A proposed Starbucks location on Whyte Avenue in Auburn was canceled and the location is being used by the contractor completing Auburn Boulevard Phase 2 street improvements. Photo by Thomas J. Sullivan

CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) – Previously-approved plans to build two Starbucks drive-through coffee shops in Citrus Heights will expire, since the company isn’t planning to move forward with construction of either project, according to city communications officer Marisa Brown.

A Design Review Permit and Use Permit filed with the city to build a 2,305-square-foot drive-through coffee shop on a 15,024-square-foot tract facing Auburn Boulevard will expire in December 2028, Brown said.

Stock Ranch Plaza, a 401,322-square-foot shopping center anchored by Costco and Walmart Supercenter, is expected to see approximately 102,000 square feet of new retail eventually built on the property along Auburn Boulevard. An Applebee's restaurant also operates on the property.

Stock Ranch is situated in the central portion of the city and is bounded by Auburn Boulevard to the north, Sylvan Road to the east, Greenback Lane to the south and Van Maren Lane to the west.

A nearby commercial parcel in Stock Ranch facing Auburn Boulevard is home to West Coast Sourdough, a Sport Clips hair salon, an AT&T phone store, Crumbl Cookies and Citrus Heights Smile Dentistry.

Key permits for the proposed Starbucks at Stock Ranch Plaza received unanimous approval by the Citrus Heights City Council in December 2024.

In May 2023, the Citrus Heights Planning Commission also approved plans for the construction of a new 2,241-square-foot building at 8540 Auburn Blvd., just inside the city’s northern boundary, south of the Auburn Boulevard and Whyte Avenue intersection. These previously-approved plans will expire in February 2027, Brown said.

The vacant lot near the corner of Auburn Boulevard and Whyte Avenue, near where a new gateway arch is being built, is being used as a storage and staging location for construction crews working on the Auburn Boulevard Phase 2 road construction project.

The Seattle-based coffee chain, which has stores throughout the greater Sacramento area, operates three drive-through locations in Citrus Heights, including one on Greenback Lane opposite the Sunrise Mall, another at 7052 Sunrise Blvd. in the Sunrise Village Shopping Center and a third in the Sylvan Marketplace at 7082 Auburn Blvd. 

According to Forbes Magazine, Starbucks is embarking on a sweeping $1-billion restructuring effort aimed at reshaping its North American operations.

Starbucks has already slowed new store openings this year in favor of remodeling existing locations.

In a regulatory filing on Sept. 25, the Seattle-based coffee giant said it plans to trim its portfolio of company-operated cafés in the U.S. and Canada by roughly one percent during fiscal 2025, a net change that reflects both store openings and closures.

That equates to about 500 store closures across the region and Starbucks expects to end the fiscal year with about 18,300 locations, including licensed stores, before the company gets back on the expansion trail in 2026.

None of the three current Citrus Heights locations have been listed by the company for closure, although several Starbucks locations in the greater Sacramento region have already closed their doors.