Richmond residents jotted down some of their hopes and frustrations about redeveloping Hilltop Plaza shopping center during a community gathering held earlier this month.
Bright, colorful sticky notes covered a poster board during the Sept. 4 Hilltop Visions mixer sponsored by the city, the Richmond Chamber of Commerce and developer Primestor, which bought the 59-acre shopping complex in 2024.
The result was a collage of complicated feelings about the site, with words such as “abandoned,” and “ghost mall” juxtaposed against “lovely place,” “nostalgia” and even “Christmas memories.”
Primestor aims to attract new anchor stores, including a large grocer. The center, off of Klose Way and Blume Drive, is currently home to a Ross, dd’s Discount Store and Cinemark Theater, among others. (The center is not to be confused with the larger mostly empty Hilltop mall a mile away off of Hilltop Drive. That mall is being redeveloped by another company.)
Regardless of their sticky note moods, shopping center neighbors, including residents of nearby Pinole and El Sobrante, made it clear that they care about Hilltop Plaza and have opinions about what they want to see Primestor do with it.
A new grocery store for Hilltop Plaza a hot discussion topic
One subject that came up repeatedly was the possibility of a grocery store. Richmond has a well-known “grocery gap,” which has been the subject of multiple news articles and studies, including one by UC Berkeley. According to the nonprofit Social Compact, Richmond residents have to travel 0.79 miles on average to get to the nearest grocery store, making it extra challenging for those who don’t have cars.
The last new full-service grocery store to open in Richmond was Grocery Outlet in 2013. Aside from that, the other positive food news was the opening of the Farmers Market in Marina Bay in 2024.
Ruthie Abelson Olivas, a local realtor who works in Richmond, said attending the Hilltop Plaza meeting opened her eyes to Richmond’s grocery gap.
“I live in Pinole and there I have so many grocery stores around me, which I didn’t realize that that’s so taken for granted,” Olivas said. “In Richmond, you know, people shouldn’t have to drive to other cities to go get healthy foods.”
When asked by Richmondside about the chances of a grocery store coming to Hilltop Plaza, Primestor’s Chief Operating Officer Allison Lynch and Director of Marketing Shajira Hope offered two perspectives.
“A lot of tenants, groceries, restaurants, they have very specific square footage requirements. So we have to look at what that entails to be able to do a feasibility assessment,” Hope said.
Lynch was more optimistic.
“I couldn’t put a percentage on what the chances are of getting a grocery store, but I would tell you it is on our list of tenants we’ve been talking to, and so we’re trying to figure out if that’s a tenant we can attract to the center,” Lynch said. “So it was reassuring to hear the community would like the same thing.”
However, Richmond residents contacted separately by Richmondside had mixed thoughts about the chances of a new grocer opening up at the plaza and anywhere in Richmond.
Karen Buchanan of Point Richmond said in an email to Richmondside, “Given the anti-business/anti-corporate political slant of the current RPA (Richmond Progressive Alliance)-majority Richmond City Council, I think the chances are very low of a major chain full-service supermarket opening in Richmond, unless there’s a regime change on the city council.”
Elizabeth A. said via NextDoor that a new grocery store was “not very likely,” and Karen Harrison said, “A grocery store would be awesome, but that Plaza doesn’t have enough parking for it.”
Building affordable housing at Hilltop Plaza was also discussed
Another priority for meeting attendees was housing. Lindsay Litowitz of El Sobrante said she wasn’t as interested in the grocery store as others were.
“I wasn’t paying attention to what they offered. The stickers (from the exercise) did have … businesses, but I’m more interested in low-income housing, and low-income that’s actually affordable.”
While Primestor’s redevelopment plans mention including “up to 50 acres of higher density housing with a minimum of 40 (per acre) to a maximum of 135 dwelling units per acre,” Lynch told Richmondside they have not studied the site for housing because the existing tenants have long-term leases.
Primestor’s efforts come at the same time another developer is eyeing reviving nearby Hilltop mall with a mix of commercial and residential uses.
“We see it as complementary,” Hope told Richmondside. “It’s something we know the city and mayor are working on, providing more housing opportunities, because like any retail, it needs housing around it in order to succeed.”
