Correction: This story has been updated to clarify that the school is proposed to take up the former Sears Parts and Service building, not the main retail building.
Updated Aug. 3, 11:36 a.m.–
By Sara Beth Williams– The building formerly home to Sears Parts and Service in Citrus Heights could soon house a new Montessori preschool.
City documents submitted on June 25 show that Sunrise Montessori School plans to take up residence in the vacant space formerly filled by Sears Auto. The school would not fill the main Sears building, but would take up a smaller building in the parking lot that once served as a parts and service building for Sears.
Sunrise Montessori plans to use the new location as a preschool, with operating hours from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., documents show. Programs include preschool, daycare, kindergarten, and after-school care for elementary children aged six to 12. The school lists an occupancy of 173 students and 18 adult staff.
Floor diagrams show the site broken into several classrooms for two to three-year-olds, three to four-year-olds, and five to six-year-olds, along with office space, and a 4,500-square-foot playground.
According to a letter of intended use by Sunrise Montessori, the company would also offer scholarships and sponsorship program opportunities for low-income families.
Real estate mogul Ethan Conrad, owner of the former Sears building along with several other real estate properties in the city, told The Sentinel via email that he is in the process of amending the Sunrise Tomorrow Specific Plan to allow for the “logical retail uses of this property and the adjacent property.” Conrad also said he has several pending sales transactions and leases “to highly desirable retail tenants.”
Previously, the 10 acres of land had been listed for sale for two years at the price of $16.3 million, according to commercial real estate site LoopNet.
Sears closed its doors in 2018 and has remained vacant, except for seasonal use during Halloween. Just one month after acquiring the former Sears property, Conrad listed it for sale, along with leasing options.
