This article originally published by Ryan Lillis on The Sacramento Bee.
The city of Sacramento has reached a deal to buy a key downtown building and then immediately sell the property to Bay Area retailer Sports Basement, finishing a three-year effort to bring the store to the central city.
The $5.4 million deal requires City Council approval, and the council is scheduled to vote on the matter at its meeting on Tuesday.
The city has been in negotiations since last month to buy the property at 730 I St. from Sacramento County. The county had owned the 70,000-square-foot building since 1996 and had agreed in 2011 to sell the parcel to Sports Basement before that deal fell apart.
According to a city staff report, Sports Basement plans to spend $5.5 million renovating the building, which stands roughly two blocks from the site of a new sports arena under construction at Downtown Plaza.
Sports Basement plans to hire 60 permanent employees at the store and open up by the summer of 2015, according to city documents. The chain operates six stores in the Bay Area.