Roebbelen Center @the Grounds Campus Original Study & Expansion Master Plan

In 2015, Placer Valley Tourism engaged Hunden Partners (Hunden) and design subconsultant Convergence Design to perform a market and financial feasibility study (Plan) for a multipurpose indoor sports, recreation, event and meetings facility in Placer Valley, California. Placer Valley is a trio of smaller communities outside of Sacramento. Sports tournaments are a strong tourism driver in Placer Valley. The area was well provided with outdoor sports fields at a new sports complex, but lacked facilities for indoor sports, recreation, and meeting space.

Formerly called the Placer Fairgrounds, the Roebbelen Center @the Grounds is the largest event center of its kind in the Greater Sacramento area. With its opening in 2020, it boasts 49-foot ceilings and 250 feet of column-free clear space, making it an ideal venue for tournaments, trade shows, festivals, and graduations. The 160,000-square-foot event center can seat up to 6,000 people and accommodates 12 basketball courts or 24 volleyball courts. The center includes a 10,000-square-foot lobby, flexible meeting rooms, offices, a training room, and a loading deck.

Hunden examined the potential market demand for a new facility of between 8 and 16 multipurpose hardwood courts for basketball and volleyball, as well as meeting space and recreational areas. Hunden conducted a tournament market analysis and provided competitive and comparable facility case studies. Hunden also performed a local hotel market profile in order to understand what is driving visitors and where a recommended facility might best be suited. Lastly, the Hunden team recommended a site for the new facility and provided conceptual drawings and budgets.

In 2024, Hunden began a new study process of the full 60-acre @the Grounds campus. The goal of the Plan was to provide a framework for strategic growth, future utilization, optimization, and development of long-term capital improvements for the Campus. Hunden provided short- and long-term strategies to maximize the potential positive impacts of expansion, create demand and financial models to indicate projected performance, and complete an economic, fiscal, and employment impact analysis to show the projected return on investment in terms of jobs, new spending, and tax revenues generated by the recommended Campus expansion scenarios.