Turton Commercial Looks for Grocery for Braden Master Plan in Sacramento County

Though the first homes won’t start popping up until next year, there’s already a search underway for a grocery store to serve the first residents in Sacramento County master plan project Braden.

Developer Somers West picked Turton Commercial Real Estate to find a grocery store that would fit with the project’s intended core values of sustainability, health/wellness and walkability.

“If we find the right grocer, that will make filling in the rest of the retail that much easier,” said Scott Kingston, a senior vice president with Turton Commercial.

Kingston said the grocery store would be anywhere from 15,000 to 51,000 square feet, with his bet being the eventual tenant would be toward the upper end of that range. A larger size would more easily accommodate expected elements such as a deli, wide variety of grab-and-go items and more healthy and organic options, he said.

The store would be in a retail center planned for the edge of the project along Chrysanthy Boulevard east of the Rancho Cordova city limits. That would make it a more regional draw that might appeal to the fast-growing Anatolia area of Rancho Cordova, Kingston said.

A 163-acre Town Center that would include the grocery is planned for the first phase of Braden, which is entitled for 8,000 homes.

As such, the store would also be part of a project with a mix of uses rather than a conventional retail center, he added. Nearby buildings could be a few stories tall with retail on the ground floor and residential units above. With the right tenant, it’s possible even the grocery store could be in such a building, he said.

The planned grocery store won’t be opening soon. Braden’s first residents aren’t expected to move in until 2027, so the store would probably hold off on construction for two or three years.

“Grocers look for demographics and rooftops,” he said, adding the smart-growth principles Braden wants will likely tilt toward a more affluent population.

In addition to Kingston, David Scanlon and Kaylyn Ibarra are on the listing with Turton Commercial.