SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Meticulously preparing each roll is something Kenton Fong said, is something his family owned and run bodega in downtown Sacramento has done since 1957, and a big reason people have kept coming back.

“Have lines going all the way out the door. People coming in for sandwiches, buying drinks, continuously,” said Kenton, co-owner of Sam’s Mart.

Like many small businesses, his family’s store was hit hard during the pandemic and only survived, he said, thanks to construction workers, as most people began working remotely. The pandemic is largely over but most workers have not returned to downtown offices, Kenton said its crushing small businesses like his.

“Everybody tells you it’s over, but it’s not really over yet. You’re fighting your way back, and it’s coming back a little bit, but not like it should be, not like pre-pandemic.”

Revenue for his bodega Kenton said is around 30% of what it was pre-pandemic. This issue specifically is part of the reason Gov. Gavin Newsom, along with Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and other officials, announced they are now taking submissions from contractors to turn three state office buildings, that largely sit empty, into housing units.

“Why is that important to the downtown? Because our restaurants, our daytime activity, depends upon our having active foot traffic,” Mayor Steinberg said.

Not only will it help downtown businesses but officials say it will add badly needed housing including affordable units.

“A thousand or more units, potentially between the three buildings. Mixed income, right, we don’t know what percentage exactly, but from market rate, to affordable, to meet the needs of many Sacramentans,” Mayor Steinberg said.

Mayor Steinberg said there are plans to beautify the area even more around the buildings to make the area even more appealing to prospective tenants.

Office workers at the buildings are expected to relocate to new buildings in 2025 according to the governor’s office, but construction may start before then. A timeline Kenton said may not work for him.

“Two years there going to start and then that’d be another two years [before completion]. So, that’d be five or six years [till completion], I don’t know if we can last that long,” he said.

Kenton said ultimately, he’s happy to hear things are happening, whether or not it’ll benefit him. And said the family will try as long as they can to hold on.