City seeing ‘a ton of interest’ from developers in Sunrise Mall plans

By Mike Hazlip—
With the Sunrise Tomorrow plan for the 100-acre Sunrise Mall property now approved, the city says significant interest is being seen from developers.

In a Nov. 29 video update from the city on social media, Community Development Director Casey Kempenaar said constructing residential housing on the mall’s outer parking areas is likely the first place development will start, given the current demand for housing.

“We know that retail has changed and so these giant fields of parking are no longer needed for retail and they’re ripe for development into housing and other things. So, we think the housing will come first and the other uses will follow that,” Kempenaar said.

He also said adding residential buildings to the outer parking areas will also help bring more people to the site. He added that the plan is flexible enough to allow for changing market conditions over time.

The next step for Kempenaar is working with developers and the mall’s owners, which is already happening.

“[W]e’ve been working on a regular basis with the development community to partner them with the owners,” he said. “There is a ton of interest every week we get calls from big scale developers that like this site, like the community, and would like to see this come to fruition.”

Kempenaar said he expects to see applications starting to come in over the next year. Proposals will still go through the city’s approval process, and residents will have a chance to voice their opinions and concerns during public meetings.

The Sentinel previously reported the 289-page draft plan for Sunrise Tomorrow was developed at a cost of over $1 million to the city. The mall’s majority owner, Namdar, has expressed support for the plan in a letter to the city.

The city has also footed the bill for an extensive Environmental Impact Report in an effort to make the property “shovel ready” and as attractive as possible to developers. The four-phase plan is projected to cost $818 million, and take 20 years to be fully completed.

The first phase aims to develop the unused parking areas over the next five years. The second phase would incorporate office space, retail, dining, and an extended stay hotel. The third and final phase includes redeveloping the existing mall into a 21st century main street.