Commercial Real Estate in Corona, California

Infrastructure

Widening of I-15: To ease the congestion of 180,000 cars per day traveling on I-15, two tolled express lanes are under construction to be added in each direction between Cajalco Rd. on the south end to CA Rt-60 on the north end. The lanes are projected to be open in mid-2020. The new lanes will be built along the existing median of I-15, so that land will not have to be reclaimed from private owners.  Learn more at http://www.i15project.info

Mixed-Use Residential & Retail

Metro at Main is the exciting new apartment project on North Main St. by the Metrolink station. The project consists of three different apartment complexes totaling 868 units, as well as over 60,000 square feet of retail space. The apartments are 95% occupied. Just a partial list of retailers that are open are Starbucks, Z Pizza Tap Room Organic Junkie Juice Bar, Poki Cat, and The Kickin’ Crab. Burger Im, Union Barber and Beer Lodge and others are opening soon.

Bedford is a 276-acre master-planned community being developed by the New Home Company, and held its grand opening on Sept. 22, 2018.  This is the largest master-planned community in Corona in 15 years.  The finished community will include parks, trails, 50 acres of open space, and a shopping center which will include retail and office buildings.  It is located west of I-15 at Cajalco Rd.

• 184 acres will be used for 1,621 single-family and multi-family units.
• 20 acres of Bedford will be for retail, office, and other commercial uses.

The Dos Lagos project in South Corona has added 275 new multifamily units.

Retail

• A new Starbucks will be coming to the Northeast corner of Main St. and 8th St., in the parking lot of the 99 Cent Only building. It will be one of their new, smaller format stores.
• Smart and Final is now open! It anchors a new shopping center at the southeast corner of E. Ontario Ave. and Fullerton Ave.  Its co-tenants are Dunkin Donuts, Mod Pizza, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Ono Hawaiian BBQ, Supercuts, and Jimmy John’s Sandwiches.
• The Corona Mall and some of the properties by the 99 Cent Only store on Main St. will be redeveloped by Lab Holding, the developer of the Anaheim Packing House, as well as The Lab Anti-Mall and The Camp in Costa Mesa, all of which are known for their urban, trendy vibe. Lab Holding owns and operates about 50% of the Corona Mall. The remaining 50% is still owned by private individuals since each unit in the mall is individually owned. The first parts of the project to be developed will be the area near the 99 Cent Only store. Construction is expected to begin in early 2020 with some restaurants and breweries.
• The former 100,000 square foot Kmart building at 705 N. Main St., which had been vacant for several years, was redeveloped and divided amongst several tenants, with Chuze Fitness, Big Air Trampoline Park, and Aldi moving in. In the parking lot of that building, a new Wendy’s has been built.

• Lazy Dog Café will be coming to Corona, taking over the former Claim Jumper location at 380 McKinley St., in the Costco/Home Depot plaza. It is expected to open in early 2020.

• A new retail project called Foothill Plaza is in the construction process at the northwest corner of I-15 and Foothill Parkway, whose tenants will include Circle K, Starbucks, Habit Burger, and Pizza Hut Sports Bar. A 20,000 square foot multi-tenant retail building is being built which will include a nail spa, Total Care Walk-in clinic, Cryotherapy, Deli Delicious, and Foothill Donuts.
• The project will sit immediately at the freeway on/off ramps with prominent freeway visibility.
• Tenants are expected to open in mid to late 2019.
• A 118-room hotel is being planned, and two more restaurant pads are also available.

• McKinley Ave. car/train separation project
  Studies are underway to find a solution to ease traffic along McKinley Ave. so that cars do not have to wait for the train to pass.
  At the railroad crossing, traffic is stopped for up to 4 hours each day and growing. The city first explored the option of a bridge for the train to go over McKinley Ave. However, due to extremely high costs, that project did not movie forward.
  Another option would be to build a bridge for cars to drive over the railroad tracks; however this option is opposed by owners of property in the immediate area, saying that the bridge will hurt the businesses who operate in the buildings.
  See below for a rendering of this option.
  

  Another option is for the city to build a tunnel for the trains to pass through underground.

  The last two options are currently being explored by City officials. Construction must be complete by June 2023, or the City will lose $84MM of funding from the state to work on this project.

• The Circle City Gateway Project has the goal of revitalizing Sixth Street within the Corona Circle (Grand Ave). The plan calls for Sixth Street to be narrowed to one lane in each direction to make room for wider, paved sidewalks which can accommodate more outdoor seating, drought-tolerant landscaping, and sidewalk cafes.  For special events, Sixth Street would be closed off to vehicles and open to only pedestrian traffic. You can view a presentation of the of this project’s vision at http://tinyurl.com/Corona6th.
• New medical buildings downtown: Two medical buildings totaling 58,600 square feet will be constructed on 6^th next to the library. One building will be 32,500 square feet and occupied by the City of Hope.  The other building will be 26,400 square feet.

For more information about commercial real estate in Corona, or any area within the Inland Empire, please contact Mike Lin. You can reach him through the form on our contact page or by calling him at 949-209-9696.