David Benda
Redding Record Searchlight
Published 11:00 AM EST Nov 30, 2019
Ground Zero for Black Friday shopping in Redding, the Mt. Shasta Mall was buzzing the day after Thanksgiving.
Parking is tight this year — the second straight holiday season it has been so — due to the ongoing face-lift at the shopping center.
With the old Sears building being converted to a multi-tenant suite and a new building going up at the corner of Hilltop and Dana drives, a portion of the mall’s parking lot is closed.
Sprouts Farmers Market and HomeGoods will be the two anchors in the former Sears space, which also will feature four junior tenants that have not been announced.
The new building at Hilltop and Dana will be anchored by Chick-fil-A.
And Sprouts is the first of the new stores to announce an opening date. Will the grocer be the first to open?
Per the company’s website, Sprouts opens Feb. 26, 2020, in Redding.
Sprouts will occupy the Hilltop Drive side of the new space. A “now hiring” banner is posted there.
No word yet on when HomeGoods or Chick-fil-A will open.
Employment and wages
Unemployment in Shasta County is at historically low levels.
So what’s the story with wages?
Federal numbers shed some light.
The estimated personal income for Shasta County in 2018 was $46,582, which ranked it 36th out of California’s 58 counties, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis recently reported. Income in the county rose 4.7% from 2017 to 2018, the 33rd fastest rate in the state.
Statewide, personal income in 2018 was $63,557, a 5.7% increase from $60,156 in 2017. In the United States, personal income was up 4.9% from $51,885 in 2017 to $54,446 in 2018.
As measured by the federal government, personal income includes wages, financial assets, government benefits, and home and business ownership.
Meanwhile, the average unemployment rate in Shasta County in 2018 was 4.9%, the lowest since the state started keeping modern records in 1990.
And the county’s jobless rate is trending lower in 2019. It was 3.8% in October, up slightly from 3.5% in September — a record for a single month in Shasta County.
People are working and there are jobs, it’s just that there aren’t a lot of high-paying ones being created.
“This is something happening in most suburban and rural parts of the country. The jobs we are creating are mainly in services that have relatively lower wages,” Sonoma State University economist Robert Eyler said.
A popular opinion
Eyler’s opinions are sought out and he is often invited to the North State to share his observations on the local, state and national economy.
He will return Jan. 9 to headline the North State Economic Forecast Conference at the Sheraton in Redding.
The conference will discuss, among other things, housing trends and the workforce of tomorrow.
The event already is sold out.
Stay tuned.
Impact of fires on housing
Here’s another sign of how last year’s Camp Fire is affecting home prices in Butte County.
Values in the Chico metropolitan statistical area in the third quarter of this year appreciated faster than any other market in the country.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported recently that prices in Chico jumped 14.35 percent compared to the same three months in 2018.
The third quarter covers July through September. The Camp Fire, the most destructive and deadliest wildfire in California history, happened last November.
It appears that even home values in Redding are being impacted by the Camp Fire and the Carr Fire, which destroyed nearly 1,100 homes and is the most destructive and deadliest wildfire in county history.
Prices in greater Redding in the third quarter of this year increased 7.12 percent, making the Redding MSA the 17th fastest appreciating market in the country.
In fact, Chico and Redding were the only communities in California to make the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s all-transactions index of top 20 fastest-appreciating MSAs in the third quarter. The index includes purchases and refinance mortgages.
After Chico, Boise, Idaho (11.81%), Idaho Falls, Idaho (11.33%), Coeur d’Alene, Idaho (10.85%) and Spokane, Washington (10.36%) rounded out the top 5.
Redding made news in 2003 when the same index ranked it as the top appreciating housing market in the nation. Housing prices in Redding during the first quarter of 2003 jumped 16.35% over the previous year. Chico (16.04%) ranked second behind Redding in the same index.
Shasta View ARCO moves forward
For the second time, the Redding Planning Commission has recommended a general plan amendment and site development permit for an AM/PM ARCO in east Redding.
Applicant Jagdeep Singh Randhawa said the commission made the recommendation Tuesday.
On Friday, he told me he was relieved and hopes the City Council will back the Planning Commission and give the final approval. No word yet on a date when the council will take action.
“I feel great. I am thankful,” said Randhawa, who also owns the ARCO in Shasta Lake.
In June 2018, the City Council approved the project on Shasta View Drive and Goodwater Avenue south of Highway 44. But the city rescinded the approval after a stakeholder in the Chevron station on the north side of Highway 44 sued to stop the project. The lawsuit was dismissed in exchange for Randhawa to start over on the approval process.
The 24-hour gas station/minimart will feature a car wash.
Randhawa would like to start construction next summer. It will take about five months to build.
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- Downtown continues to evolve. Why it’s not just about the parking garage going away
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David Benda covers business, development and anything else that comes up for the USA TODAY Network in Redding. He also writes the weekly “Buzz on the Street” column. He’s part of a team of dedicated reporters that investigate wrongdoing, cover breaking news and tell other stories about your community. Reach him on Twitter @DavidBenda_RS or by phone at 1-530-225-8219. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today.
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