Draft for Sunrise Mall Specific Plan is Released

CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - After more than 18 months of community engagement, the draft of the Sunrise Mall Specific Plan has been released for review. The plan will guide future redevelopment of the 100-acre Sunrise Mall site, with the goal of revitalizing the property into a vibrant heart of Citrus Heights and a premier regional destination.

The draft plan was introduced at a virtual community meeting on August 5, with more than 60 community members logging in to attend. Interim City Manager Chris Boyd said, “I’m so proud of how our community as a whole has thought deeply, creatively on how to reimagine the heart of Citrus Heights.” He praised Citrus Heights as “a community that has always taken a very active role when it comes to civic engagement. The efforts presented here tonight are a manifestation of our community’s desire to steward in a brighter future.”  

The plan’s development has been overseen by Gensler, an international architecture and planning firm. Midori Mizuhara, an urban planner with Gensler, said, “This is really a plan shaped by the community.” A robust public engagement process revealed the community’s priorities for the mall, resulting in the vision of a 21^st Century Main Street: a mixed-use site with diverse shopping and dining options; interconnected plazas, green spaces, parks, and trails; office spaces, residential neighborhoods, and hotels; and community event space.

In recent years there has been a shift toward online shopping, and traditional retail has suffered as a result—leading to a reduction in Citrus Heights’ sales tax revenue. But the City was proactive in reacting to these changes, beginning the Specific Plan process back in 2019, well before the change in shopping trends was accelerated by the pandemic.

Gensler’s Project Manager Nate Cherry said that the mall in its current form has “outlived its useful life” with a lot of excess surface parking and underutilized buildings. Cherry said that Citrus Heights’ “strong sense of community is something that’s always been a part of this effort, and so that creates a real opportunity to think about the future. And the City and the community has always been very results oriented, and so the result of that has really been co-authorship.”

The mall was always an integral part of Citrus Heights’ community and economy, and strategic redevelopment will allow it to become a new center of community life and an engine for economic growth. Redevelopment will create thousands of new jobs, through both the construction phase as well as new permanent jobs that will become available as new businesses thrive in the developed space. New office spaces will also attract growing industries like healthcare and technology.

The mixed use of retail, dining, offices, and events/entertainment will also activate the site throughout the day, ensuring maximum use and engagement. Cherry said that a main street of retail and dining, connected by walkable streets and an abundance of green spaces, will turn the 100-acre site into a small city in itself—a destination for both local residents and regional visitors.

The Sunrise Mall Specific Plan creates a framework outlining the policies, development standards, infrastructure, and implementation and administration that will guide development of the site, ensuring that the community’s vision becomes a reality. Because the mall site has a variety of owners, the plan splits the site into six planning areas, each with their own sub-areas. The plan outlines allowable uses for each area, as well as building height standards, setback requirements, street standards, utilities, and more.

The plan allows for flexible development that can respond to the city’s changing needs in the coming decades, so development of the site can be phased over the next 20 years. Phase 1 includes the vacant Sears building and the parking areas along Sunrise Blvd. and the southern boundary of the property. These spaces are ready for immediate development to create new dining, retail, entertainment, open spaces, and some residential or hotel opportunities.

Phase 2 would encompass the area along Greenback Ln. and the eastern boundary of the property. This phase could include development of office spaces, a hotel, residential areas, a neighborhood park, and more retail and dining. Phase 3 would focus on development of the mall itself, creating a main street with walkable streets and flexible-use spaces for retail, dining, and a central open space for community events. The mixed-use plan would also allow for more office, residential, or hotel opportunities in this phase. Phase 4 includes development opportunities for the current JC Penney and Macy’s Women buildings to create more mixed-use for retail, offices, residential, and open spaces.

Casey Kempenaar, Citrus Heights planning manager, said, “The city is 98% built out, so what that means is we don’t have a lot of land left, and what we do have we want to make sure it’s planned in a really comprehensive manner. So, this site is the single biggest redevelopment opportunity in the city … This is our biggest opportunity to change the community and create economic development opportunities for the city and the region.”

The financial investment for the actual development will come from interested developers, and the approval of the Specific Plan is the first step in opening up the potential of the site. The Planning Commission and the City Council will both review the draft plan in depth later this year, along with more public hearings. If approved, the City could then begin marketing the site to developers by the new year.

To read the full plan and submit comments, visit https://sunrisetomorrow.net/.