This is the first of three posts on tower cranes. To answer the question in the title of why do I count tower cranes, there are three answers, with the first being the shortest and simplest: I'm a nerd. If you are in the construction industry and anything like me (or Bob Kjome), you think tower cranes are cool. They tend to show up on big projects in dense (read: complicated) urban environments. My daughters and wife ridicule me mercilessly for watching tower cranes #sorrynotsorry.

Second (which really builds on the previous point or being a geek): when I visit cities and stay in a hotel downtown, I will usually walk or run from tower crane to tower crane as a way to get exercise and see cities from the perspective of where the biggest changes are occurring. The tower cranes give me waypoint markers so I don't get lost. Since tower cranes are typically building projects in established, up-and-coming, or gentrifying neighborhoods, running between tower cranes helps me from wandering into rough neighborhoods. I am directionally challenged.

Third: most importantly, tower cranes are a sign of strong economic development. If you drive into a city with a lot of tower cranes on the skyline, it is a pretty good bet that there is a high rate of economic growth in that area. When San Francisco pulled out of the 2009 housing crash, there were dozens of tower cranes building high rise condos and office buildings. Same goes for Seattle. What do San Francisco and Seattle have in common? Both are home to many tech companies that have fared very well since 2009 and have accelerated their growth throughout the year of COVID-19. The mother of all growth stories has been Toronto, which has had over 200 tower cranes up for several years. Construction consulting firm Rider Levett Bucknall tracks tower crane counts and summarizes insights as to how the counts correlate with construction industry economic health. However, RLB does not track many mid and smaller markets. That's a gap I try to fill. With that being said...

What's up Sacramento?

Last quarter, Sacramento had five tower cranes plus two large crawler cranes. We lost the tower crane at DesCor's Mansion Inn project at H Street between 15th and 16th Streets but gained three tower cranes in the Railyards, so we now have seven tower cranes on our skyline with one crawler at the Richards Boulevard site. Details are below, moving from the west (West Sacramento, technically) to the east.

​CalSTRS second tower at 3rd and E Streets in West Sacramento, DPR Construction.

​Sacramento Commons, 5th and O Streets, Deacon Construction.

Two new kids on the block. Sacramento County Courthouse, the block bordered by G and H Streets and 5th and 6th Streets, Clark Construction.

The other new kid on the block: Condo project in the Railyards, Brown Construction.

The bonus crawler crane ​at the DGS Richards Blvd./N. 7th Street complex, Hensel Phelps.

Apartments at  the intersection of 16th Street and F Street, Sunseri Construction.

Hyatt House, K and 28th Streets in Midtown. MarketOne Builders.

Coming next: San Diego and Boise.

I don't want to get too romantic, but beautiful sunrises over construction sites always lift my spirits. The Tschannen Eye Institute building (being built by McCarthy Building Companies) and an associated parking structure (being build by Clark Pacific) are really coming along.

In addition to touring the WELL Expansion, we walked the Hornet Commons student housing project with Sacramento City Councilmember Jeff Harris. Opening this fall, Hornet Commons is a $150 million student housing project supplying 1,100 beds directly adjacent to Sac State.

Last week we toured the WELL Expansion project with Sacramento City Councilmember Jeff Harris. After the first two exterior pix, the next five pix are of new individual use showers and locker renovations. The last pic shows the expanded weight room (moving into the space formerly occupied by Peak Adventures).

Since November, four tower cranes were removed from our skyline (two each at the Frederic @601 Capitol Mall and the DGS Swing Space @O Street between 10th and 11th Streets but we gained a new one, so we currently have five. Very soon, we will gain two more (see below) and there are two big crawler cranes off of Richards Boulevard.
This month we will work east to west:

Hyatt House, K and 28th Streets in Midtown. MarketOne Builders took this project over (from Tricorp Construction).

This crane just landed last week at  the intersection of 16th Street and F Street. It's a multi-family project and it is unclear who the general contractor is.

​Mansion Inn, H Street between 15th and 16th Streets. DesCor Builders is the general contractor for this project.

​Sacramento Commons, 5th and O Streets, Deacon Construction.

Coming soon! Two tower cranes at the new Sacramento County Courthouse, the block bordered by G and H Streets and 5th and 6th Streets, Clark Construction. A reliable source tells me the cranes will be erected on the weekends of April 10-11 and April 17-18.

CalSTRS second tower at 3rd and E Streets in West Sacramento, DPR Construction.

Bonus cranes: two large crawlers at the DGS Richards Blvd./N. 7th Street complex, Hensel Phelps.

A few pix showing the interior and exterior updates of the WELL Expansion from last week. The full lifecycle of construction is included, from demo to punchlist. For those familiar with the WELL, the demo is of the existing cabana locker room. The "new" locker room is a part of the westward expansion of the building. The exterior work expanding the building is done and the construction effort is mostly interior build-out. A lot of framing, rough MEP and drywall.

The time flies...it has been 2.5 months since I cruised around and checked in on the progress of projects in Sacramento with tower cranes. My timing was great because I found out the next day that I need to quarantine because of COVID-19...

