SACRAMENTO, Calif. — On the site of where basketball dreams were built 35 years ago in Sacramento, will eventually come a gleaming medical facility.
At the vacant Sleep Train Arena in Natomas will eventually sit California Northstate University's [CNSU], a 13-story teaching hospital with at least 400 beds. The city is expected to give final approval on Tuesday, Feb. 15, for the $750 million reality.
After a long search by the Sacramento Kings to find a suitor for their property, it is expected to be a relatively young university, CNSU, which was founded in 2008. Dr. Alvin Cheung is CNSU President and CEO. How did he describe the process of finding a location for the school? Well, it wasn't fun.
"I tell them it involved a lot of sleepless nights and a high pain tolerance," Cheung said.
RELATED: Site of Sleep Train Arena to become new home to California Northstate University teaching hospital
With expected completion in three years, this teaching hospital and campus is projected to generate $4 billion in economic output over a 10 year timeframe.
The project was originally planned for Elk Grove, but the city rejected that plan based on business and neighbor complaints about potential traffic and noise. Rancho Cordova was briefly in talks to host the teaching hospital, but those discussions didn't last long.
So, it will be located in Natomas at a location that was designed to handle traffic and noise.
So, what will happen to the former Arco Arena/Power Balance Arena/Sleep Train Arena? It’s coming down.
Built in 1988, the arena is set to come down within the next 12 months. The home of the Sacramento Kings until 2016, it was most recently an overflow COVID-19 hospital.
The Kings still own the land, and are donating 35 acres for the hospital site. An additional 12 acres of land on the grounds was just sold to the Natomas School District to build a school.
ABC10: Watch, Download, Read
Watch more from ABC10
Site of Sleep Train Arena to become new home to California Northstate University teaching hospital