
By Ethan Conrad–
I have drafted this letter based on our company’s interest in making the Sunrise Mall property into a vibrant property that has great, national retail tenants in it. This would benefit the City of Citrus Heights community significantly, both from a shopping perspective as well as a sales tax generation perspective. This would also simply create pride for the community in having a beautiful well-located primarily retail property.
Based on the above-described goals, we are proposing that the Sunrise Tomorrow Specific Plan be updated such that logical retail uses for the property such as Home Depot and In-N-Out Burger’s uses (both of which we have pending transactions with) be allowed subject to the City of Citrus Heights Planning and Building Department approvals.
Therefore, in summary, we appreciate working as a team with the City of Citrus Heights’ residents, councilmembers, and other decision-makers to achieve the goal that everyone wants of having the redevelopment of this property be economically viable in the manner described below.
For years, it has been clear to the Citrus Heights community that the Sunrise Mall is declining rapidly – and with the announcement late last week that Macy’s will close its doors within months, the situation has become even more severe. The time to act is now or we are at risk of Sunrise becoming a “dead” mall – a huge burden on local communities that has become far too common across California and the country…
It is important to highlight that the community came together and built a framework for the future of the mall, “Sunrise Tomorrow.” We appreciate the work, time, and insight dedicated to developing the Sunrise Tomorrow plan. Unfortunately, there has been no current interest from any developer to move forward with the plan as written and there is widespread acknowledgement that there needs to be more flexibility to ensure plans for the space are economically viable. Without a flexible vision, Citrus Heights will be left with a dead mall that will bring down our city and our neighborhoods – which will increase crime, decrease home values, and further impact the tax revenues the city needs to fund essential services.
Since the Sunrise Tomorrow plan was developed years ago, significant changes have occurred in the way we live and work. For example, building additional office space on the property is not economically supported with the dramatic increase in remote work.
That’s why we have developed “Sunrise Tomorrow Evolution,” an economically viable plan to revitalize the Sunrise Mall property into a retail destination with strong tenants who will generate the sales tax revenue to help fund Citrus Heights schools, first responders, parks, and fuel the community’s economic vitality generating much-needed jobs. This plan simply provides more flexibility to the original Sunrise Tomorrow plan to make sure that we can secure the needed, high performing tenants that will keep the property vibrant and a driving economic force for the city.
In partnership with the community, we want to find the right balance to ensure the Sunrise Mall property is revitalized into a sustainable, economically viable, safe, family-friendly destination that our neighbors can all enjoy. That is why we’re also embarking on a community engagement plan which includes community meetings, neighborhood group outreach, an informational website, and other resources for those interested in the property’s future to provide feedback or ask questions. We are listening – and want to work with the community and Citrus Heights leadership to find the best, economically viable solution for the property.
We’ve done this before. We proudly received recognition from both the City of Chico and Yuba City after our efforts to revitalize their dead malls. The Yuba City Mayor called our efforts “a driving economic force for our local community providing hundreds of jobs and creating sales tax revenue to fund services that benefit every member of our local community.” The sales at Yuba City Marketplace increased 51% after we purchased the property in 2016, and the new stores there have tripled the number of jobs in the market.
We also purchased the Chico property in 2018, and sales increased by 60% – and the new stores have added 65% of new opportunities in the local job market. Mark Sorenson, Chico City Manager said of that project, “you have redeveloped a challenging mall…and completely repositioned the center to align itself with the local community by adding more attractive and popular stores.”
The Sunrise Tomorrow Evolution plan simply provides more flexibility to ensure we can attract the tenants needed to establish an economically viable, long-term solution to the property. The design of the property envisioned by the flexibility of this proposal will still be constructed per the approval of the City of Citrus Heights Budling and Planning – and we look forward to continuing to work with Citrus Heights leadership and the community to make this plan a reality. This plan is about the future of Citrus Heights – and bringing back the jobs, tax revenue, and flexibility to provide the economic vitality the Citrus Heights community depends on – and building a solid community property for generations to come.
Therefore, we would appreciate getting your support in having the allowed logical retail uses be a little more flexible so that this property will be successful, and something that the City of Citrus Heights can be proud of versus a “dead mall” which is what this property is on the brink of becoming.

Ethan Conrad is CEO of Ethan Conrad Properties, which currently owns 25 acres of the Sunrise Mall property for Phase 1 development with plans to include the remainder of the property in Phase II development. For more information, please visit http://SunriseTomorrowEvolution.com.
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By Ethan Conrad--- I have drafted this letter based on our company’s interest in making the Sunrise Mall property into a vibrant property...
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