320-350 Alhambra Blvd - Secretary Standards Analysis and Evaluation

Groundwork Preservation LLC was hired by Demas Enterprises to prepare a Historic Resource Evaluation (HRE) for the project at 324 Alhambra Blvd in Sacramento, California. The HRE was required by the City of Sacramento to fulfill historic resource review requirements under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The subject property includes six buildings, two of which are associated with the former Puerta Sausage Factory. The factory buildings are eligible for listing in the California Register of Historical Resources under Criterion 1 for their contributions to the local history of Sacramento during the period of significance from 1926 to 1935. Four additional residential properties on the site were evaluated and found not to be eligible historical resources under CEQA. Groundwork conducted original research at the City of Sacramento’s local government offices and online repositories such as Ancestry.com and Newspapers.com. Research topics included the development of Sacramento’s East Sacramento neighborhood and agribusiness history in Sacramento and the wider Northern California region.
Groundwork prepared an evaluation of the proposed project’s conformance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Rehabilitation of Historic Properties and found that the original project, which only retained a small portion of the two buildings’ facades, was not compliant with the Standards. Groundwork collaborated with the client and project architect through a series of design review meetings to steer the project towards Standards compliance and to avoid significant impacts under CEQA. The HRE required an in-depth assessment and understanding of the character-defining features of the historic buildings as well as the potential impacts of the proposed project on historic features. The project illustrates Groundwork’s expertise in historic building assessment and how we work collaboratively with our clients to design sensitive projects that meet historic review standards while also balancing contemporary interventions, accessibility, and code compliance.