CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - Construction of a new See’s Candies megastore at 5499 Sunrise Boulevard in Citrus Heights, which was formerly home to a 10,621-square-foot Patelco Credit Union branch continues to move forward with both interior and exterior construction improvements well underway.

The building’s exterior was recently repainted in the black and white See’s company colors, and two former drive-in banking kiosks which were left in place by the former credit union have been removed.

Two white banner signs, announcing See’s Candies are visible to drivers on both Sunrise Boulevard and Uplands Way.

Portions of the parking lot where drive-in teller machines once stood have been repaved and a new sidewalk has been poured along Uplands Way where its primary street entrance will be.

Visible progress on interior construction work on the upper floor of the building is visible at night which is illuminated where new second level offices are being built out. On the ground floor, new walls and trim for a retail space are going up.

According to Tallen’s project description, the new Citrus Heights See’s Candies will consolidate three other locations within its trade area for its first of a kind combination facility which include a traditional See’s Candies retail store, their corporate sales facility (business to business unit) and their regional offices.

A building permit application by San Diego-based Schuss Clark Brandon Architects Inc. for interior improvements was filed on August 11, 2020, on behalf of their client, See’s Candies, headquartered in South San Francisco, describing the work as “tenant improvements to an existing building.”

Interior construction is separate from overall exterior grounds improvements which are concurrently being performed by the landlord-tenant, Citivest Commercial and Residential Real Estate of Newport Beach, Calif. and Tallen Capital Partners, LLC, of Del Mar.

Tallen Capital Partners has leased the entire building to Berkshire Hathaway owned See’s Candies under a new 15-year lease agreement.

“Interior construction work is proceeding towards a target summer completion date, and there have been no delays in that process,” said Jeff Brandon, partner of Schuss Clark Brandon Architects in San Diego.

While See’s Candies is one of his firm’s major clients, the construction of the new Citrus Heights store location is an unusual “first” for his firm where a former credit union branch is being repurposed for a different use, Brandon said.

The new See’s is situated at the corner of Sunrise Boulevard and Uplands Way across the street from nearby Boston’s Pizza Restaurant and Sports Bar.

When it opens, it will have a new business neighbor directly behind it, as a new Milano Nail Salon has been announced to open in what was the site of a long-shuttered restaurant building in the Sunrise Village Plaza.

Window signage in the new salon has been posted by the plaza’s owner/developer, Merlone-Geier of San Francisco, which is completing a comprehensive renovation of the Sunrise Village shopping center.

Public relations representatives from See’s Candies corporate office did not respond to a request for comment concerning the likely summer opening date of its new Citrus Heights location.

See’s Candies, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, was founded by Charles See, his wife Florence, and his mother Mary in Los Angeles, California in 1921. Its retail shop locations typically feature a candy counter where customers can either create their own custom-mixed box of chocolates and candies to order or purchase boxed chocolates, truffles, nuts and chews, lollipops, and sugar-free candy.

Patelco Credit Union in Citrus Heights closed its two-story branch office at 5499 Sunrise Boulevard at the corner of Uplands Way last July and has since moved to a new location in the Marketplace at Birdcage, 6100 Birdcage Lane, Suite 125.