Is Sacramento still getting a Whole Foods near midtown? Here’s what local leaders say

Reality Check is a Bee series holding officials and organizations accountable and shining a light on their decisions. Have a tip? Email realitycheck@sacbee.com.

It’s been over a year since Sacramento developers began working to bring the city its first Whole Foods Market, and people are looking for an update.

Last week, Carol Purin reached out to The Sacramento Bee’s service journalism team, which focuses on community-driven news, to ask: “Is the Whole Foods Market scheduled for J Street at 16th Street still in the works?”

Here’s what we know so far:

Is Whole Foods supermarket coming to Sacramento?

In an October 2022 letter obtained by The Bee, Downtown Sacramento Partnership “strongly urged” Mayor Darrell Steinberg and council to back a proposed development at the corner of 16th and J streets that would include a Whole Foods grocery store.

“On behalf of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, I am writing to strongly urge the city to support the city tax credit loan being requested by SKK Developments to complete the mixed use residential and retail development featuring Whole Foods as the anchor retail tenant,” the nonprofit agency wrote.

In the letter, Downtown Sacramento Partnership said the supermarket chain would open a location at 1617 J St. in Boulevard Park, formerly home to Lucca Restaurant & Bar, with 198 housing units above it, The Bee reported in February 2023.

That February, Steinberg hinted about an “iconic” store moving into the same area in a State of Downtown speech.

“The downtown of our future will be a neighborhood with a healthy mix of housing and jobs,” Steinberg said. “Imagine an iconic grocery store on the corner of 16th and J. It’s happening.”

However, it hasn’t happened yet.

The Bee recently reached out to Steinberg’s team, Downtown Sacramento Partnership and the city of Sacramento’s Community Development Department to get answers on the status of the Whole Foods development near midtown.

All three entities referred The Bee’s reporter to SKK Developments, which had not responded to several requests for comment as of Tuesday afternoon.

“The mayor is not going to comment on the status of any particular development,” Mary Lynne Vellinga, Steinberg’s chief of staff, wrote in an email to The Bee on Monday.

She declined to provide further details about the status of Sacramento‘s proposed Whole Foods site.

Vellinga shared an official statement from Steinberg shortly after that.

“We remain committed to the idea of a full-sized grocery store serving downtown and midtown and we’re working diligently to make that happen,” the mayor wrote.

It’s not the first time a Whole Foods store has been floated in the midtown area.

In 2015, city officials approved a 41,000-square-foot Whole Foods near 21st and L streets in midtown.

“This is a new iconic project for midtown,” then-Councilman Steve Hansen said at the time, calling the proposed project “catalytic.”

However, that grocery store never materialized.

“Aren’t we Sac Urbanites not up to some sort of lofty retail standards!” Purin, the Sacramento Bee reader, wrote in an email on Tuesday, adding that she feels “overlooked again.”

The Bee reached out to Whole Foods several times for comment about proposals to build a Sacramento store but had not received a response as of Tuesday afternoon.

Is Sacramento still getting a new grocery store near midtown?

It’s unclear.

Madelyn Smith, director of communications and outreach for Downtown Sacramento Partnership, declined to elaborate on the city’s first Whole Foods site.

“I’m sorry, we don’t have any updates,” she wrote in a June 7 email before telling The Bee’s reporter to contact city officials “for more information.”

A city spokeswoman confirmed something is in the works at 1617 J St.

In a June 7 email, Kelli Trapani with the city of Sacramento’s Department of Community Deployment said records show a development at that address was approved but a future tenant was not listed.

Follow-up building permits also don’t specify a tenant, she added.

What is Whole Foods Market?

Whole Foods Market, the largest supermarket chain in the United States, is known for its natural and organic produce. Amazon acquired the company in 2017 for $13.7 billion.

There are more than 90 Whole Foods Market locations in California, with three in the Sacramento region.

One store is at 1001 Galleria Blvd. in Roseville and another is at 270 Palladio Parkway in Folsom. The third location is at 4315 Arden Way in Arden Arcade.

What do you want to know about life in Sacramento? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email servicejournalists@sacbee.com.