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Corona council directs staff to begin conceptual and entitlement work for North Mall mixed‑use redevelopment
Summary
Council members signaled support for staff to prepare a mixed‑use development concept for the North Mall site and, contingent on further review, to pursue entitlement work and acquisition of remaining parcels.
The Corona City Council on Feb. 19 gave staff direction to proceed with conceptual planning and potential entitlement work for a mixed‑use redevelopment of the North Mall site, an approximately eight‑acre area north of the freeway that the city has been attempting to consolidate and redevelop for two decades.
Joel Belding, Corona's economic development director, told the council the city now owns roughly 20 of 24 retail suites in the area and that the combination of a revised downtown specific plan, design guidelines and prior policy direction makes the site suitable for a mixed‑use project with active ground‑floor retail and housing above. Belding said the work would include technical studies, site planning, open‑space design, parking strategies and phasing. He recommended two parallel tasks: prepare a market‑feasible mixed‑use concept and pursue the formal entitlement process for a projects package that a future developer could execute.
Council members who spoke in the discussion—while voicing differing priorities such as limiting residential unit counts and ensuring a destination driver for downtown—expressed support for moving forward with the conceptual work. Staff outlined a timeline in which demolition of two southeast corner buildings could occur in a few months, a majority of conceptual design work would be completed by fall, and entitlement work could proceed in spring 2026. Belding said the city would continue friendly acquisition negotiations with the remaining parcel owners and retain consultants to vet market feasibility.
Councilmembers asked whether entitlement would lock the city into specific building types. Belding explained entitlement would establish a "guaranteed right to build" specific projects and square‑footage allocations (retail, parking, unit counts) that would shorten developer risk; the subsequent disposition and development agreement (DDA) would specify detailed requirements such as unit mix, affordability, ownership vs. rental and performance protections. Several council members said they wished to prioritize design controls and, where appropriate, ownership opportunities rather than large rental complexes.
Mayor Steiner confirmed the majority of the council supported the direction to proceed and asked staff to carry forward the conceptual and entitlement tasks with the comments the council had made.
