Sacramento's new Costco is big win for rapidly growing Natomas
SACRAMENTO — A new Costco opened this week in Natomas in what is being called a big win for the community.
A small line already sprouted up at the new Costco as excitement for the store's open built. However, Costco is a peg in a larger story about Natomas and the explosion of growth since the sleepy days of Arco Arena, the former home of the Sacramento Kings.
Crowds on Wednesday were already gathered ahead of Costco's Thursday opening, hoping to score on limited high-quality items.
Gerard Alcantara was one of those people. He is a Fairfield native and noticed one thing about Natomas.
"We noticed the new apartments out here," he said. "Everything looks new, looks like they just built it."
New houses, new services and new Costco are all signs of the times north of Interstate 80.
"It used to be home to Arco Arena and that's what everyone knew, but there weren't any houses around it," said Ryan Lundquist, a Sacramento-area real estate expert.
Lundquist said the community has evolved significantly.
"Anyone moving [into the area] now, they may not have known there was an arena, which is the wild part," he said.
A building moratorium occurred in 2008 due to a need for levee improvements, and in 2015, construction started again.
The median house price since the end of the moratorium has jumped drastically, nearly doubling in value.
"When you look at the Natomas area, on average, the houses were built in 2003 as opposed to 1980 or so," Lundquist said.
That means there is more to build.
"The number of housing units that you see going on sale online, the amount of apartments across the street you see, we're just continuing to grow," City Councilor Karina Talamantes said Thursday at the new Costco.
Talamantes represents the area and has seen the growth firsthand.
"New schools, brand new parks, brand new homes, apartments to rent – we have new housing developments across the street from this Costco," she said.
As Costco welcomes in shoppers on Thursday, it's a chance to continue Natomas' status as a growth environment.
"One of my goals is to continue infill development," Talamantes said. "Any plot of land that is zoned for housing and for residential, I'm all in."
Data collected by Redfin grades Natomas an 80-84 out of 100 in terms of how competitive the market is. Couple that with other projects in the area and it doesn't appear that growth will stop anytime soon.