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Category: Business

  • Sunrise Mall invests in new landscaping along Greenback Lane

    New irrigation lines can be seen along Greenback Lane outside Sunrise Mall as the site is prepped for new landscaping. // M. Hazlip

    By Mike Hazlilp—
    A row of old juniper bushes that filled parking lot planters along Greenback Lane for decades have been uprooted to make way for new landscaping, just in time for a “Brews in the Burbs” event this Saturday.

    Related: ‘Brews in the Burbs’ to return to Citrus Heights for 2022

    Drivers passing by could see piles of the uprooted bushes as workers prepared to add new irrigation and sod in their place. On Tuesday, drip irrigation lines and fresh rolls of sod could be seen in preparation for install.

    Sunrise Mall Operations Director Matthew Baker told The Sentinel that new landscaping will be water efficient and prevent vandals from setting fire to the juniper. He said the mall’s majority owner, Namdar, is also considering adding trees, such as Japanese plums, as a decorative element.

    Baker said a target completion date is Friday, May 20, in time for the Brews in the Burbs event the mall is hosting.

    Economic Development and Communications Manager Meghan Huber confirmed in an email Wednesday that the city is not involved in funding the landscape renovation and said the project is not part of the city’s ongoing work along Greenback Lane using SB1 funds.

    The Greenback Lane Complete Streets Project began in mid-March and is slated to conclude by early fall. The project includes storm drain and intersection upgrades, new curb ramps, electrical upgrades to traffic signals, utility upgrades and full roadway repaving from Fair Oaks Boulevard to Sunrise Boulevard.

    Read more: Work begins on Greenback Lane repaving, improvement project

    More major redevelopment of the nearly 100-acre Sunrise Mall is also in the works, with the city approving a shovel-ready, four-phase plan last year. The projected cost is $818 million, with an estimated timeline of 20 years to be fully completed.

    The first phase aims to develop the unused parking areas over the next five years. The second phase would incorporate office space, retail, dining, and an extended stay hotel. The third and final phase includes redeveloping the existing mall into a 21st century main street.

    Related: City seeing ‘a ton of interest’ from developers in Sunrise Mall plans

  • Meet the family behind this popular cherry stand in Citrus Heights

    Lisa White, left,, stands with Hailey Doughty and Jasper White at her family’s seasonal fruit stand in Citrus Heights. // M. Hazlip

    By Mike Hazlip—
    For nearly 30 years, a seasonal cherry stand along Sunrise Boulevard in Citrus Heights has been run by a family who calls Arkansas home.

    Lisa White started selling fresh cherries and other fruit and dried goods more than three decades ago while living in Washington State when Montey White, her future husband, came through the area with his family selling fresh fruit. The two started dating, and now 31 years later, White continues to operate the business with their son, Jasper, and other family members.

    Jasper White, now 21, told The Sentinel in an interview last week that his father started the business after a trip to a grocery store.

    “They picked up a box of cherries and they saw where they were sourced from,” Jasper White said. “From then on out, that’s how they started the process. They would go to farmers and talk to farmers and pick their own fruit.”

    Now operating in the parking lot of Pastor’s Valero at 7560 Sunrise Blvd., the family offers dried goods such as nuts as well as other small fruits.

    The family lives in Arkansas about nine months out of the year, but travels to Citrus Heights and Washington during cherry season to source and sell local produce.

    “We can afford a house there,” Lisa White said of living in Arkansas.

    Jasper White now manages the stand while his mother sources produce throughout California’s Central Valley. He says regular customers have watched him grow up over the years.

    “It’s a different life, really interesting,” Jasper White said. “It’s kind of a gypsy life but once you get used to it; there’s almost no going back.”

    Part of that life is sourcing fresh produce from growers, something Lisa White does daily. White says she spends about $300 on gas each day as she travels throughout the San Joaquin Valley and Bay Area to find the best produce.

    She says rising fuel prices are making her produce more expensive.

    “It’s making me raise my prices, it’s the only thing I can do,” she said pointing to items in her stand. “Last year that was $10, now it’s $15.”

    White calls herself “picky” when it comes to cherries, but says it’s what keeps customers coming back year after year.

    “My customers know that if they come in, they’re going to consistently get a fresh product,” she said.

    She looks for food closets to take any produce she can’t sell, but said it can be difficult to connect with staff given her hours away from the stand.

