New buildings to rise from ashes of Sacramento’s R Street ice plant
By Ryan Lillis and Bob Shallit – Sacramento Bee
A November fire destroyed a developer’s dream of converting a cavernous old warehouse into a hip new commercial center on Sacramento’s R Street corridor.
Now developer Mike Heller is moving forward with plans for two modern glass-and-metal structures on the ground formerly occupied by the Crystal Ice and Cold Storage building at 16th and R streets.
A three-alarm fire gutted the long-closed ice plant, and construction crews continue removing mountains of debris.
The new plans for 16th and R, dubbed Ice Rally Cap, are part of Heller’s broader outline to build housing, restaurants and office space along two blocks of R Street, a former warehouse zone rebranded as an arts district.