Jose Medina, the man who introduced Downtown Sacramento to its first dedicated hi-fi listening bar, is now angling for a second one inside one of the city's biggest adaptive reuse projects. City records list a proposed venue called Sound Advice HiFi Alcohol Sales, and Medina is named as the applicant on its conditional use permit for a spot at The Diggs, the sprawling redevelopment at 1800 Third Street.
The project, first reported by WhatNow, would occupy nearly 2,300 square feet near the southeast corner of The Diggs, tucked off the street. Medina operates Legend Has It, the hi-fi bar at 410 L Street that opened as Downtown Sacramento's first dedicated listening venue on September 14, 2024, co-founded with his wife Victoria Medina and business partners Jin and Michael Juliano in the former Whired Wine space, according to CapRadio. When reached for comment on the new venture, Medina said he has no comment at this time, though WhatNow reports he plans to possibly give a public statement in December.
What Sound Advice Would Look Like
Per the layout described in WhatNow's reporting, Sound Advice would feature a central U-shaped bar, a lounge area, a DJ booth, bench and table seating, and a prep area with restrooms. That mix mirrors the format of Legend Has It and fits the broader hi-fi bar model, which typically pairs curated music and listening lounges with a full bar menu, as WhatNow notes. City records indicate the new concept is similar to Medina's existing spot, and the Sacramento Community Development Department is currently processing Sound Advice's conditional use permit for alcohol sales.
Legend Has It's own setup offers a sense of the audio standard Medina has built his reputation on. Its listening room features custom blonde-wood millwork and floor-flanking Klipsch La Scala loudspeakers designed specifically to optimize vinyl playback, according to the same CapRadio report. The bar has also plugged into downtown's broader nightlife push, participating in the Downtown Sacramento Partnership's “Sunset Sips” happy hour initiative aimed at drawing evening foot traffic to the central city, per the partnership's July 2025 announcement.
A Century-Old Building Gets a New Life
The building that would house Sound Advice has a long industrial history. Engineering firm Miyamoto International reports the 200,000-square-foot structure was originally built in 1911 as the Thomson-Diggs Company Hardware headquarters, with additions expanding it in 1936 and 1947. Heller Pacific acquired the former office building for $5 million in 2024, according to the Sacramento Business Journal, and is now converting the 204,800-square-foot structure into 133 apartments alongside more than 10,700 square feet of commercial space and additional self-storage units, per the same outlet's reporting.
The overall project carries a roughly $19.5 million price tag, the Sacramento Business Journal reports. Even though seismic retrofitting was not required by city code, Heller Pacific voluntarily installed shotcrete infill shear walls and reinforced diaphragm connections, according to Miyamoto International. Heller Pacific's broader plans call for 132 loft apartments with amenities including podcast studios, an urban gym, a pet spa, and 25,000 square feet of subterranean mini-storage, according to project documents published on Crexi.
Startup-Friendly Terms and a Familiar Playbook
Leasing documentation on Crexi shows Heller Pacific structured tenant leases at The Diggs to charge percentage rent only for the first two years before shifting to a base rate of $3.00 to $3.50 per square foot, terms that could lower the barrier to entry for an independent operator like Medina. Mike Heller, president of Heller Pacific, has said there is a lot of excitement around the project overall. Heller Pacific previously led the 142-unit Ice House mixed-use development along R Street, completed in 2017, a project widely credited with catalyzing the corridor's growth into a dining and retail destination.
The Diggs sits on the R Street Corridor near cultural anchors including the Crocker Art Museum and Verge Center for the Arts, according to Sutter Properties Group listings, placing a possible second Medina venue within reach of an existing arts-going crowd. The timing also lines up with a national resurgence in vinyl: U.S. vinyl record revenues hit $1.04 billion in 2025, marking 19 consecutive years of growth with 46.8 million LPs sold nationwide, according to Forbes figures cited by Hoodline. For now, Sound Advice remains a permit application and a name on city paperwork, with Medina declining further comment until a possible December announcement.