    After California’s cherry season, the family plans to open a stand in Washington state near Anacortes, Lisa White said. They typically stay in Citrus Heights through Father’s Day before moving on, she said.

    The family originally operated their Citrus Heights fruit stand at 7424 Sunrise Blvd., a vacant lot at the time. However, once construction started on an apartment complex at the site last year, White said she had to find a new location for the business and credited the owners of Pastor’s Valero Gas Station with providing a new home for the stand.

    “Karen and Randy Pastor, who own the Valero here, they were good customers the whole time I sat up the road there,” said Lisa White. “When I lost that spot, I came over here and asked them, really kind people.”

    Looking back at the years in business, Lisa White credits her customers with her success.: “Their kindness was our biggest success.”

    Now in her 50s, Lisa White says the physical labor of operating the fruit stand is becoming more demanding. She also sees lost opportunities by not taking advantage of current trends in marketing on social media, saying “social media and me just don’t get along.”

    Jasper White said he is considering taking the family business further and noted that marketing on social media is one part of the business he would like to improve.

    “He really is awesome at this business,” Lisa White said of her son. “If he can take it a step further than we ever did, that would be awesome.”

  • Million-dollar mansion in Citrus Heights drops in price to $997k

    A home at 6444 Sylvan Road is listed for just under $1 million. // Image courtesy, Janis Shoemaker

    By Mike Hazlip—
    A historic, 3,000-square-foot home on more than an acre in Citrus Heights is seeking a buyer for just under the $1 million mark.

    Set back from the main thoroughfare, the home at 6444 Sylvan Rd. is listed for $997,500, a drop from the most recent $1.15 million price tag in December 2021. The price reduction came after a lot line adjustment reduced the size of the property to 1.4 acres, listing agent Janis Shoemaker said.

    The home features four bedrooms and four bathrooms and was built in 1930, according to Shoemaker, who is also the home’s owner. Sacramento County assessor records for the parcel date to 1910.

    In its past era, the home was used to host large parties, according to the listing. The kitchen boasts two dishwashers and a double oven, and photographs of the listing show modern appliances and granite counter tops.

    For Shoemaker, she says it’s time to move on to a new season of life, as she retires from living at the estate for the past 22 years.

    “I am turning a page, it’s time to move on,” she told The Sentinel in a phone interview on Saturday. “It’s a lot of work. The landscaping alone, we’ve spent thousands of dollars.”

    Shoemaker says there have been interested buyers, but they didn’t qualify. Other potential buyers were not interested in a two-story home.

    “Every aspect takes a certain buyer,” Shoemaker said.

    When she originally purchased the home with her husband, Shoemaker said it had boarded-up windows and the yard was in poor condition. Over the last two decades, she has worked to give the home manicured landscaping.

    “When I bought that property it was an impound tow yard,” she said. “It was garbage. My husband and I did a ton of work there.”

    Shoemaker says the ideal buyer might be a large family looking for a quiet private space away from the main road, or it could also appeal to a buyer wanting to turn it into a care home.

    “It’s a beautiful piece of property, absolutely beautiful piece of property,” Shoemaker said. “A lot of history.”

    More photos and details about the property can be found on the home’s listing online.

  • Large Honda dealership in Citrus Heights sold to new owner

    Maita Honda
    Cars in the lot of Maita Honda in Citrus Heights are spaced unusually far apart, as inventory hits record lows. // M. Hazlip

    Sentinel staff report–
    The former Maita Honda dealership at the corner of Auburn Boulevard and Greenback Lane is now known as Future Honda, after being acquired this month by a regional automotive group.

    Future Automotive Group, which is owns 13 dealerships in the greater Sacramento region, announced the acquisition in a press release on Wednesday. New ownership took over as of May 4.

    From last month: Local car dealership at record low inventory amid chip shortage

    “We are very excited to add our first Honda store to our portfolio,” said Bill Walsh, president of sales and service for the greater Sacramento region. “This dealership provides more opportunities to employees in the Greater Sacramento Area, and it will be fun to work with a new group of people.”

    Maita Honda originally opened in 1970 as one of only 29 Honda dealerships in the United States at that time, according to Wednesday’s news release. The location currently offers sales, parts and service.

