CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — If you've driven by Sunrise Mall, you've probably noticed more than half of it is gone.
In fact, if you stand in the parking lot of the old Planet Fitness along South Padre Island Drive, you can see all the way to McArdle Road.
In August 2024, KRIS 6 was the first to report that Patel Real Estate Holdings LLC, an Oklahoma City-based company purchased the old Sunrise Mall property in November 2023. Enterprise Demolition Services was hired and began demolishing the two-story shopping center a few days later.
So far, the old Mervyns, part of Sears, the ramp that connected the parking garage to the old Cinemark Dollar Cinema, and several stores have been torn down.
The only portion of the mall still standing, but not for long, is the entrance to the Texas Workforce Center and Oshman's Sporting Goods. That entrance holds the last piece of Sunrise Mall signage.
If you're wondering what will replace the old mall, so are we. KRIS 6 has been reaching out to Patel Real Estate Holdings LLC since late July 2024 to find out their plans for the property along the 5800 block of South Padre Island Drive but they have yet to respond.
So, we submitted an open records request to the City of Corpus Christi Development Services Office and we found the property owner plans to build two apartment buildings, two hotels, and two restaurants in its place.
According to sketches submitted to the city,the developer plans to erect a 25-story apartment building that would include 200 apartments right off McArdle Road just north of the parking garage and west of the old Burlington Store.
It also calls to build a Hotel Element by Marriott and an A.C. Hotel by Marriott, right behind Eddie's Tavern and two proposed restaurants could be built off South Padre Island. One of the restaurants would be built in front of Bel Furniture while the second proposed restaurant would be built in the parking lot that often holds small carnivals and circuses.
In the meantime, KRIS 6 News will continue to request an interview with Patel Real Estate Holdings, LLC in hopes of getting more details on their plans for this Bay area development.
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