Sunrise Boulevard and Greenback Lane
Sacramento County (Citrus Heights), California
The sixth major shopping hub in Sacramento County was officially dedicated on April 19, 1972. Touted as the largest retail center in the region, the 1,250,000 square foot complex occupied a 96-acre tract, located 17.5 miles northeast of the California State House.
Developed by H & C Associates, a joint venture of the James J. Cordano Company and Ernest W. Hahn, Incorporated, SUNRISE MALL was a single-level, fully-enclosed retail center. The structure was designed by Parkin Architects, Engineers & Planners, of Los Angeles, Avner Naggar, of Los Angles, Burke, Kober, Nicolais & Archuleta, of Los Angeles, Charles Luckman Associates, also of Los Angles, and Eddie & Painter, of Fresno.
The mall's first operational tenant, a 3-level (163,000 square foot), Sacramento-based Weinstock's, opened for business on February 16, 1972. A 2-level (230,000 square foot) J.C. Penney was dedicated, along with the mall, on April 19, 1972. Sears' 2-level (285,000 square foot) store welcomed its first shoppers August 17, 1972, proceeded by a 3-level (173,000 square foot), Honolulu-based Liberty House, which opened its doors on October 18 of the same year.
SUNRISE MALL eventually housed 108 stores and services. Fifty of these were inaugurated as part of the April 1972 grand opening. Eighty-five stores were in operation by the time of a second mall-wide dedication, which was held on August 17th. Charter tenants included Marlene's ladies' wear, Sunset House Gadget Tree, College-Hi young men's wear, Richman Brothers men's wear, The Happy Steak Restaurant, Double Up ladies' wear, Hof's Brau Restaurant, Fabric Center and Waldenbooks.
A (28,400 square foot) Lucky Stores supermarket and Weinstock's Tire Center were northeast outparcels of the mall proper. The supermarket opened its doors in October 1972. The United Artists Sunrise Mall 4, an in-mall multiplex, showed its first features on June 1st. The decor of SUNRISE MALL was thoroughly modern. There were artificially-lighted ceiling panels, with a honeycomb design. Sculptures were created by John Lilly, Jerome Kirk and the Burke, Kober, Nicolais & Archuleta firm.
Major shopping venues in the SUNRISE MALL trade area included COUNTRY CLUB CENTRE (1952) {7.5 miles southwest, in Sacramento County}, ARDEN FAIR CENTER (1961) {9.7 miles southwest, in Sacramento} and COUNTRY CLUB PLAZA (1961) {7.3 miles southwest, in Sacramento County}.
Only the ARDEN FAIR property presented any kind of rivalry. BIRDCAGE WALK, an open-air, congregation of shoppes added to an existing Montgomery Ward, was built across the boulevard from SUNRISE MALL. This complex opened for business in August 1976.
BIRDCAGE WALK morphed into BIRDCAGE CENTRE in August 1997. The complex proved to be no match for the SUNRISE MALL, even after its renovation into MARKETPLACE AT BIRDCAGE in 2001. However, GALLERIA AT ROSEVILLE {6.6 miles north, in Roseville}, which was dedicated in August 2000, provided plenty of competition.
Anchor rebrandings started early at SUNRISE MALL. Liberty House was shuttered in May 1984. The building was leased as Macy's Sunrise, a Women's store, which was operated in conjunction with Macy's Birdcage, a Men's store at BIRDCAGE WALK. The two Macy's stores opened on September 28, 1984. With the demise of the Weinstock's chain in March 1996, the SUNRISE location became a Macy's Men's Store, resulting in the shuttering of the Macy's Birdcage operation.
SUNRISE MALL became part of the newly-incorporated municipality of Citrus Heights on January 1, 1997. The center was given a 10 million dollar face lift in 1999, with new ceilings, skylights, seating areas and fountains installed. Several years later, a 9-bay Food Court was built in gutted mall space. The initial four vendors debuted on April 6, 2007, with the remainder commencing operation on September 13th.
Newport Beach-based Steadfast Commercial Properties acquired the mall in January 2008. Soon after, they proposed a large-scale redevelopment. The project was to be conducted in two phases. The first would have removed 9,700 square feet of retail space and added 77,300. Ten freestanding banks and restaurants, within a new "Main Street" shops section, were to be built in the west parking area.
Phase two would have demolished a vacant Albertsons (nee' Lucky Stores) supermarket and replaced it with a new cinema multiplex. A multilevel parking garage was also proposed. Years passed, no construction started, and the renovation project was cancelled. SUNRISE MALL was acquired by the New York City-based Spinoso Real Estate Group in November 2015. Spinoso sold the property to Great Neck, New York's Namdar Realty Group in December 2018.
Sources:
The Sacramento Bee
The Sacramento Bee
The Citrus Heights Sentinel
www.sacramentopastperfect-online.com
http://www.steadfastcompanies.com
http://www.citrusheights.net
www.bizjournals.com
www.sacramentopastperfect-online.com
http://www.steadfastcompanies.com
http://www.citrusheights.net
www.bizjournals.com
https://namdarrealtygroup.com
https://www.abc10.com
https://www.citrusheights.net
Comment posts by Joe Rouse and Randy
"Sunrise Mall" article on Wikipedia
"Citrus Heights" article on Wikipedia
