Listen: Sacramento City Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum
A surprise last minute objection to the Sacramento Railyards project and proposed soccer stadium is throwing a wrench into the plans.
People who live in the Railyards and the union Unite Here Local 39 are protesting the development's new financing plan and the proposed enhanced infrastructure financing district, arguing that more affordable housing is needed in the railyards.
Councilperson Pluckebaum suggests there may be more to the story.
Statement from UNITE HERE on 6/26/25
At a public hearing today, 135 Railyards area residents submitted protest letters against the expansion of the Railyards Area Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD), a deal that would channel $92 million from Sacramento taxpayers to developers Republic and Downtown Railyard Ventures. Sacramento City staff acknowledged that the number of protests represent at least 25%, which would send the expansion to a vote of district residents. City staff say they are still tallying to see whether they represent over 50%. A majority protest would require that EIFD expansion must be terminated, and the same EIFD can’t come back for a vote within the year. Staff was unable to answer how many total residents and landowners there are in the district. UNITE HERE Local 49, the hospitality workers union and a longtime critic of the Railyards development deal’s lack of affordable housing, says at the time of the hearing of there were no more than 238 total combined residents and landowners. 135 is 57% of 238.
“UNITE HERE Local 49 is standing shoulder to shoulder with the Railyards residents in protesting this development deal,” said Aamir Deen, president of UNITE HERE Local 49. “Our members, from housekeepers to cooks to bartenders, struggle to find housing they can afford. We need a Railyards development for the people, not a playground for the rich. This deal should be sent back to the negotiating table. We stand vigilant to make sure that City follows the law and listens to residents.”