A design review permit filed by the owner/operator to build a new Grocery Outlet Bargain Market store in the location of a former Rite Aid drug store in Sunrise Village was filed with the city of Citrus Heights in January, but has yet to begin. Drawing courtesy of Glassman Planning Associates

 

CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - While a design review permit was filed six months ago with the Citrus Heights Planning Department, the start of construction of a new Grocery Outlet Bargain Market store in Sunrise Village has yet to begin.

The owners of the new Grocery Outlet, which will be doing business as Grocery Outlet LLC, submitted a design review permit for the vacant retail space at 5409 Sunrise Boulevard in Citrus Heights on January 30th.

“The project to convert the former Rite Aid building into a Grocery Outlet Bargain Market has been approved, and the permit is expected to be issued in the near future,” said Marisa Brown, city communications officer, responding on behalf of the city planning department. The project continues to be under review.

“Since the proposal involves reusing existing retail space for a similar retail use, a Planning Commission hearing for this project was not required,” she said.

Once open, the new Grocery Outlet will face competition from an Amazon Fresh at the opposite end of the Sunrise Village shopping plaza and two other retail grocers, including Smart and Final and a Trader Joes located on opposite sides of the corner. Photo by Tom Sullivan

CoSol Commercial Real Estate, based in Modesto, provider of leased-investment brokerage services to California’s Central Valley is listed as the broker of record for the Grocery Outlet location in window display signage.

Glassmann Planning Associates of Torrance submitted the design review permit on behalf of the undisclosed owners to the Citrus Heights Planning Department for exterior updates to the former Rite Aid building. 

Representatives for either CoSol, or Glassman Planning Associates responded to telephone or email inquiries concerning the project’s status or when construction might begin.

The permit application which calls for a remodel from a pharmacy into a grocery store, is a construction job valued at $450,000, according to the city.

Removal of existing tile flooring was completed earlier this year about the time news of the grocer’s retail opening in Citrus Heights was announced.

The proposal which involves the reuse of existing retail space for a similar retail use did not require a hearing from the Citrus Heights Planning Commission. Photo by Tom Sullivan

Grocery Outlet stores are each locally owned and operated according to the company’s website. Another Grocery Outlet Bargain Market is open at 6059 Greenback Lane in Citrus Heights.

The Sunrise Village Plaza, located at the busy corner of Madison Avenue and Sunrise Boulevard in Citrus Heights, is owned by the San Francisco-based Merlone-Geier investment company.

Once open, the new Grocery Outlet will face competition from an Amazon Fresh at the opposite end of the Sunrise Village shopping plaza and two other retail grocers, including Smart and Final and a Trader Joes located on opposite sides of the corner.

A now faded Public Notice of Application to Sell Alcoholic Beverages sign is also displayed in the store window by the new owner, Grocery Outlet LLC, in a “premises-to-premises, inter-county district transfer with change in license privileges.” The former Rite Aid also had a license to sell alcoholic beverages at the location.

Before its closure, the former Rite Aid drug store was the only substantial portion of the 14.8-acre shopping plaza that was not included in a major remodeling project by Merlone-Geier that finished in 2024

A current project drawing shows the front fascia of the former Rite Aid will reflect the general colors and design of the rest of the recently remodeled shopping plaza.