Bad Moe, Good Moe

Community Comments

His office on 9th Street is decorated with antique furniture. His wife, Nasrin, an architect, can often be found working in the other room. His two daughters are both in college -- Lilly, 19, is studying public relations at UC Davis, and Nikky, 18, is studying business at UC Berkeley.

Mohanna says profit is not his key motive in pursuing downtown development. In fact, he says, he makes the bulk of his money in suburban development - mostly new subdivisions and strip malls that don't involve the political complexity of urban redevelopment.

He also offers a frank explanation of why he now prefers urban development. Suburban sprawl, he says, contributes to global warming and other problems. He has no interest in copying Natomas; the future lies in urban density, he says.

Some of the suburban projects he has been involved with include Sunset East in Rocklin, a 400-acre subdivision he helped assemble with partners in the 1970s; a strip mall in Folsom on East Bidwell that houses an Italian restaurant and dry cleaners; and a strip mall on Riverside Avenue in Roseville on the site of a former Chrysler dealership.

And he is trying to assemble 300 acres of land in El Dorado Hills to build an upscale project called Bass Lake Village that would combine luxury housing with high-end retail along cobblestone streets.

Those projects have been successful enough that Mohanna can afford to lose more than $500,000 in rent and attorney's fees in fighting the city without being intimidated.

"I've been blessed," Mohanna says. "This land has been good to me. Whatever I have and whatever I am is because of Sacramento."

Good Moe? Bad Moe? Who has the mojo?

• Share
  • Digg This
  • del.icio.us
  • Newsvine
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Furl It
  • !Y My Web
  • Google
• Email
• Print

Recommend This

Community Comments