Tall buildings in Sacramento | |
---|---|
![]() Sacramento skyline on the Sacramento River with the Tower Bridge in 2023 | |
Tallest building | Wells Fargo Center (1992) |
Tallest building height | 423 ft (128.9 m) |
Number of tall buildings | |
Buildings taller than 100 m | 10 |
Number of tall buildings (feet) | |
Buildings taller than 200 ft | 20 |
Buildings taller than 300 ft | 13 |
Sacramento is the capital of the U.S state of California, with a metropolitan area population of 2.4 million. Sacramento has the largest skyline in the Central Valley of California, and one of the largest in Northern California, with a total of 20 buildings that exceed 200 feet (61 m) in height, 13 of which are taller than 300 ft (91 m). Despite this, Sacramento has a relatively short and small skyline for its population; none of the skyscrapers in Sacramento are in the hundred tallest buildings in California. The tallest building in the city is the Wells Fargo Center, an 30-story office building completed in 1992 to a height of 423 ft (129 m).
As California's capital, many of Sacramento's tallest buildings serve as offices for government agencies, including the Cal/EPA Building for the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Natural Resources Tower for the California Natural Resources Agency, or as courthouse buildings, such as the Robert T. Matsui or Tani Cantil-Sakauye courthouses. The courthouses are next to each other. Residential high-rises are rare, and no fully residential buildings are taller than 200 feet (61 m). Almost all high-rises in the city are located in downtown, south of the American River and east of the Sacramento River. One notable tower, the CalSTRS building, sits across the Sacramento River in West Sacramento.
The history of skyscrapers in Sacramento began with the Citizen Hotel and the Elks Tower, both built in the 1920s. However, few high-rises were built in the city until the 1980s, avoiding the boom in office towers that took place in many major American cities in the previous decades. Sacramento tallest building remained the California State Capitol until the Renaissance Tower was built in 1989. Its title as the city's tallest building was quickly taken by Park Tower, and finally the Wells Fargo Center. Postmodernist architecture influenced the design of new skyscrapers during this period.
While construction slowed in the 2000s, the end of the decade would see the completion of Sacramento's second and third tallest building, the US Bank Tower and the Bank of the West Tower. Since 2010, the skyline has seen the addition of only three buildings taller than 200 ft (61 m). Two of them are the Natural Resources Tower and Tani Cantil-Sakauye courthouse. The other is the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel in 2017, part of the Downtown Commons project that also involved the construction of the Golden 1 Center, an indoor arena. Sacramento has received several proposals for taller residential and office towers. However, many former proposals, most notably the Towers on Capitol Mall, were cancelled due to the Great Recession and higher construction costs. [1] [2]
The map below shows the location of buildings taller than 200 feet (61 m) in Sacramento. Each marker is numbered by height and colored by the decade of the building's completion.
This lists ranks Sacramento buildings that stand at least 200 feet (61 m) tall, based on standard height measurement. This includes spires and architectural details but does not include antenna masts. Existing structures are included for ranking purposes based on present height.
Rank | Name | Image | Coordinates | Height ft (m) | Floors | Purpose | Year | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Wells Fargo Center | ![]() | 38°34′42″N121°30′09″W / 38.578384°N 121.502487°W | 423 (128.9) | 30 | Office | 1992 | Tallest building in Sacramento. Tallest building completed in Sacramento in the 1990s. [3] [4] |
2 | US Bank Tower | | 38°34′43″N121°29′57″W / 38.57864°N 121.499153°W | 402 (122.6) | 25 | Office | 2008 | Topped out in 2007. Tallest building completed in Sacramento in the 2000s. [5] [6] |
3 | Bank of the West Tower | ![]() | 38°34′41″N121°30′05″W / 38.578083°N 121.501427°W | 396 (120.7) | 25 | Office | 2009 | Also known as 500 Capital Mall. [7] [8] |
4 | Park Tower | ![]() | 38°34′52″N121°29′42″W / 38.581131°N 121.494957°W | 380 (115.8) | 26 | Office | 1991 | Also known as US Bank Plaza [9] [10] |
5 | Renaissance Tower | ![]() | 38°34′48″N121°29′46″W / 38.580032°N 121.496002°W | 372 (113.4) | 28 | Office | 1989 | Tallest building completed in Sacramento in the 1980s. [11] [12] |
6 | Cal/EPA Building | ![]() | 38°34′55″N121°29′31″W / 38.581989°N 121.491844°W | 372 (113.4) | 25 | Office | 2000 | Also known more formally as the Joe Serna Junior California EPA Building. [13] [14] |
7 | Esquire Plaza | | 38°34′42″N121°29′23″W / 38.578468°N 121.48983°W | 355 (108.2) | 22 | Office | 1999 | [15] [16] |
8 | Capitol Square | ![]() | 38°34′39″N121°30′09″W / 38.577427°N 121.502556°W | 351 (107) | 25 | Office | 1992 | [17] [18] |
9 | Robert T. Matsui United States Courthouse | ![]() | 38°35′01″N121°29′55″W / 38.583561°N 121.498734°W | 350 (106.7) | 16 | Office | 1998 | [19] [20] |