    Future Automotive Group’s latest acquisition marks the fifth dealership it has acquired in the past three years. The company first started in 1963, and now employs over 1,200 employees.

    The new General Manager of Future Honda is Kevin Mantz, who previously served as general manager of Future Nissan’s locations in Roseville and Folsom.

  • Citrus Heights pizza shop apparently targeted in smash-and-go vandalism

    Austin Smith (L) and Dalvir Singh Brar (R) in front of Brar’s pizza restaurant where almost every window was broken in what appears to be a targeted act of vandalism. // M. Hazlip

    By Mike Hazlip—
    Nearly every window of the Mountain Mike’s Pizza restaurant on Sunrise Boulevard was smashed in by a masked suspect armed with a hammer during the early morning hours of Sunday, May 8, in what police say appears to be a “targeted” act of vandalism.

    Dalvir Singh Brar, owner of the pizza restaurant at the corner of Antelope Road and Sunrise Boulevard told The Sentinel an individual broke 31 windows and three glass doors along the front, side, and rear of the business. The only panes of glass untouched were the transoms above the doors and a small window next to a door frame.

    Surveillance video from cameras inside the restaurant show a vehicle driving near the business. A male individual exits the vehicle with a hammer and strikes each window multiple times, Brar said.

    Citrus Heights Police Lt. Chad Morris said officers responded to the location “regarding noises of windows breaking.” The individual could not be identified because he was wearing a hood and mask, he said.

    “It is only my speculation, but based on the number of windows broken and the fact that no entry was made into the business, this would appear to be a targeted act,” Morris said.

    Brar said nothing was stolen, and it appears no attempt was made to enter the business.

    Mountain Mike’s employee Austin Smith agreed the incident was targeted, but said any reason for the attack would be speculation.

    “It could be a hate crime,” Smith said. “It (might) just be someone who went crazy over a pizza, I’ve had people threaten my life over a pizza.”

    The incident is the second act apparently targeting the pizza restaurant this year, as multiple windows were also broken in a Jan. 30 incident. Surveillance video from that incident shows a white pickup park in front of the business with two male occupants then getting out and breaking several windows at the front of the store, according to Brar.

    There is currently no evidence that both incidents were perpetrated by the same person or persons.

    The building, part of a shopping center anchored by Walgreens and Corner Pocket Sports Bar, is independently owned, and Brar says there is no private security for the site or external security cameras.

    “I don’t know why they target only this place,” Brar said, speculating it could be a hate crime because of his ethnicity. “The last 20 years we run [the business] like a family, we’ve served this community for 20 years.”

  • New Mediterranean grill opens in Citrus Heights

    Falafel Corner
    Franchise owner Luqman Shah stands outside his new restaurant at 7700 Sunrise Blvd. // M. Hazlip

    By Mike Hazlip—
    Falafel Corner is the latest restaurant to open its doors in Citrus Heights, offering various Mediterranean favorites like wraps, gyros, Halal meats and falafel.

    The restaurant currently has seven locations in the greater-Sacramento area, as well as one in Fremont. The Citrus Heights location is in the same building as Round Table Pizza at 7700 Sunrise Blvd., near Antelope Road.

    Franchise Owner Luqman Shah said he opened the location earlier this month, but is just now able to offer the full menu. The franchisee is currently working with the Citrus Heights Chamber of Commerce for a ribbon cutting ceremony slated for the end of this month.

    Shah said he decided to open a restaurant after working in the food industry. “Things were going nice, so I decided to open my own restaurant,” he said.

    An immigrant from Pakistan, Shah said he left his homeland in 2010 for the United Kingdom. After working a variety of jobs there, he made the move to the United States in 2015 and settled in Arizona. Now he lives in Oakland and commutes more than an hour to Citrus Heights each day.

    Before opening Falafel Corner, Shah says he worked a variety of “gig” jobs including Uber and fulfillment by Amazon.

    Originally, Shah was hoping to open a Falafel Corner in Oakland, but delays led him to seek a Citrus Heights location for the franchise that began locally. Falafel Corner’s first location is in Natomas, according to a previous report by The Sentinel.

    The website Open Corporates lists the Falafel Corner Franchising Corp owner as Sajad Shakoor with a primary address in the Natomas area. News reports by Sacramento News and Review and a Diablo Valley College student newspaper show Shakoor found success in the restaurant industry after serving more than 20 years in prison and has become an advocate for programs to help individuals with felony convictions gain employment.

