SMUD crews are officially moving dirt in Folsom, kicking off construction on a new administrative operations center near the American Riverway. The campus-style complex is planned at roughly 100,000 square feet and will feature a 100-foot communications tower to help support local grid operations.
SMUD has pegged the project at about $168 million and confirmed construction is now underway, according to the Sacramento Business Journal. The center is designed to blend administrative offices with operational and control functions that back up the utility’s regional electric grid.
Project Details
City planning records list the address as 102 Woodmere Road and show approvals for a planned-development permit that covers an initial 47,000-square-foot phase, an enclosed service yard and a 100-foot “pine tree” communications tower, per the city planning packet. SMUD’s environmental documents describe the full buildout as roughly 100,000 square feet, with a phased approach that completes the rest of the campus after the initial construction stage, according to the project IS/MND.
Funding And Timeline
In late June, SMUD announced plans to issue about $250 million in electric revenue bonds, with proceeds that could help finance additions and improvements to its electric system, per a SMUD news release. The project cost has ticked up from earlier projections, with local reporting and past filings placing it closer to $145 million, and planners had previously outlined a phased build that SMUD hoped would be occupied by 2028, according to Folsom Times.
What It Means For Folsom
The roughly six-acre site has already undergone mass grading, and the city has attached conditions aimed at reducing traffic, noise and other impacts, according to the project IS/MND. City planning materials and SMUD filings indicate the new center will consolidate office and operational functions, bringing regular daytime staffing and a multi-year construction cycle that should add some steady activity to Folsom’s Lake Forest industrial area.
