CVS will continue its purchase of the prime piece of east Sacramento real estate once occupied by Hubacher Auto Center, but Nugget Markets has pulled out of the joint deal.

The upscale grocer determined that the cost of building a store in this location would be significantly higher than anticipated, according to Randy Getz, a senior vice president at CB Richard Ellis. Calls to Nugget officials were not returned.

"Other grocers of a very high quality have expressed interest and want to be there," said Getz, who represents the property owner, K&T Investments, "so it's highly likely at the end of the day that there will be a grocery store there."

However, any deal could take another 18 months to complete because the city has requested a report on the environmental impact that additional retail will have at the busy Howe Avenue and Fair Oaks Boulevard intersection, Getz said.

"I don't know what the exact figure is," he said, "but it's north of 80,000 vehicles a day."

That puts off the payday for Getz and his clients, but he said: "You gotta play by the rules."

New concepts everywhere

Rebirth at Westfield Galleria at Roseville continues nearly two years after a devastating arson caved in the roof and littered one wing of the mall with debris.

The mall reopened the wing last October, but not all retailers were ready then. Since January, eight stores have opened new spaces, half of them in the once-damaged wing.

"Because the rebuild happened in a really forced time frame, a lot of people couldn't get their construction crews going or get the money approved," said marketing director Stephanie Ringey, during a tour of the mall.

A half-dozen other new stores will soon launch, including a new concept from Sacramento-based Sleep Train called Got Sleep? and PB Teen from Pottery Barn, its first teen store on the West Coast.

"They've been talking about a West Coast distribution site for quite a while," Ringey said. "They're in Chicago and Boston right now. … We expect people to drive from as far as 500 miles to shop this store."

The Galleria's occupancy rate, now 95 to 96 percent, hasn't fluctuated much since retailers committed to stay and rebuild, she said. Many decided to reopen with their latest store concepts. Disney, for instance, refocused on delivering a memorable experience.

"Every morning, one child is chosen – there are usually a few waiting – and that child gets to unlock the door with a giant key," Ringey said. "It's like a grand opening every morning. The music comes on, and at night, the store goes to sleep."

In other parts of the mall, Nordstrom is undergoing a face-lift that will debut this fall. The grand opening of a play park two weeks ago drew thousands to the Promenade. On a recent weekday, two dozen children burned energy on the futuristic jungle gym shaded by structures that looked like giant, swaying mushrooms.

Negotiating in Natomas

A two-story building in the Natomas Crossing Business Center has gone into the foreclosure process, according to a commercial real estate database.

Built by Panattoni Development Co. starting in 2003, the office park on the corner of Truxel Road and Arena Boulevard has about a dozen buildings ranging from 8,000 to 45,000 square feet.

Panattoni's Tim Schaedler did not identify the lender, but he said two of the buildings in the complex had sat vacant for about five years amid the downturn.

"We just sold one," he said. "I don't know the situation with the other one."

Negotiations are ongoing with the lender, Schaedler said, on behalf of the ownership group, Natomas Crossing Phase II LLC.

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