By Steve Martarano

A state-owned abandoned warehouse in downtown Sacramento is getting one final shot at glory before the site becomes a multi-use affordable housing complex next year.

Graffiti on government buildings is not always a welcome sight, but with a theme of positive transformation, well over 30 artists spent Labor Day weekend giving the building at 805 R St. a colorful, sanctioned glow during Graffiti Jam, an event put on by Mutual Housing California and the Capitol Area Development Authority (CADA) to celebrate the upcoming housing project.

Downtown visitors will be able to see the temporary art installations, visible from R, 8th and 9th streets and Quill Alley, for about six months, said CADA Executive Director Danielle Foster.

In early 2025, Foster said the building, through a collaboration of CADA and Mutual Housing California, will be demolished to become Monarch, a mixed-use, six-story, 201,456-square-foot development with 241-units of affordable apartments — 30 of which will be reserved for formerly homeless and at-risk households. The development will have commercial space on the first floor, and is consistent with the state’s Excess Sites program, which focuses on providing housing on vacant and underutilized state properties.

The Graffiti Jam event featured multigenerational representation, with artists from various ages contributing to the wall, said Sacramento graffiti artist Gabriel Lopez, curator of The Gallery, who was the main driver behind getting artists to participate.

“We reached out to everybody from different sides of the city, different neighborhoods, different areas, different time frames,” Lopez said. “This is the biggest [event I’ve participated in] yet; hopefully it’s the first of many.”

This story is part of the Solving Sacramento journalism collaborative. Solving Sacramento is supported by funding from the James Irvine Foundation and the James B. McClatchy Foundation. Our partners include California Groundbreakers, Capital Public Radio, Outword, Russian America Media, Sacramento Business Journal, Sacramento News & Review, Sacramento Observer and Univision 19.