    According to hours posted on Yelp, the new Citrus Heights restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, except on Sundays when closing time is an hour earlier.

  • Sunrise Mall welcomes new floral shop, just in time for Mother’s Day

    Owner Lindsey Garvin stands inside her new floral shop at Sunrise Mall. // M. Hazlip

    By Mike Hazlip—
    Lindsey Garvin says opening a new flower shop inside Sunrise Mall last weekend was a dream come true for her. The shop, Little Violet’s, is named after her one-year-old daughter and is located near the JCPenney entrance of the mall.

    “I’ve been doing flowers and plants for over 10 years and I just thought I need to do this on my own,” she told The Sentinel in an interview. “Everywhere I was working, there was so much more potential and I just wasn’t able to expand my creativity as much. It’s just something I’ve been wanting to do for a really really long time.”

    Little Violet’s officially opened its doors on Sunday, May 1, but the following Monday was the first full day for the business, Garvin said, calling the new venture she shares with her boyfriend “a little scary.”

    Despite Sunrise Mall’s vacancy rate and a decline in foot traffic over the years, Garvin remains optimistic about the shopping center’s future. She hopes to gain some business from Royal Stage Preforming and Visual Arts, a recent tenant coming to the mall, and says there’s potential for growth.

    “I have a lot of faith in Sunrise Mall bouncing back,” she said. “So I thought this would be the perfect time to get in.”

    Related: 200-seat performing arts theater to open in Sunrise Mall

    With 10 orders and counting already in for the weekend, Garvin said on Friday that she expects to have a busy Mother’s Day.

    “I have a feeling this weekend is going to go really well,” Garvin said.

    Garvin sells more than flowers at Little Violet’s, and everything is made in America by small business owners, she says. There are handmade greeting cards from New York and Massachusetts, gift bags from a woman in Utah, and puzzles by an artist in Georgia. Garvin makes the T-shirts herself.

    Growing up with a father who worked in landscaping, Garvin is no stranger to horticulture. Some of her past clients included corporate businesses in the Bay Area with indoor plants that Garvin was tasked with keeping alive and healthy, she says.

    “I’ve just been drawn to it my whole life, it’s in my blood,” she says.

    Hours for the new store are Monday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays, according to the store’s website.

  • Realtor’s Column: What happened with Citrus Heights home sales in April?

    By Beth Moran–
    Real estate can’t help but be on people’s minds this spring as rents have increased in addition to gas and food and it seems this month is beginning to see a turn in the market.

    The latest market stats for Citrus Heights show a 10.6% decrease in home sales from March to April and a 7.3% decrease from last year. As every sale impacts the value of your property, sellers should be careful not to get caught chasing the market down.

    On the plus side, Citrus Heights saw continued increase of sales prices with a 13.1% year over year increase. Residential single-family homes in the Citrus Heights area averaged a sale price of $507,885 with homes selling 4.4% over asking price.

    The days on market averaged 10 with the square foot average coming in at 1,464, that’s about $355 per square foot for a single-family home. Of the 106 residential sales, 12 were townhomes or condos. Those averaged 12 days on the market with a purchase price averaging just under $362,000 and closing at 3% over asking.

    The house winning the “longest days on market” award was a probate sale. A townhome that required court approval to close escrow coming in at 76 days. So, to be clear we’re still in a hot seller’s market with inventory selling quickly.

    On the negative side, the interest rate increase to 5% is starting to impact pricing and we’re seeing more price reductions. My advice is to pay close attention to what the closing sales are doing in your neighborhood. You don’t want to be chasing the market down and lose equity as the market cools off.

    One area that gets little attention is the sales of mobile homes. Citrus Heights has a few mobile home parks and those sales have been increasing just as much as the traditional sales. As prices rise and people get priced out of conventional housing these more affordable homes have a greater allure.

    The number of mobile homes closed in April was 20 with the average price of $135,819. You can see why these homes saw an increase in sales, as those prices sound like what I paid for my first home in Citrus Heights in 1988!

    The average square footage is about 1,250, with time on market coming in at 28 days. A couple reasons these take longer to sell is because most of these homes are in age-restricted communities and also limit people in terms of pets allowed and typically has some sort of Homeowners Association. The land lease fees also impact purchases as people are not aware of those costs and sometimes fail to factor them into a mortgage, regardless of how small.

