Mohanna Buys Long-Empty Midtown Building Next to Old Spaghetti Factory

A development company has bought a long-empty commercial building in Midtown Sacramento near popular bar, restaurant and urban housing sites.

Mohanna Development Co. closed escrow Nov. 14 on 1025 19th St., a 16,400-square-foot office building kitty-corner to the company’s 19J project and just west of the popular Lavender Heights nightlife hub.

“They’re planning on doing some really exciting things,” said Ken Turton of Turton Commercial Real Estate, which brokered the deal. “They’ll probably demolish the building. It won’t stay that way much longer.”

Nikky Mohanna of Mohanna Development didn’t return a call seeking comment Friday. According to records, the buying entity WP LLC, with the same Sacramento address as Mohanna Development, paid $3.6 million.

Sacramento city records don’t show any current applications for the property, which extends from J Street on the north to K Street on the south on the east side of 19th Street. In marketing the property in 2021, Turton Commercial noted the site could hold up to 200 multifamily units as well as ground-floor retail spaces.

It’s not clear how long the building has been empty, and Turton said he couldn’t recall the last time it had a tenant. The building had a fire in recent years that caused some damage, another factor in its likely pending demolition, he said.

The seller had the same address as and appears to be affiliated with Yackzan Group, a Davis-based development company. A message left there Friday wasn’t returned.

Turton Commercial’s 2021 listing for 1025 19th St. also included the neighboring building, a historic former train station at 1910 J St. The Old Spaghetti Factory currently has a high-traffic location there.

But Turton said selling 1910 J St. was always considered a secondary part of the listing and only would sell in tandem with its neighbor. Current ownership for 1910 J St. will keep it instead, he said.

Recent years have seen fewer bold residential development projects in Sacramento’s urban core, owing to higher project costs on one side and flattened rents on the other.

Midtown, though, still has qualities such as a lack of vacant office space that indicate it’s a place people want to be, Turton said.

“People like to work in Midtown,” he said. “If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen in Midtown.”

In addition to Turton, Jon Lang of Turton Commercial brokered the sale.