Business Journal: 19J Project, Marshall Medical Center, Club Pilates, Burning Barrel Brewing

Construction started this week in midtown Sacramento on a new high-rise at 19th and J streets called 19J. The Sacramento Business Journal's Digital Editor Sonya Sorich says the developer is planning an 11-story mixed use project at the site.

"Overall, the whole project is expected to take about 16 months," says Sorich. "It will include some small residential units which would allow rents to be more affordable for an urban workforce. And there will also be retail space."

The site that 19J is filling includes the former home of Italian Importing Company, a popular deli and lunch spot. 19J's developer says he's hoping to lure Italian Importing Company's owner out of retirement to open a new spot at 19J once the high-rise construction is complete.

A looming doctor shortage has prompted the Placerville hospital and health care group Marshall Medical Center to hire more doctors. Sorich says Marshall hired eight new physicians who will start work by November.

"And over half of those new hires are under 40," says Sorich. "This is an issue that's affecting medical centers beyond the Sacramento area. National research suggests that there's a growing number of licensed physicians who are 60 or older."

Marshall Medical Center says about 20 to 30 percent of its provider staff will retire in the next two to five years. With a younger staff comes a different set of expectations in the workplace. The medical center is looking at things like offering flexible time-off policies to prevent burnout.

In Sacramento's Arden-Arcade area, the retail center Loehmann's Plaza is getting a new type of tenant: a fitness franchise called Club Pilates. Sorich says it's a departure from the businesses that are traditionally associated with Loehmann's Plaza.

"Things like clothing stores, restaurants, things of that nature," says Sorich. "The local owners of Club Pilates in Loehmann's Plaza did open an Elk Grove site earlier this year. They are also bringing a location to a retail center in Folsom called Broadstone Marketplace."

The Loehmann's Plaza location is expected to open in October. It's replacing a smoke shop. Other fitness franchises, like Orangetheory and Fit36, are also expanding and filling local retail centers. Nationwide, the focus on a healthy lifestyle is happening at the same time that retail is changing with traditional brick-and-mortar businesses, like clothing stores, opening fewer locations.

A new brewery may soon be coming to Downtown Sacramento's burgeoning R Street Corridor. Sorich says Burning Barrel Brewing Company wants to open a site at 800 R Street next spring.

"This new brewery comes from a local father-and-son team," says Sorich. "The son was actually working in the tech industry before he decided to focus on beer. This is another addition to the hot R Street corridor."

R Street already includes businesses like Fox and Goose, WAL Public Market, The Shady Lady Saloon, Iron Horse Tavern and Burgers and Brew. Projects in the works include a natural foods grocery store called Market 5-ONE-5 and another Old Soul coffee shop.