Sunrise Mall Redesign

 (c) by Mark Dempsey

Design concept for Sunrise Mall from sunrisetomorrow.net

 

Like most retail properties, Sunrise Mall is suffering because of lower traffic in the pandemic, and the rise of online shopping. It has also lost one of its big anchor store--Sears--and is currently 40% vacant, without many of the features that attracted customers previously, including holiday celebrations.

Like most local governments, the City of Citrus Heights relies on the sales tax revenue from this mall to pay for public services, so they are concerned enough to commission a redesign to revive it. The redesign includes residences (market rate, affordable and senior housing), park space, and even a permanent location for the farmers' market that currently occurs in front of the mall on Saturdays. The sunrisetomorrow.net website provides the details.

There's a compelling case to combine residences with retail now. Not only is Sacramento short of housing, but the fastest growing demographic is over 85, while single-use retail throughout the country is suffering. Being able to walk to the mall for entertainment, shopping or food is likely to be a major draw. The redesign also provides Citrus Heights with a genuine town center, and perhaps a less diffuse identity than the conventional mall design. This could even be the start of reviving residence/retail combinations in smaller malls.

Mixing different uses--retail, housing and even offices--makes this a "lifestyle" center. The commercial success of such centers is well-documented. They produce roughly 50% more sales per square foot than single-use retail. It makes one wonder what keeps commercial builders from including more residences with the retail centers they build. Perhaps the current crisis will move them to reconsider.

Meanwhile, mixed use has many commendable features. It is the only real remedy for congestion--the Southern California Association of Governments confirmed not even double-decking their freeways could do that. Mixed use, with a pedestrian-friendly destination not only gets people out of their cars--and how many of us want to encounter more 85-year-olds on the road?--it provides a potential transit hub. Sacramento, and Citrus Heights' public transit system is so second rate, one cannot even ride a bus or light rail to the airport.

In any case, the enlightened Citrus Heights planners deserve kudos for bringing that city to suggest this plan, even if now it is just a plan, not a commitment to build the redesign.