Neither of the area's two big empty department stores is slated for demolition. At Arden Fair, the old Sears is being refitted for DICK'S House of Sport. At Country Club Plaza, the former Macy's at Watt and El Camino has been closed since 2016. Developer Tourbineau Real Estate Partners has proposed keeping the shell, fill most of it with mini-storage and build apartments on the parking lot next to it.
In both cases, the plan keeps a big midcentury box standing and changes what goes inside it. Arden Fair settled its answer privately and is building it now. At Country Club Plaza, the Sacramento County Planning Commission still has to decide. Of all the changes on this side of town this fall, the Macy's is the one neighbors can still testify on.
The Sears Box Gets a Climbing Wall
According to CBS Sacramento, you can already see construction outside the former Sears. The building will be redesigned rather than demolished and will become DICK'S Sporting Goods' first interactive store in California, with a climbing wall, a skylight atrium and outdoor space for community events and trying out products. CBS put the opening in 2027. An earlier ABC10 report said late 2026, so treat the date as an estimate until the mall announces one.
The new anchor is part of a larger restock. CBS listed Fabletics, Levi's, Taco Bell Cantina and True Religion as new tenants slated to open from early summer through the holidays, following Uniqlo, H&M and JD Sports. Mall spokesperson Nathan Spradlin told the station the leasing has been "a multi-year effort of curation" based on what Sacramento shoppers want, not on filling empty space. Jill Tindle, who owns the Golden Circle jewelry shop, told CBS there were more vacant storefronts when she opened and that those spaces have since been filled or soon will be.
The mall's own site shows how this plays out this fall. It listed a Levi's grand-opening weekend for October 17 and 18, a Día de los Muertos celebration running through November 2, and True Religion "coming this November."
The Macy's Box Gets Storage, Then Apartments
Weinstock's opened it in 1961, Macy's ran it from 1996 until it closed in 2016, and the design is credited to Charles Luckman, the midcentury architect whose former firm, Pereira & Luckman, designed the Theme Building at LAX. Hansen put the building at 167,000 square feet at the council meeting, according to the Sacramento Bee. The county's project description lists it as a 156,000-square-foot, four-story store.
Tourbineau Real Estate Partners has proposed mini-storage on the upper floors and five ground-floor retail spaces totaling about 6,000 square feet. A separate four-story, 174-unit apartment building would go on the extra parking lot between the store and El Camino. KCRA reported that the developers described the two pieces as linked and conditioned as one plan, so both would have to be built together.
The reasoning echoes Arden Fair's. According to the Bee, Steve Hansen, the former Sacramento council member who presented for Tourbineau through Lighthouse Public Affairs, said demolition could have cost about $10 million and that preservation was very important to the developer. He also made the financing argument directly, as the Bee reported:
"The building desperately needs preservation and because of the long-term issues with disinvestment on the property, it's very difficult to find a use that can accomplish preservation, accomplish some of the other goals and is finance-able."
In other words, the storage use is meant to make keeping the building pay, and the housing comes along with it. John Sweeney, a Tourbineau senior vice president, told the Bee the company sees the project as "a good adaptive reuse of the building," with community benefits in housing, an active ground floor and preservation.
Why the Room Was Full at Swanston
The Arden Arcade Community Planning Advisory Council heard the proposal in late August at the Swanston Community Center and voted 5-0 against the storage permit. The Bee described a packed room. According to KCRA, speakers raised traffic, construction noise, environmental effects and doubts about whether the area needs more self-storage. One speaker told the station the corner is "already extremely busy at Watt and El Camino."
The opposition was aimed at what would go inside, not at saving the building, which brings the comparison with Arden Fair back. The neighborhood group Advocates for Arden Arcade wrote that a few speakers supported reusing the building because of its Luckman design but didn't want storage as the plaza's anchor. Its account says other ideas came up too, including expansion space for American River College and maker space for entrepreneurs and artists.
| Former Sears, Arden Fair | Former Macy's, Country Club Plaza | |
|---|---|---|
| Building | Kept and redesigned | Kept under the current proposal |
| Proposed use | DICK'S House of Sport | Mini-storage, about 6,000 sq ft of retail |
| Paired project | Wider tenant refresh across the mall | 174-unit, four-story apartment building |
| Status | Under construction | County application pending |
| Timing | Opening estimated for 2027 | No hearing date posted as of mid-October |
Where the Decision Sits Now
The council's vote is only a recommendation. The County Planning Commission decides next, and if it approves the project, the Board of Supervisors has the final say. Earlier, on August 13, the county's Design Review Advisory Committee had recommended that the commission find the project in substantial compliance with design guidelines.
The county lists the application as "3500 El Camino Mini Storage & Retail," control number PLNP2024-00204, filed in October 2024. As of mid-October, its project record shows the status as pending, with no hearing items attached. The two newest documents are a revised trip-generation analysis from the Department of Transportation dated October 6 and an entitlement-processing memo dated October 13, after the council meeting.
The Bee had reported that the commission might take the project up in late October. The commission's next listed meeting is Monday, October 26, at 5:30 p.m., and agendas are posted on the county's AgendaNet page. Anyone planning to comment should check there first to see whether the Macy's item is on that agenda or a later one.
Elsewhere in the plaza, the Country Club Plaza directory lists CinemaWest, Planet Fitness and Rebounderz, all businesses you go to for something to do rather than to shop.
The Same Shift Runs Down Watt and Arden Way
The move from shopping to activities isn't limited to the two malls. On January 8, 2026, the county approved a use permit at 1730 Watt Avenue, on the northeast corner of Watt and Arden, to turn 34,000 square feet of retail space into indoor recreation. The county calls it Arden Creek Town Center Indoor Rec, and the permit record doesn't name an operator yet. That's another storefront being turned into a place to spend an afternoon.
The road between the two malls has changed too. Phase 1 of the Arden Way Complete Streets project, the half mile between Morse and Watt, finished major construction this summer. The Bee reported that the $7.4 million work added raised Class IV bike lanes separated from traffic, a flashing yellow signal phase at Professional Drive, new pavement, landscaped medians and ADA-compliant ramps, with McGuire and Hester as the contractor. Stephen White, the county transportation department's chief civil engineer, told the paper the separated bike lane is new for unincorporated Sacramento County. He said the county will likely spend six months to a year deciding whether to use it elsewhere.
Phase 2, from Morse Avenue to Hesket Way, has design funding and some local construction money set aside. It still needs state and local grants. The Bee reported construction is expected to start in spring 2028 at a cost of about $8.9 million, and the county's project page lists an April 2028 start and a June 2029 finish. That phase will also move some utility lines underground.
Dates on the Calendar Through November
- Through November 2: Arden Fair's Día de los Muertos celebration.
- October 26, 5:30 p.m.: Next listed Sacramento County Planning Commission meeting. Check AgendaNet to see whether the Macy's item is on it.
- November: True Religion's planned opening at Arden Fair.
- 2027: Current estimate for DICK'S House of Sport in the former Sears.
- Spring 2028: Expected construction start for Arden Way Phase 2.
Big projects near home, like a storage-and-apartment plan or an anchor store reopening, raise fair questions about what they could mean for nearby homes. If you'd like to talk through how the Watt and El Camino decision or the Arden Fair refresh could affect your home's value, Angela Heinzer has been watching Arden Arcade change for 36 years and is happy to look at the details with you. Start with a free home valuation.