10 | Natural Resources Tower | ![]() | 38°34′30″N121°29′59″W / 38.574963°N 121.499619°W | 344 (105) [a] | 22 | Office | 2021 | A 344-foot, 877,000 sq ft skyscraper for the California Natural Resources Agency for up to 4200 employees. Also known as the "P Street Building". Tallest building built in Sacramento during the 2020s. [21] [22] |
11 | Sacramento Courthouse Building | ![]() | 38°35′04″N121°29′54″W / 38.584473°N 121.498405°W | 325 (99) | 18 | Government | 2023 | Also known as the Tani Cantil-Sakauye Sacramento County Courthouse [23] [24] |
12 | Sheraton Grand Sacramento | – | 38°34′45″N121°29′24″W / 38.579033°N 121.490089°W | 318 (97) | 28 | Hotel | 2001 | Tallest hotel in Sacramento. [25] [26] |
13 | 1325 J Street | – | 38°34′45″N121°29′18″W / 38.579243°N 121.48822°W | 265 (80.8) | 19 | Office | 1999 | Also known as the General Services Building. [27] [28] |
14 | Kimpton Sawyer Sacramento | – | 38°34′54″N121°29′58″W / 38.581596°N 121.499519°W | 260 (79) | 16 | Mixed-use | 2017 | Part of Downtown Commons, a new mixed use development home of the Golden 1 Center for the Sacramento Kings. Mixed-use hotel and residential building. Tallest building completed in Sacramento during the 2010s. [29] [30] |
15 | California State Capitol | ![]() | 38°34′36″N121°29′37″W / 38.57666°N 121.493629°W | 247 (75.3) | 6 | Government | 1874 | Tallest building completed in Sacramento during the 19th century. [31] |
16 | 1201K Tower | ![]() | 38°34′43″N121°29′27″W / 38.578716°N 121.4908°W | 238 (72.5) | 18 | Office | 1992 | [32] [33] |
17 | West America Bank | ![]() | 38°34′43″N121°30′14″W / 38.578663°N 121.50399°W | 229 (69.7)[ citation needed ] | 18 | Office | 1984 | [34] |
18 | Department of Justice Building | – | 38°34′47″N121°29′17″W / 38.579742°N 121.488167°W | 226 (69) | 18 | Office | 1995 | [35] [36] |
19 | Elks Tower | ![]() | 38°34′49″N121°29′30″W / 38.580143°N 121.491707°W | 226 (68.9) | 14 | Office | 1926 | Tallest building completed in Sacramento in the 1920s. [37] [38] |
20 | The Citizen Hotel | ![]() | 38°34′49″N121°29′38″W / 38.580189°N 121.49379°W | 216 (65.8) | 15 | Hotel | 1925 | Originally known as California Western State Life Insurance Building, or simply the Cal-West Building. Along with Elks Tower, one of the earliest tall buildings in Sacramento. [39] [40] [41] |
As of 2025, there are no buildings under construction in Sacramento that are expected to be taller than 200 ft (61 m).
This lists ranks proposed buildings in Sacramento that are planned to be taller than 200 ft (61 m). A dash “–“ indicates information about the building is unknown or has not been released.
Name | Height ft (m) | Floors | Year | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
301 Capitol Mall | 560 (170) | 33 | – | Project delayed and undecided due to CALPERS and CIM backing out of the project. The land is currently up for sale for a new concept to emerge. At 557 feet, the previously approved plan, Tower 301, would have been the tallest building in Sacramento. [42] |
Sacramento Commons | 417 (127) | 26 | 2027 | Phase One featuring 2 mid-rise buildings has been completed. The next phase is expected to start in 3 to 5 years. At buildout, the Sacramento Commons project will have up to 1470 units spaced out between two mid rises and three 26 story towers with the option for an on site hotel and residential mixed use. [43] |
Vanir Tower | 400 (121.9) | 26 | – | Will includes a 250-key luxury hotel, 50 luxury condominiums, 100,000 square feet of office space, and ground-floor retail and restaurants. Currently on hold after the developer, Vanir Development Co., withdrew the original application on June 29, 2018, to work on the current concept. [44] [45] |
Southwest Corner/Third Street and Capitol Mall | 308 (94) | 26 | 2026 | The height is still unknown until the construction start. Also known as Lot X. Southern Land Company announced plans on October 19, 2021, to build Sacramento's first high-rise for rental apartments in the city next to the Crocker Art Museum, which was previously owned by the Sacramento Kings and purchased for $16,750,000. The mixed-use project is designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz and will feature a 341,000-square-foot 26 story residential tower with 263 luxury apartments, a 7-story 450 car parking garage, a 200,000-square-foot 14 story mass timber residential tower with 154 apartments, and 11,000-square-feet of retail. There will also be 21 3-story townhomes on the property. In total, there will be 436 market rate apartments on site. Amenities will include an outdoor pool on the 18th floor, a sculptural garden at the tower's plaza, and private terraces and rooftop gardens. Southern Land Company plans to break ground on the project in 2024 and complete it in 2026. [46] [47] |
Unnamed hotel | – | 28 | – | A new 28-story convention hotel adjacent to the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center. Overall, the hotel room will contain 330 hotel rooms, two floors of underground parking, four floors with 28 residential units, a 6,000 square-foot ballroom, almost 13,000 square feet of meeting rooms, and a skyline rooftop bar and restaurant. The developers hope to start construction in 2025. [48] |
Name | Image | Years as tallest | Height ft (m) | Floors |
---|---|---|---|---|
California State Capitol | ![]() | 1874–1989 | 247 (75.3) | 6 |
Renaissance Tower | ![]() | 1989–1991 | 372 (113.4) | 28 |
Park Tower | ![]() | 1991–1992 | 380 (115.8) | 26 |
Wells Fargo Center | ![]() | 1992–present | 423 (128.9) | 30 |