(Press Release from Nishi Developers) On Tuesday, February 16th the Davis City Council voted unanimously to put the Nishi Gateway project on the ballot for voter consideration this June. This is the first time in the history of a Measure R project that the council voted unanimously – sending a strong message to the voters of the many community benefits derived from the project.
The Davis City Council’s 5-0 decision comes on top of support we’ve received from 10 former mayors and council members, the Davis Chamber of Commerce, and the ASUCD student government. Furthermore, 300 of your neighbors, many of whom are leaders in business, education, and environmental advocacy, have also endorsed the project. Will you join them in voting for or even endorsing Nishi?
Now that it’s on the ballot, I hope you’ll visit http://www.davisfornishigateway.com to learn more about this project. Here are a few highlights:
- It creates up to $1.4 million annually for city services like park maintenance and programs for youth and seniors, all without new taxation on existing residents.
- It generates up to $385 million in annual economic activity and up to $108 million in annual wages.
- Brings patrons to our downtown businesses, our central business district, increasing sales tax revenue.
- It creates 1,500 to 1,800 permanent jobs.
- With 325,000 square feet of research and development space, it will bring small businesses to the City of Davis that emerge from technologies developed at UC Davis.
- Nishi would be the most sustainable project in Davis history. 85% of energy use will be generated from onsite renewable energy, and it would be the first project in Davis to exceed our Beyond Platinum Bicycle Action Plan.
- The developers are paying for a new road to campus (under the Union Pacific Railroad) and Richards interchange improvements to improve traffic and safety, and new bike paths and parks connected to the Davis Bike Loop.
- The modern and accessible for sale condos/flats at Nishi will be perfect for seniors looking for more manageable housing near downtown and campus.
- The 1,500 beds for students will help alleviate the student housing crisis and decrease the pressure of mini-dorm conversions in our neighborhoods.
Does Nishi sound like something you’d be willing to vote for or endorse? If so, please let us know.
If you have any questions about the project, please reply to this e-mail and let us know. We want to know what matters most to you about development in Davis, what you like most about Nishi and where you might have lingering concerns.
I just noticed less than 2% of the “Neighborhood Endorsers” at the “Davis for Nishi Gateway” website are from South Davis. I don’t know how the 5 geographic regions these endorsers have been divided into vary in terms of population size or political activity, but this 2% is extremely low. I suspect it results from the fact that south Davis residents depend heavily on Richard’s Blvd. to get to downtown and the UC campus, and this vital transportation bottleneck — already one of the worst in town — will certainly be much worse were this project to be built. South Davis residents are also surrounded by acres of undeveloped land — much of it along a road named “Research Park Drive” — that demonstrates the availability of land for apartments and research facilities, much of it just two or three blocks farther from campus, proving the claimed need for this project is a lie. The time to consider a project like Nishi would be after the city has solved the traffic problem on Richard’s and has begun to run out of other, more accessible, parcels of land currently set aside for projects similar to those proposed for this project.
*and one of whom is not.
**And definitely another who is not.
This is the best opportunity Davis has to bring in new business… This is an opportunity we cannot afford to let slip.
Going through with this project will definitely be a great step in the right direction for both students and the rest of the Davis community