By Sara Beth Williams–
A Missouri-based family entertainment company announced its new flagship location will be located in Citrus Heights at Sunrise Mall, Ethan Conrad Properties and the newly signed tenant say.
Slick City Action Park announced online that the company signed a lease for the former Sears building at 6041 Sunrise Blvd. in Citrus Heights in April, totaling 31,160 square feet.
Though the deal was made in April, details of the new deal were made public in a May 21 report on commercial real estate data site CoStar.
Ethan Conrad Properties said Wednesday that the new lease represents one of the largest leases the company has ever signed.
“Slick City is a rapidly growing children’s entertainment brand with 35 operating parks and more than 150 additional locations signed or currently in development nationwide. This location is planned to serve as the company’s flagship venue,” Ethan Conrad Properties Marketing Manager Mona Escudero said Wednesday.
As part of the redevelopment, the second floor of the former Sears building, which Ethan Conrad Properties acquired in 2022, will be removed to create a “dramatic open-concept space combining the first and second floors.”
“The redesigned facility will feature approximately 35’–40’ clear heights, allowing for taller slides and larger attractions, creating an even more exciting guest experience,” Escudero said.
Retail Real Estate Strategist Jake Burns shared in a LinkedIn post that while trying to find a suitable location for the growing company, the Action Park heard a lot of “’doesn’t pencil’” and “‘can’t be done'” from landlords of dark department stores across the country.”
“We’ve been determined to find “industrial clear heights” in a super-regional retail location… and when the optimal site doesn’t exist, we create it,” Burns said, adding that it took a lot of “pushing and problem solving.”
Slick City describes itself as the first indoor slide park, featuring giant dry slides with air courts, junior play zones, and event spaces for birthdays and other group packages, the company’s website says.
The indoor action park calls the future Citrus Heights location “a big step forward in our California rollout” and states it wants to open for business “as soon as possible.”
The deal between Ethan Conrad Properties and Slick City Action Park marks another major step forward toward the city of Citrus Heights’ Sunrise Tomorrow vision for the 100-acre Sunrise Mall property.
The city has spent several years advancing the Sunrise Tomorrow Specific Plan, a development guide outlining a vision for transforming the property into a mixed-use regional destination with housing, retail, entertainment, office space, and community gathering spaces.
The Sunrise Mall property spans nearly 100 acres and is currently divided into seven separate parcels owned by five different entities, which has caused delays and complications for redevelopment of the site.
However, the city says progress is being made toward supporting the build-out of the 100-acre site. The first major sign of potential development was the approval of a tentative parcel map and development agreement in June 2024 to support the development of the Sunrise Tomorrow Hotel project.
Although the Economic Development and Community Engagement department said deals were being discussed in 2024, a hotel deal has yet to be announced.
In 2025, after the City Council rejected an informal site plan submitted by Ethan Conrad Properties containing a proposed Home Depot, In-N-Out Burger, family entertainment company, and multiple other fast food restaurants, the city did approve the construction of Sunrise Montessori Preschool. Several electric vehicle charging stations were also constructed in the same year.
In March of this year, the City of Citrus Heights signed an Economic Development Partnership Agreement with sports venue developer The Mettle Shop to bring a sports center to the former Macy’s Men’s building on the opposite end of the Sunrise Mall property from Sears. The former Macy’s Men’s, along with most of the mall’s main building, excluding Sears, is owned by Namdar Realty Group.
The Citrus Heights City Council also recently approved a $178K service agreement for the development of preliminary infrastructure phasing work for the Sunrise Tomorrow project, as well as a professional services agreement for the Sunrise Tomorrow Frontage Improvement Project with Mark Thomas & Company, Inc., for $449,000.
Tallen Capital Partners’ CEO Terry Tallen confirmed he is in the process of purchasing the mall from Namdar Realty Group. The Mettle Shop is still in the process of compiling a finance plan and a formal project entitlement package.
