A plan to turn the nearly vacant Hilltop mall shopping center into a mixed-use development that would include new housing will be discussed at a Richmond Planning Commission study session next week.
The commission plans to meet Aug. 21 to review the draft land use plan for the Hilltop Horizon Specific Plan.
That plan covers a 143-acre area that includes the 77-acre former Hilltop mall as well as 19 other properties south and southeast of the center.
The proposal calls for demolishing most of the shuttered mall and replacing it with housing, shops, restaurants, entertainment outlets and parks. The Walmart store on the center’s south side, which has recently been undergoing some remodeling, is expected to remain.
The future of the 24-Hour Fitness Center on the mall property is unknown. The company has not responded to Richmondside’s requests for information.
Glydways, a San Francisco-based company that develops driverless transportation systems, has taken over 14 acres of the mall’s northern parking lot to test vehicles for a 28-mile Automated Transit Network it is developing in eastern Contra Costa County.
The study session will focus on how many homes will be built and what types of businesses, entertainment outlets and parks will be located on the property.
The project timeline calls for the plans to be further developed this fall and winter, with public hearings and adoption of a final plan expected sometime next year.
“Our vision for Hilltop is to create a mixed-use community with new retail, low- to mid-density housing, space for new business and community facilities, and open space,” said Sunil Plaha, vice president of development at Prologis, the San Francisco-based real estate and development company that purchased the mall property in 2021 for $117 million.
“This is an opportunity to replace an obsolete mall with a modern, walkable district that reflects how people live today,” Plaha told Richmondside. “We’re aiming to build a place where people can live, work and play — one that supports Richmond’s economy, enhances quality of life for the surrounding community and becomes a lasting part of the city’s fabric.”
City wants more housing; that part of plan concerns nearby residents
City officials have said building housing is the key to the project’s success.
The Hilltop specific plan calls for between 5,000 and 7,500 new housing units. The designs range from two-story townhouses to five-story apartment and condominium complexes. Much of the adjacent neighborhoods already consist of a number of such multi-family developments.
“From the inception of this project, the city’s goal was to adopt a specific plan that implements the General Plan 2030 vision for the area,” said Michele Morris, senior planner and Historic Preservation Commission liaison manager for the city. “The density range being contemplated in the various land plan options align with the adopted General Plan with some minor variations to accommodate a lower density component that can act as a phase one to spur development in the area.”
At a meeting in May, some residents of adjoining neighborhoods expressed concerns about the current plans. They said higher-density housing would cause quality of life issues for the surrounding area.
Surveys have been conducted to see what residents want. In one discussed in November of 2023, residents suggested that the housing density be kept at about 20 dwelling units per acre.
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“We want the area to continue to feel like a town and don’t want to make a micro-city with housing on top of housing.”
— Richmond residents surveyed about the Hilltop mall plan
“We want the area to continue to feel like a town and don’t want to make a micro-city with housing on top of housing,” said a survey excerpt.
Morris says residents’ concerns are being taken seriously.
“As we proceed with the development of the plan, we hope to further engage with area residents to discuss the potential benefits that higher density can bring to the project area and community, such as more housing choices, better transit and increased local services,” Morris told Richmondside.
Hilltop opened in 1976 with about half of the 130 retail spaces occupied. The others quickly filled up with businesses that included four jewelry stores, 10 shoe stores and 12 restaurants. There were also four movie theaters, a skating rink and a child-care center.
James Cheshareck, a Richmond historian, said the new mall created 3,000 jobs and produced $87 million in retail sales in its first year of operation. The local sales tax revenue it produced that initial year was estimated at $1 million, with Richmond schools receiving $370,000.
However, competition from two newer shopping centers as well as the advent of online shopping and the construction of the Richmond Parkway, which allowed traffic to bypass Hilltop, contributed to the shopping center’s demise.
The mall officially closed in 2021. Now, the site could be on the verge of a new beginning.
“We’re excited about Hilltop’s future and we are working with the city to align housing density targets with market realities, infrastructure constraints and what the community has said it wants,” Plaha said. “Ultimately, we want to see densities that make this project truly viable — not just an approved plan that sits on a shelf — so the site can reach its full potential and deliver lasting benefits to Richmond.”
No more housing. Enough homes already. We need more restaurants and middle price range retail stores. More housing creates more traffic and congestion.