We lost one tower crane (Hyatt Centric Marshall Hotel, 8th and L Street. DavisREED Construction) but gained a new mini tower crane at Mansion Inn (see below). Overall, our count stands at eight. Sacramento is abuzz with construction which is a great sight. The projects below go from west to east starting in West Sacramento.

​CalSTRS second tower in West Sacramento, DPR Construction.

​Sacramento Commons, 5th and O Streets, Deacon Construction.

​601 Capitol Mall; this project is now called The Frederic. Heller Pacific is the owner's rep and JMI is the general contractor (2 tower cranes).

DGS Swing Space, O Street between 10th and 11th Streets. Hensel Phelps Construction (2 tower cranes). This project is far enough along that I expect the cranes to be removed soon.

Mansion Inn, H Street between 15th and 16th Streets. DesCor Builders (mini tower crane...does this count as a full tower crane? Asking for a friend).

Hyatt House, K and 28th Streets in Midtown. Tricorp Construction. This is a cool project. It took a few months of installing falsework before they could remove the horizontal elements of the structure and start excavating the basement. A craft worker for the excavation subcontractor saw me taking this picture and said "This project is very difficult. Avoid the construction industry." If he only knew...

These pix were taken a few days ago. Eight total, going from west to east:

CalSTRS second tower in West Sacramento, DPR Construction.

Sacramento Commons, 5th and O Streets, Deacon Construction.

601 Capitol Mall. Heller Pacific is the owner's rep (2 tower cranes).

Hyatt Centric Marshall Hotel, 8th and L Street. DavisREED Construction.

DGS Swing Space, O Street between 10th and 11th Streets. Hensel Phelps Construction (2 tower cranes).

Hyatt House, K and 28th Streets in Midtown. Tricorp Construction.

7th and G Streets. This parcel is owned by the City of Sacramento. This rig helped set some test drilled piers (not visible in the picture). This will likely be the site of a mid- to high-rise project. The new Sacramento County Courthouse will be across the street to the west.

Driving steel tube piles at the piers for the Tower Bridge. I'm not sure if these are to reinforce the existing piers or to protect the piers from wayward boats. Based on the marks on the piles, these are going to be driven to a depth of  at least​ 110 feet from top of pile.

COVID-19 is a bummer and has been really hard on the restaurant business, but we appreciate the creativity it has unleashed. Tracey and I were apparently the only people not in Tahoe this weekend, so we hit a lot of our favorite places to eat. First up on Friday evening was the new outdoor set up at Beast and Bounty at the Ice Blocks in midtown Sacramento. We stayed true to our 95% plant-based diet and had the tofu meatballs, kale Caesar, vegan pizza and topped off with the rotating IPA for me and rose for TReg. The two slices of pizza that survived dinner were consumed less than an hour later at home because it was too good to save for leftovers.

The next morning (Saturday) we made the drive to Napa Valley and visited our new favorite winery Ashes & Diamonds. This place is unbelievable. First, you are greeted by two striking Barbara Bestor-designed buildings that seem inspired by a mid-century Palm Springs vibe yet look incredibly at home among the vineyards.

The wine matches the architecture and we did a tasting that included the Rose, Blanc, and Mountain Cuvee, all of which we bought a bottle of (or three of the Saffron Mountain Cuvee, of which we were compelled by the incredible taste and even more incredible story). It was good thing the tasting was two hours and included food. The setting and service (thanks Jasmine!) made it go seem much shorter than that.

Later that afternoon, after a walk around St. Helena to look at art that we somehow tricked the gallery owner into thinking we could afford, we stopped at Gott's Roadside Diner on the way out of town. I had decided early in the day I was going to make a wide departure from the plant-based diet and go deep into beef territory. I was planning on a burger, probably with bacon and cheese (ok, very wide departure). But the special of the weekend was an heirloom  tomato BLT that looked incredible. Given the depth of hamburger possibilities in Sacramento, I opted for the item that would be hard to replicate anywhere else. I was not disappointed.

Bonus: T gave me one of her three avocado tacos that came with her meal. Along with some brussel sprouts (just ok, not crispy enough) and onion rings (phenomenal), I washed this gastro party down with a Pliny the Elder and was sufficiently sated until the following morning.

Sunday came and we decided to walk to the Faria Bakery in Oak Park. T has been randomly bringing home treats when she picks up a loaves of olive bread and we had the fontina and potato pizza last week that was one of the best pizzas we have ever had (seriously). The walk from our house was three miles each way, meaning I would more than earn the caloric reward provided by the buckwheat coffee cake I selected. Between the coffee cake, olive loaf and morning bun we shlepped home, we had a bag heavy enough to make carrying it a workout. T and I had to take turns and had to switch arms often. Note to self: the next time we walk three miles to buy food that's as dense as it is delicious, bring a backpack.

This weekend was a not-so-subtle reminder of how lucky we are to live in Northern California,  the farm-to-fork capital of the world. So much fresh, delicious food that the producers are finding innovative ways to get into our digestive tracts by way of our ever grateful pallets.