    Citrus Heights also had two residential income duplexes close in April. Again, the average days on market was 10 but the price point is higher at $614,450 on average. The average closing price was at 4.6% over asking, showing a high demand for investment properties.

    Beth Moran

    The real news is the number of offers, with one receiving 17 and the other 6. It just shows how much money investors have to spend driving our market up and making it hard for locals to compete.

    Beth Moran is a local, independent broker (DRE #01264309) selling real estate in Citrus Heights since 1999. She can be reached at Beth@SacAgent.com

  • Former Tokyo Buffet building suffers damage from another fire

    The former Tokyo Buffet building is located at 7217 Greenback Ln. // M. Hazlip

    By Mike Hazlip—
    Just months after a vacant restaurant in Citrus Heights changed hands, a fire again damaged the building Friday morning.

    The latest fire to damage the former Tokyo Buffet building on Greenback Lane occurred in the early morning hours of Friday, May 6. The building’s new owner, Ling Lin, said through an interpreter that he was waiting on permits when the incident happened.

    From February: New owner acquires shuttered Tokyo Buffet building on Greenback Lane

    Lin has plans to open a Sushi Habachi restaurant similar to the former Benihana at Sunrise Village, according to interpreter Judie Xue. The new owner does not expect the incident to delay the project because he already had plans to remodel the kitchen.

    Fire damage could be seen inside the kitchen near a wall. Xue said the electricity was shut off at the time of the incident, and she did not know what could have caused the fire. The sprinkler system came on, limiting damage to the kitchen area.

    Hue said authorities had not given a cause of the fire, as of mid-morning Friday. A Metro Fire Public Information Officer contacted by The Sentinel on Saturday morning also did not have an update on cause of fire.

    The Sentinel previously reported the building changed hands in December, 2021. Citrus Heights Communications Officer Nichole Baxter confirmed the site was purchased in 2021 by Kobe Hibachi and Sushi Incorporated based in Lincoln, California. The sale price was $1.8 million according to commercial realty site Realty Trac.

    Tokyo Buffet closed after a kitchen fire damaged the restaurant in August of 2019. Metro Fire Capt. Chris Vestal told The Sentinel at the time the likely cause of that fire was a general failure of the restaurant’s kitchen hood fire extinguishing system. The system was inoperable at the time of the fire, he said.

  • Could this $1.25M property break a record for Citrus Heights?

    A home at 8047 Holly Drive in Citrus Heights has been listed for $1.25 million. // CH Sentinel

    By Mike Hazlip—
    Despite the housing market cooling off in recent months as interest rates sharply rise, one local realtor is confident his latest listing will break a sale price record in Citrus Heights with an asking price over $1 million.

    Realtor Ben Bondaruk told The Sentinel in a phone call Tuesday he has seen a lot of interest in the home at 8047 Holly Dr., despite the record-setting price tag. Bondaruk said he has two to three showings for the home each day.

    The million-and-a-quarter price tag includes a 2,235-square-foot main house with four bedrooms and three bathrooms, along with another detached 1,196-square-foot guest house with three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The lot size is about one acre, according to a listing on on the real estate website, Trulia.com.

    Additionally, the property features a two car garage, and a 680-square foot shot with 12-foot-high doors. The secondary dwelling also is powered by solar.

    The property was built in 2020 and has been on the market for six days, according to the listing.

    Real Estate Appraiser Ryan Lundquist told The Sentinel in an email that a million-dollar sale “has been a barrier that has never been broken in Citrus Heights until now.”

    With one additional property pending at $1,049,000, Lundquist says the “million dollar club” will have more than one member in Citrus Heights if both properties close above the $1 million mark.

    “This barrier speaks to how far prices have risen in the region, but it’s also about the type of product buyers are looking for,” Lundquist said.

    Potential buyers are typically families who are looking for a property that offers space for one or more relatives, according to Bondaruk.

    Lundquist says rising interest rates have had a cooling effect on the market, but the market is still competitive.

    “For a while buyers were sprinting to the market to get in before rates rose, and it created an incredibly aggressive and frantic market during the beginning of the year,” Lundquist said. “But it seems now we are starting to really see the effect of higher rates where buyers just aren’t running at the same pace.”