Municipal Services Agency, Planning and Community Development Department

The Boroughs of Easton is a unique master-planned community designed by GenCorp Realty Investments, the real estate arm of GenCorp, Inc., parent company of Aerojet General Corporation.

GenCorp’s total land holdings cover 12,680 acres. The overall planning areas for the Boroughs of Easton encompass approximately 6,400 acres. Of the areas being planned, Glenborough at Easton and Easton Place are in unincorporated Sacramento County; the balance falls inside the boundaries of the City of Rancho Cordova. GenCorp Realty Investments is managing the application, design, and construction of Glenborough and Easton Place in partnership with the County of Sacramento. Construction at Easton is slated to begin sometime in 2008.

The nearly 1,400-acres encompassing Glenborough and Easton Place are located along the south side of Highway 50 between Hazel Avenue and Prairie City Road and are two distinctive planning areas where people can live, work and play. Approximately one-third of the total land area – most along the Alder Creek corridor fronting Highway 50 – will be dedicated as an open space and/or nature preserve. Glenborough and Easton Place will comprise luxury homes, high density housing, commercial, office and boutique shopping districts.

The vast majority of land slated for development will require significant investment before construction can begin. Much of the land is covered with mine tailings – a legacy of gold mining operations from the late 1800s. After mining had concluded, these areas served as buffer land between the community and new owner Aerojet’s rocket test stands. Inaccessible for generations, Alder Creek and its many natural stands of Blue Oaks will be preserved as open space and will be opened to the community for recreation and enjoyment.

Formerly designated as a Superfund site, the lands proposed for the Easton Project were removed from environmental oversight in 2002, receiving clearance from federal and environmental regulators. Several areas within Glenborough at Easton require minimal clean-up, including an area once used as an office waste disposal site for Aerojet.

The Easton Project is consistent with the Sacramento Area Council of Governments’ principles for smart growth, incorporating infill and mixed land uses, protecting natural resources, and building pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods around public transportation. The project is considered infill because the Aerojet property is currently served by roads, water, sewer and utilities.

When complete, Glenborough and Easton Place will provide more than 2,800 single-family homes (detached and attached units) and approximately 2,000 apartments and condominiums.

Overall, more than 3.5 million square feet of business space is projected in the two planning areas. Glenborough and Easton Place will also conform to the County of Sacramento’s precedent-setting Affordable Housing Ordinance, providing 15 percent of all housing for low-income families.

Transit Oriented Development
The 183-acre Easton Place will include a substantial Transit Oriented Development, also known as TOD. As a TOD, Easton Place will place housing and commercial businesses within walking distance of the existing light-rail depot at Hazel Avenue and Folsom Boulevard. Through this Sacramento Regional Transit line, Easton Place residents will have convenient access to light rail lines traveling from the City of Folsom to downtown Sacramento, making Easton Place a regional shopping destination.

Environmental Stewardship
Nearly 400 acres will be dedicated to open space. The bulk of the open space – approximately 255 acres – is the Alder Creek corridor. This 2.6-mile meandering creek area parallels Highway 50, and feeds into Lake Natoma along the American River.

The corridor is studded with Blue Oak and pine woodlands, wetlands and riparian habitat. Essentially untouched since the conclusion of gold mining activity in the mid 1900s, the Alder Creek corridor is home to numerous wildlife species including wild turkey, white tail deer, waterfowl, coyote and foxes.

A resource conservation management plan is being developed for the Easton plan, outlining the protection of more than 18,000 trees and conservation of 274 acres of oak-dominated habitat.

GenCorp and Aerojet
Owned by GenCorp, Inc., Aerojet moved to Sacramento in the 1950s and became a significant player in the emerging field of rocketry. A leading employer in the region, the company established operations on the abandoned mining fields which offered Aerojet abundant land with natural barriers for rocket testing. Because new technologies and manufacturing processes permit Aerojet to continue operations within a smaller industrial footprint, these former buffer lands are now available for productive reuse.

With 1,600 employees in Sacramento, Aerojet remains a vital regional employer. Aerojet will continue with their aerospace manufacturing operations, ensuring our nation with reliable access to space and a strong national defense.