By Sara Beth Williams–
A vacant building in Citrus Heights, formerly home to Kmart, is once again up for sale, city officials say.
The building located at 8501 Auburn Blvd. has been listed for sale by its owner, after having changed hands multiple times since 2016.
A visit to the building last week found a large “for sale” banner across the top of the building, which appears to have been wrapped with a bright green weather-resistant building wrap.
Commercial real estate site LoopNet lists the 60,000 square foot property for sale at $5.199 million, highlighting its “excellent freeway exposure, strong traffic counts, and ample parking potential.”
The city confirmed last week that the property is currently for sale by the owner. The city has not received any formal notice from the applicant or property owner regarding withdrawal of an application which previously proposed turning the building into a church. However, if no communication is received by mid-November, which would mark six months of inactivity, the city will consider the application officially withdrawn in accordance with standard procedures.
Spring of Life Church purchased the vacant building for $3.95 million in 2023, according to prior reports. Online documents show that the church submitted proposed designs for a new worship center that could accommodate up to 950 people, a children’s Sunday school section large enough for over 300 children, and additional meeting and office spaces.
The prominent anchor building in the Citrus Grove shopping center has changed hands multiple times and was previously home to a Kmart until the company went bankrupt in 2016. Studio Movie Grill then submitted plans for the building, but the project was officially abandoned in 2021 amid the company’s bankruptcy filing in 2020.
An adjacent portion of the building, once home to Big Lots from April 2019 to January 2023, was not included in Spring of Life’s acquisition. Currently, the adjacent building houses Fun City, a trampoline and adventure park. Construction on the interior of Fun City was active and ongoing last week, Sentinel staff found.
The shopping center is currently home to California Burgers, Jack in the Box, Gold’s Gym, and Greenhouse Café but lacks an anchor store. The Discount Store recently vacated its space and relocated to the Grand Oaks shopping center, leaving another building vacant.
