By Tony Rodriguez and Tyler Webb
UC Davis officially opened the first new buildings at Aggie Square last week, following nearly a decade of planning and construction on the $1.1 billion innovation district. Once complete, the development will include space for biotechnology, medicine, and academic research on a campus in Sacramento’s Oak Park neighborhood.
Located along Stockton Boulevard next to the UC Davis Medical Center, the campus will span over a million square feet and include research labs, university classrooms, startup offices, student and faculty housing, and community spaces.
UC Davis Chancellor Gary May said at the project’s unveiling on Friday the goal was to build a place that serves the university and nearby neighborhoods.
“That connection is rooted in our Community Benefits Partnership Agreement. The product of a genuine, open consultation resting on the foundational belief that being good neighbors demands listening,” May said. “This celebration marks the end of Aggie Square's first chapter, but this story is just beginning ... (Aggie Square is) a model for the enormous potential unleashed when public and private partners build together for the common good.”
UC Davis officials and local politicians said the effort will create jobs and boost the region’s economy. The city of Sacramento approved the project in April 2021.
City officials, project developers, and community groups signed a Community Benefits Agreement to address concerns about the project’s potential to drive up housing costs and displace existing residents and businesses.
The Sacramento City Council approved the agreement in 2021. It devoted $50 million for affordable housing and $5 million to counter the displacement of residents in surrounding neighborhoods. The agreement also ensures that at least 20% of the new jobs at Aggie Square go to residents in nearby zip codes.
Aggie Square is a joint effort between UC Davis, the city of Sacramento, and Wexford Science & Technology, a private developer that specializes in research-focused university campuses. Wexford is leasing the land from UC Davis and will manage commercial lab and office space.
Sacramento City Councilmember Eric Guerra said residents have already felt the economic impact. He said the center now employs many residents.
“This will be a regional project bringing biotech and life sciences to the region at a scale that's never seen before in Sacramento," Guerra said. "But most importantly, the outcomes through this partnership community benefits agreement has allowed us to invest in housing and jobs and most importantly the opportunities for Sacramento's future jobs and education.”
Advancing Science and Medicine
Steven Lucero, director of the UC Davis Tech Foundry, explains the 3D printing lab at Aggie Square in Sacramento on Friday, May 2, 2025.(Tony Rodriguez/CapRadio)
The new buildings will include a 3D printing lab for projects like creating patient-specific surgical models. Steven Lucero, director of the UC Davis Tech Foundry, said the technology will help in pre-operation planning at the medical center.
“Being adjacent to the medical center campus, one particular area that we really want more engagement in is what we call pre-op planning,” he said, standing inside the lab last week.“A plastic model is a much more economical route than opening up the patient.”
The UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center also launched a new research hub at the facility. Dr. Diana Farmer, chair of the UC Davis Department of Surgery, said the lab’s proximity to the hospital will improve patient care.
“It’s academic medicine where the discoveries are made,” Farmer said. “And that is why having our research labs right next to our clinical spaces makes all the difference in the world.”
Keeping Aggie Square Accountable to the Community
Artist Shane Grammer [right] discusses the inspiration behind his mural “Unity in Motion,” one of the art installations featured at Aggie Square in Sacramento on Friday, May 2, 2025.(Tony Rodriguez/CapRadio)
Kim Williams, a community advocate who helped negotiate the Community Benefits Partnership Agreement, said the project must continue proving that it serves its neighbors.
“The concerns that the community had from the beginning of the project were things like the jobs that are going to come through. How does the community get those? And the rising increase in housing [costs],” Williams said.
Ensuring the university follows through on its promises is vital, according to Williams.
“The [community] has to have a seat at the table to make sure that everybody upholds the commitments that were made,” she said.
Darrell Steinberg, Sacramento’s former mayor and a champion for Aggie Square,, said it will honor its nearby residents and commitments.
“Sometimes when these projects end up having agreements with [the] community, there's a lot of aspirations,” Steinberg said. “This is way more than aspirations. There is a mandatory, mandatory local hiring requirement.”
He added, “I was looking as mayor for initiatives to propel Sacramento forward and create more opportunity for people. We want to grow industry. We want to become the center of life science and technology. We want more creative economy.”
With so many neighborhoods surrounding Aggie Square, including Oak Park and Tahoe Park, May, the UC Davis chancellor, said he’s committed to ensuring the surrounding community will benefit from it.
“We were very intentional early on about making sure that Aggie Square is a project we did with our neighbors and not to our neighbors,” May said. “This is what a public university can do when it works side-by-side with its city.”
UC Davis estimates Aggie Square will generate between 3,200 and 5,000 permanent jobs and contribute more than $2 billion in economic activity annually.
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