of things here, but we are transforming this once historic highway into a neighborhood corridor where there’s community being built,” she said.
Rendering of the Sakura building to be finished in 2027. Courtesy of Mutual Housing CaliforniaCourtesy of Mutual Housing CaliforniaMutual Housing California CEO Craig Adelman said Sakura will serve as a model for community-oriented design.
“This is more than just housing for low-income people,” Adelman said. “Together we’re creating community both on the site, but very significant impacts for Sacramento as a whole.”
Construction of the building is expected to finish in early 2027. It will provide studio and one-bedroom apartments for people earning between 30% and 60% of the area’s median income.
The project joins Monarch, another CADA and Mutual Housing development under construction on R Street. Combined, both projects will add nearly 400 new affordable homes to Sacramento’s downtown core over the next two years.
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