Rancho Cordova moves forward with plans for community center. Here’s where

Rancho Cordova officials are moving ahead with plans for a new community center, including purchasing two existing buildings in the city and redesigning them as a single plaza.

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The city signed a letter of intent to purchase the properties at 10845 and 10875 International Drive for development as a community center. At a meeting Tuesday, the City Council directed staff to move forward with plans for the buildings.

The future community center could include a library, 500-seat banquet hall, 299-seat black box theater, outdoor event plaza, commercial kitchen, art gallery and meeting space for community groups, according to a city presentation.

“It really is more than just a community center,” City Manager Micah Runner said. “It’s a place for arts, for learning, for innovation.”

The property includes about 154,000 square feet of building space on 15 acres, including six acres of green space and nearly 1,000 parking spaces.

The preliminary estimated budget is $90 million to $110 million, though the estimate is subject to change as design work continues, according to the presentation. The budget would cover property acquisition, building renovations, site improvements and construction of the theater and banquet hall.

The buildings, owned by Vision Service Plan, were constructed between 1998 and 2001 and need upgrades to meet current building codes and modernization needs, according to the staff report.

Rancho Cordova-based VSP put the buildings on the market in 2022, and the city plans to purchase them for $11.5 million, according to the Sacramento Business Journal. Runner told the Business Journal the price works out to about $75 per square foot.

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Rancho Cordova’s current main community center is located at Hagan Community Park, which offers a recreation center, picnic areas and sports facilities such as tennis courts and fields.

Along with the potential new community center, Rancho Cordova also has an arena in the works, which could bring professional sports to the city.

The 10,000-capacity venue, with 7,500 fixed seats, is planned for the corner of Kilgore Road and Trade Center Drive. It is expected to become home to the Sacramento area’s two Major Arena Soccer League teams and could later expand to include housing, hotels, retail, restaurants, a card room and the city’s first movie theater and bowling alley.

A previous community center was discussed as part of the Mills Crossing project, located near the intersection of Folsom Boulevard and La Loma Drive. While housing will still move forward at that location, plans for a civic center were scrapped, and conversations about potential commercial development continue, Runner said.

Runner said the new community center is more centrally located in the city, and that purchasing existing buildings instead of constructing new ones at Mills Crossing makes more financial sense.

“We get a lot more square footage for the same value and price that Mills Crossing was,” Runner said. “We see this as a great place for community gathering and bringing people together from all sides of the city.”

The City Council is expected to review a purchase and sale agreement with VSP for the buildings at its next meeting Sept. 8. The community center is expected to open in spring 2029, according to the presentation.

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