By Sara Beth Williams–
The developer proposing a sports complex for a portion of the Sunrise Mall property in Citrus Heights was previously behind plans for a major sports complex in Folsom.
Matt Mahon with The Mettle Shop confirmed in a phone call Monday that plans for the proposed Folsom Ranch Sports Complex are no longer moving forward. Plans for that project were submitted to the City of Folsom in May 2025, the Sacramento Bee previously reported.
Instead, The Mettle Shop is pursuing building the Sunrise Sports Center in Citrus Heights on a portion of the Sunrise Mall. The sports and entertainment complex will have similar specs and estimated economic impact to the previous project.
A website dedicated to project details for the former Folsom Ranch Sports Complex was still active as of Monday, but all information on the previous project was removed as of Tuesday morning, with a message redirecting site visitors to Sunrisesportscenter.com instead.
Mahon said that the company is currently concentrating its efforts on the Citrus Heights proposal and is awaiting approval from the City Council.
“There hasn’t been a formal withdrawal,” Mahon said regarding the earlier Folsom Ranch Sports Complex proposal. “We’re moving forward with the Citrus Heights plan. I think we’re all focused on this plan right now.”
A representative from the City of Folsom’s communications department did not return a request for comment regarding the Folsom Ranch Sports Complex proposal.
Citrus Heights officials announced the proposal of adding the major sports and entertainment complex to the mall property last week, with the City Council scheduled to consider an Economic Development and Participation Agreement during its March 11 meeting.
“We’re all pretty optimistic about this moving forward,” Mahon said of the participation agreement, which would be outlined.
The staff report for the upcoming meeting states that discussions around the “catalyst project” were “initiated by the city manager, who personally identified and sourced the lead with The Mettle Shop through networking and leveraging established professional relationships.”
One of the major factors that prompted developers to shift their focus to Citrus Heights was the prospect of a much faster construction timeline, Mahon said.
The Folsom Ranch site would have required building the entire complex on undeveloped land from the ground up.
By comparison, the Sunrise Mall property provides the developer with existing infrastructure to work with.
“Working from infill accelerates the timeline,” Mahon said.
If the city council approves the partnership agreement, Mahon said, the team hopes to move quickly, but the project specifics still need to go through regular processes and final city council approval.
“Assuming all goes to plan, we’re hoping to break ground by the end of the year,” he said.
Preliminary plans indicate the Sunrise Sports Center would be constructed on roughly 11 acres on the northern end of the Sunrise Mall property, with additional acreage for parking. The project is expected to require the demolition of part of the mall structure, including the former Macy’s Men’s building.
Currently, just over one dozen businesses remain in that section of the mall, including JCPenney, some other national chains, and several independently owned businesses, including a local community theater.
Questions to Mahon regarding the potential displacement of those businesses, whether the project footprint could change, or whether the sports complex could be potentially constructed on a different portion of the 50 acres of land were referred to the City of Citrus Heights and Tallen Capital Partners LLC for comment. Tallen Capital Partners is currently in the process of purchasing the majority of the mall property from Namdar Realty Group, the city reports.
In April 2025, a proposal by Ethan Conrad Properties requesting an amendment of the Sunrise Tomorrow Specific Plan to include drive-thru and industrial uses was rejected by the City Council during a meeting that lasted over four hours and included dozens of comments from the community.
The proposal by Ethan Conrad Properties included a Home Depot and In-N-Out Burger, Lucky Strike Entertainment, and a number of other national drive-through chains to the property. Following the rejection of the informal proposal, Ethan Conrad Properties’ CEO, Ethan Conrad, dropped plans to purchase more acreage of the mall from majority owner Namdar Realty Group.
Related: Why Citrus Heights said ‘no’ to Sunrise Mall amendment proposal – Citrus Heights Sentinel
In an email Tuesday, Conrad said of the proposed Sunrise Sports Center that he hopes the plans “come to fruition.”
“Based on the plans I’ve seen for the sports complex, I think that it’s a good use for the redevelopment of Sunrise Mall, which would certainly benefit my property as well, and therefore I hope these plans come to fruition.”
Conrad also said many of his primary pending leases would benefit from adding a sports and entertainment complex to the property.
See the full agenda packet for Wednesday’s meeting here.
Those wishing to make a public comment during the meeting can do so by attending the council meeting on Wednesday, March 11, at City Hall, at 6 p.m., or by submitting a written comment beforehand using the city’s website. The deadline to submit comments online is 4 p.m. on the day of the meeting.
Citrus Heights City Hall is located at 6360 Fountain Square Drive.
