Thousands of new homes, 200-acre medical campus planned near Sacramento suburb

Ryan Lillis
·2 min read
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A prominent Sacramento developer and the University of California, Davis are proposing to join forces on a new community outside Folsom that envisions thousands of new homes and a 200-acre medical complex.

The new community would be built on roughly 2,800 acres south of Folsom and in neighboring El Dorado County. It would focus at least partly on serving an older population and residents with disabilities, with many “technology-enabled homes” that are designed to help seniors and those with disabilities live independently, according to a news release.

“We know the key to healthy aging for people starts in their homes,” UC Davis Health CEO David Lubarsky said in the news release. “We believe a reimagined community that leverages technology for human-made spaces where people live, recreate and work will promote better management of chronic disease and increase independence for valuable members of this population.”

AKT filed application documents for the project late last week and company officials stressed the project will take years to materialize. The sprawling new community would be built on land straddling Sacramento and El Dorado counties just south of White Rock Road, south of the Folsom Ranch new home development currently under construction.

The proposal calls for up to 4,000 housing units south of Folsom in Sacramento County and another 4,000 homes in El Dorado County. The exact mix of housing will be determined in the months ahead during public outreach and commission hearings, but will likely include market rate housing, multi-family complexes, workforce housing for middle-income earners and homes for low-income earners.

The medical campus could include research and teaching facilities serving the region’s growing senior population, AKT officials said. The population of residents 60 and older in Sacramento County is projected to increase by 83% between 2010 and 2030, according to state estimates.

“The vast majority of older adults want to age in place; they want to remain in their homes, near family and caregivers,” AKT spokesman Bill Romanelli said. “We need to plan for that now, or risk failing the fastest growing segment of our population.”