Federal Realty Asks La Mesa to Approve a 165,000-Square-Foot Bass Pro Shops Where Macy's Stood at Grossmont Center

La Mesa, California · Planning Commission, September 16, 2026 · Project No. 2026-1143

Federal Realty has applied to the City of La Mesa for a Site Development Plan to build a new two-story commercial anchor building of up to 165,000 square feet at Grossmont Center, the 64-acre regional shopping center at the junction of Interstate 8 and State Route 125. The building replaces the former 150,000-square-foot Macy's store. City staff identify the tenant as Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World.

The La Mesa Planning Commission was scheduled to consider the application at its regular meeting on Wednesday, September 16, 2026. Staff recommended that the commission adopt a resolution approving the plan, subject to conditions of approval. The city treated the project as exempt from further environmental review because it fits within the building area studied in the 1993 Grossmont Specific Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

What Is Being Built

The staff report describes the project as Phase 2 of a multi-year renovation of Grossmont Center. Phase 1, approved in 2025, refreshed the central pedestrian storefronts and the shops between Target and Walmart. A future Phase 3 would renovate buildings and facades along the south and southeast side of the center, between the new anchor building and Walmart.

Phase 2 covers about seven acres in the middle of the center. According to the environmental checklist prepared by HELIX Environmental Planning, it includes:

• Demolition of about 250,000 square feet of existing retail buildings: the two-story former Macy's building (about 150,000 square feet) and about 100,000 square feet of other retail buildings to its east.
• Construction of three new retail buildings totaling about 215,000 square feet: the anchor building of about 165,000 square feet and two one-story shop buildings totaling about 50,000 square feet.
• Renovation of an existing shop building of about 6,000 square feet.
• Reconfiguration of about two acres of parking and internal drives, new stormwater facilities, and utility upgrades.

The Site Development Plan before the Planning Commission covers the anchor building. The staff report says the demolition of the former Restoration Hardware Outlet and Hooley's buildings is part of this phase but does not itself require Site Development Plan review.

Bass Pro Shops is described in the staff report as a sporting goods retailer offering outdoor recreation equipment, apparel, and boat service and sales. An outdoor boat display is proposed along the front of the building on its southeast side. Bass Pro Shops announced the La Mesa store on July 1, 2026, describing it as a 148,000-square-foot store expected to open in 2028 with more than 150 employees. The city's application covers a building of up to 165,000 square feet.

Height, Design and Signs

The General Commercial zone allows a maximum height of 46 feet, measured to the top of plate. The staff report puts the building at 38.5 feet to the top of plate. A main entrance parapet and a steeple-like tower extend up to 27 feet above that, which staff found allowable under the height exceptions in La Mesa Municipal Code Section 24.06.030. The environmental checklist measures the building differently: about 44 feet to the parapet, 69 feet to the roof ridgeline, and about 76 feet at a tower on the southwest corner.

Listed exterior materials include gray stucco, gray wood lap siding, brown wood plank siding, gray stacked stone, red shutters and trim, and green metal roofing. The checklist says the design follows the tenant's nationwide design style. The main entrance faces south, with added entries on the north and east.

The La Mesa Design Review Board reviewed the design on July 27, 2026, and found it consistent with the Grossmont Specific Plan and the city's Urban Design Program. The board's action was recommended subject to City Council ratification. Bass Pro Shops signs, including "shop within a shop" signs such as TRACKER outside the boat service area, will be handled in a Comprehensive Sign Program for the center that staff say will come back to the Planning Commission later.

Parking and Traffic

Staff concluded the project is not subject to minimum parking requirements because the site is within a half mile of transit. The report cites the state law that bars such minimums near major transit (the report refers to it as "State Bill 2097"; it was enacted as Assembly Bill 2097). The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System trolley line runs as close as about 150 feet from the center, and the Grossmont Transit Center is about 350 feet to the north.

About two acres of the existing lot, currently 153 spaces, would be rebuilt. The internal ring road would be realigned from the Murray Drive entrance. Staff state there would be no net loss of parking spaces and no change to the center's access points. The building sits about 500 feet back from surrounding roads.

A transportation assessment by Linscott, Law & Greenspan Engineers estimates the existing buildings generate 9,098 average daily trips and the new project would generate 7,824, a net decrease of 1,274 trips per day.

