Town Center at The Preserve eyes summer 2023 debut in Chino – San Bernardino Sun

By next summer, Chino residents will have expanded retail and dining options with the opening of Town Center at The Preserve, a 169,590-square-foot shopping center at Main Street and Pine Avenue.

Grading is underway at the center, which is being developed by Lewis Retail Centers. The retail hub will be a key part of the master-planned community The Preserve at Chino.

Parent company Lewis Group of Cos. in Upland is the master developer of the community, which has been under construction for four years and should be completed in another five years. It will include more than 8,100 homes and apartments, as well as schools, parks, recreation centers and 25 acres of commercial space.

Chris Kennedy, Chino’s economic development manager, said Town Center at The Preserve will be a welcome addition to the city.

“It’s been a long time coming — particularly with the previous recession, the current economic downturn and COVID-19,” he said.

The retail development will have office space on the second floor, and Lewis also plans to include live/work spaces on the south side of Main Street with residential units above and commercial space below.

A 46,109-square-foot Stater Bros. supermarket will be an anchor tenant for the shopping center, bringing 150 new jobs to the area. It will be the company’s third grocery store in the city.

Kenwood’s Kitchen and Tap, a family-owned and operated restaurant and bar, is set to open in late 2023, and additional food and beverage tenants will include the 7 Miles Tea Lab and Chipotle Mexican Grill.

Ken Kenwood, president and co-founder of Kenwood’s, said the Chino restaurant is the company’s second with its first in Costa Mesa.

Ken Caron, senior vice president of commercial development for Lewis Retail Centers, said the new retail center will serve as a “premier shopping destination” for a growing population base, with roughly 6,200 new housing units planned or under development in the area.

That expansion is on track to continue. Kennedy said the city’s population of 94,500 is expected to jump as high as 130,000 once Chino is fully built out, which is expected to happen in 15 to 20 years.

Residents living in Lewis’ Homecoming at the Preserve, an adjacent multifamily housing community, have an average household income of $105,552, the company said on its website.

Kennedy said Town Center at The Preserve will be a catalyst for more development and will help support everyone in the community.

“We appreciate the fact that residents will be shopping in Chino, instead of traveling to Eastvale or other surrounding communities,” he said.

Kennedy said the only big-box retailer Chino has lost in recent years is JCPenney, which left a 100,000-square-foot space vacant. He attributes that loss to the company’s financial challenges, and not to issues directly related to Chino.

“Our vacancy rate for retail is just under 10%,” he said.