The last time Dr. Lou Vismara had an idea this big it turned into the UC Davis Mind Institute, a renowned research center for autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions.
Vismara, 81 and retired from his cardiology practice, is at it again. He teamed with developer Angelo Tsakopoulos to plan a 2,800-acre project on Tsakopoulos’ property that spans parts of Folsom and two counties, Sacramento and El Dorado.
The development includes what Vismara and Tsakopoulos call a “Community for Health and Independence” that can be replicated elsewhere.
Designed for elder residents and people with disabilities, the plan counts the UC Davis Health Center and Sacramento State University as partners. Although it must survive governmental reviews before anything gets built, the new community is generating excitement and consternation.
Photography By Aniko Kiezel
In a front-page editorial, the Bee called the idea a “risky growth plan” for proposing hundreds of apartments and homes on a large stretch of land outside prescribed growth areas.
Of Tsakopoulos, 88, who made a fortune forecasting where Sacramento would expand and developing property in those directions, the Bee said he “would have no sales pitch” on this idea without UC Davis.
That may be, but Tsakopoulos wins far more land-use battles than he loses. His friend Vismara also has a record of overcoming skeptics.
Case in point is the Mind Institute, which opened 23 years ago after Vismara and several prominent families with autistic children proposed a new center to study the disorder.
Tsakopoulos was in the middle of that struggle, too. He gave $8 million to help establish the Mind Institute.
In 2020, Tsakopoulos gave UC Davis another $2 million to “advance health aging in a digital world.” His latest proposal is an offshoot of that philanthropy.
“I’ve known Angelo for 45 years and he really sees this as part of his legacy and continuing commitment to his philanthropy and the impact he has had on this region,” Vismara says. “He really is one of the most caring people I know. It’s in his DNA.”
Vismara got the idea for the new Folsom area community after talking to a frustrated older couple. He realized they faced many similar obstacles to a comfortable life as his autistic son.
When I ask Tsakopoulos why he’s pushing another big project at this point in his life, he paraphrases and adds to an Abraham Lincoln quote.
“Education is the key to a successful life, and for me to be involved with two great universities is a tremendous honor,” he says. “And what I want more than anything is for my friends and contemporaries to believe I am a good person. That I have done good things for my community.”
Among other things, the Community for Health and Independence would include market-rate and subsidized housing designed for easy mobility and quick access to medical care and technology. The goal is for people to stay in their homes longer.
“We know the key to healthy aging for people starts in their homes,” David Lubarsky, former CEO of UC Davis Health, said in 2023. “We believe a reimagined community that leverages technology for human-made spaces where people live, recreate and work will promote better management of chronic disease and increase independence for valuable members of this population.”
UC Davis would occupy a 200-acre site donated by Tsakopoulos to develop a teaching, research and health complex devoted to healthy living. Vismara says Tsakopoulos pledged “a significant portion of the proceeds” to UC Davis, adding, “This is the Mind Institute 2.0.”
For its part, Sac State “fully supports this visionary community development project, the first of its kind, a masterplan that combines lifelong learning and workforce development with lifelong healthcare and housing,” Mark Wheeler, chief strategist and senior advisor to the university’s president, tells me.
Sac State is exploring an allied health sciences campus as part of the new community. The site would offer programs in nursing, public health, physical therapy, kinesiology, among others.
“We think the idea is groundbreaking and sort of world changing,” Wheeler says. “Something that could set the paradigm for any number of similar developments across the nation and across the globe, because no one does this kind of thing as well as we should.”
Gary Delsohn can be reached at gdelsohn@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
