Citrus Heights rejects proposal for Sunrise Mall redevelopment. What’s next?
When Roger and Kathy Paul moved to Citrus Heights 16 years ago, the Sunrise Mall, a 100-acre facility with three major retailers, was the place to be. The couple used to be frequent shoppers and recall weekends of busy shopping at Sears, Macy’s and other stores.
But over the years, those retailers have vacated the mall. In March, the mall closed its Hot Topic as well as its Zumiez, Najia Cuisine, Tilly’s and Taco Bell since 2023.
Today, the couple use the facility to go on walks.
With most businesses closed and the mall floor almost barren, the once vibrant mall is a ghost of its former self. Roger called the current state of the mall “disappointing.” His wife agreed.
“We’ve lived in a lot of places around the country because we’ve been federal employees. So we’ve seen some wonderful malls that have been very busy spots and had wonderful restaurants,” Kathy said. “It’s a shame that we don’t have more stores able to stay here.”
The revitalization of Sunrise Mall has been a pressing issue for Citrus Heights since 2021, when the City Council adopted its Sunrise Tomorrow Specific Plan. This plan details the revamping of Sunrise Mall into a center for housing, retailers and entertainment over a 20-year period. Citrus Heights considers the plan a attempt to bring the mall “to its former glory,” according to past Bee reporting.
After a private developer who owns 21 acres of the property dropped out, the future of the mall is undetermined.
“We keep looking for notices on what they’re doing, but we get a lot of different details that nothing’s happening,” Roger Paul said.
The city of Citrus Heights will continue to implement the Sunrise Tomorrow Specific Plan in partnerships with private developers, according to Marisa Brown, a city spokesperson. Brown said the city is focused on a tentative hotel parcel map and “transforming the site into a vibrant, mixed-use regional destination for our community and its visitors.”
“Existing entitlements, infrastructure planning, and environmental clearances continue to position the site for redevelopment in alignment with community goals,” Brown wrote in a statement. “The City will continue business attraction efforts and provide opportunities for public input as development projects advance.”
Last month, the City council rejected Ethan Conrad Properties Inc.’s proposal, deciding to not move forward with his plans for Sunrise Mall. This included the addition of a Home Depot, In-N-Out Burger and other drive-thru businesses. His plan contained an acre of event space, space for family housing and an electric vehicle charging station. Conrad told The Bee a Home Depot would serve as a “catalyst” for the redevelopment for the mall property.
Residents criticized Conrad’s plan and expressed concerns with traffic it could cause and business repetition, with several community members saying the addition of a Home Depot was unnecessary.
“A Home Depot may be a sad option in the wrong direction, we already have four or more national hardware chain stores and in spinning distance of the mall already,” said resident John Bain.
The discussion of Conrad’s plan lasted four and a half hours, with the council ultimately rejecting the proposal. Mayor Jayna Karpinski-Costa said Conrad’s proposal failed to align with the city’s Sunrise Tomorrow Specific Plan.
“Why can’t you follow the plan?” Karpinski-Costa asked Conrad during the April meeting. “The plan is gorgeous. ... It’s almost like guided imagery when you read, that you’re going to walk through trails and its like guided imagery of a beautiful place to live.”
In response, Conrad said he cannot control what tenants do, and even if a development plan “might have looked beautiful,” tenants could not be “there for what that plan looked like.”
Karpinski-Costa quickly rebuked the comment and his “generalizations.”
“You’re not Houdini. You don’t know all this stuff,” she said.
Conrad wrote in a statement that he made adjustments to the plan, like reducing drive-thru restaurants after the April meeting. But because Citrus Heights did not move forth with his Specific Plan Agreement, he terminated his purchase agreement, he wrote. He added he is no longer purchasing the northern 50 acres of the Sunrise Mall. He currently owns 21 acres, he wrote.
In his statement, Conrad said the plan is “not economically viable and needs to therefore, be modified so that it’ll make sense for someone to perform the needed construction.”
The city of Citrus Heights will continue to work on Sunrise Mall, Brown wrote. The City Council meets every second and fourth Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m., according to the city’s website.
This story was originally published May 8, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