Environmental Review

The city did not prepare a new EIR. Under California Public Resources Code Section 21083.3 and CEQA Guidelines Section 15183, a project that is consistent with the development density set by a plan with a certified EIR can be exempt from additional review. The Grossmont Specific Plan EIR (SCH No. 1993021023) anticipated up to 460,000 square feet of added building area on the Grossmont Center property. Because this phase reduces total building area, staff concluded it falls within that analysis.

The draft resolution finds that there are no effects peculiar to the site, no significant off-site or cumulative impacts the EIR failed to evaluate, and no new information showing more severe impacts. It states that the EIR's mitigation measures were considered and none were found to apply to this project. Grading is estimated at about 2,000 cubic yards of cut and 3,000 cubic yards of fill, for a net import of 1,000 cubic yards.

Conditions of Approval

The draft conditions attached to the resolution include:

• A construction phasing plan, because the shopping center will stay open during demolition and construction. It must show fencing, public driving lanes and open parking areas, staging and delivery areas, and the exact route that flat-bed and super-10 trucks will use. The condition states that Center Drive and Murray Drive "may not be negatively impacted" by construction.
• A city right to require changes to internal circulation and queue management, at the owner's or operator's full cost, if queuing from the site significantly affects traffic on public roads.
• An indemnity agreement protecting the city, executed before building permits are issued.
• Screening of the two industrial trash compactors at the delivery area, coordinated with hauler EDCO before a certificate of occupancy.
• Landscape and irrigation plans under the state Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance. The plan proposes 12,439 square feet of landscaping, including 8,310 square feet of new parking-area landscaping.
• SDG&E disconnect notices and Air Pollution Control District sign-off before a demolition permit, and compliance with the city's construction and demolition debris recycling ordinance.
• Fire sprinkler, fire alarm and emergency responder radio coverage permits.

Construction Timeline

The environmental checklist estimates construction at 24 months, covering demolition, grading, building construction and site work. The air quality model in the packet uses a schedule with demolition ending in mid-December 2026, building construction running from late February 2027 to August 2028, and final coating work finishing by the end of October 2028. These are modeling inputs, not a committed schedule. Bass Pro Shops has said it expects to open in 2028.

Why It Matters for Retail Developers and Site Selectors

The filing shows how a vacant department store is being replaced at a California regional mall. The owner is tearing down more space than it builds, which allowed the city to rely on the 1993 specific plan EIR instead of preparing a new one. The state law that removes parking minimums near transit meant parking was not a required finding, although the center is keeping its current number of spaces.

Two local conditions made this approach available in La Mesa: a specific plan that still had building area available (460,000 square feet anticipated), and a trolley line and transit center within a half mile of the site.

Risks and Obstacles

• Building area figures differ between documents. The draft resolution describes demolition of the Macy's, RH Outlet and Hooley's buildings "for a total of 215,000 square feet." The environmental checklist puts demolition at about 250,000 square feet and uses 215,000 square feet as the total for the three new buildings. Both documents report a net reduction of 35,000 square feet, which matches the checklist's figures.
• The anchor building size has changed. The July 27 Design Review Board report described the anchor as about 150,000 square feet. The Planning Commission application is for up to 165,000 square feet. Bass Pro Shops' own announcement gave 148,000 square feet.
• Addresses and parcel numbers vary. The staff report description lists 5550 Grossmont Center Drive, while the resolution and checklist use 5500. The checklist lists APN 490-260-09-00; the staff report and resolution list 490-261-09-00 and 490-261-10-00.
• Construction inside an open mall. The phasing, truck-route and "no negative impact" conditions on Center Drive and Murray Drive put the burden on the applicant to manage demolition and deliveries while the center operates.
• Further approvals remain. The sign program still has to go to the Planning Commission, and building, grading, encroachment and fire permits are still required.

What to Watch

• The Planning Commission's action on the resolution from the September 16 meeting, and whether any figures are corrected in the adopted version.
• City Council ratification of the Design Review Board's action.
• The Comprehensive Sign Program for Grossmont Center.
• Demolition permits for the Macy's, RH Outlet and Hooley's buildings, which the model schedule places in late 2026.
• Phase 3 plans for the south and southeast side of the center.

This article is factual background and is not legal, financial, or investment advice.