Kings launch plans to build at old arena site

Three years after they moved downtown, the Sacramento Kings are expected to take a key step Thursday toward finally fulfilling their promise to redevelop the largely unused Sleep Train Arena site.

The team said it is filing an application with the city to rezone the massive 183-acre site for a variety of potential uses — one of which could be a zoo, which is an idea Sacramento Zoo officials recently floated for the site.

The Kings’ application does not offer details about what may go on the site, but includes zoning for the possibility of 1.2 million square feet of commercial and retail, as well as employment or office sites, and notably, up to 2,000 housing units.

The team hopes to conduct what likely will be a yearlong environmental review process, and have the land ready for development this time next year. That will make the site easier to pitch as “shovel ready” to tenants or buyers, they said.

“This flexible master entitlement plan represents an important step in the process towards entitling the Natomas site to attract an end user that supports our region,” the team’s chief operating officer Matina Kolokotronis said in a press statement.

“We have collected feedback from city leaders, stakeholders and interested parties to develop a dynamic plan that is capable of adapting to a broad range of opportunities. We look forward to continuing to develop this plan in coordination with the community and city leaders.”

Natomas Councilwoman Angelique Ashby, who has pushed the team to do something big at the site, with a focus on high-paying jobs, said this week she has been briefed, but has not seen the Kings’ plans, and will expect the community to have questions.

“It’s a concern to me that it does include so much (potential for) housing,” Ashby said. “That is not what I believe their interest was for that space.”