Perris shopping center to get bigger

A groundbreaking ceremony was scheduled to be held Tuesday afternoon on an expansion of the Perris Plaza Shopping Center.

The enlargement will bring seven major retailers to the grocery-anchored shopping center at 1688 N. Perris Blvd.: Burlington, Ross Dress for Less, Plant Fitness, Ulta Beauty, Mountain Mike’s Pizza, Five Below and Hibbet Sports, according to city officials.

Perris officials are responding to residents who say they want more sit-down restaurants and specialty retail, Mayor Michael Vargas said in the statement.

Tuesday’s groundbreaking came less than two weeks after a similar ceremony was held for the Commons at Perris Shopping Center, a 35,000-square-foot project that will be built at San Jacinto and Redlands avenues.

Upland-based Lewis Group of Cos. owns that property and will develop that project.

“Our residents have spoken,” Mayor pro tem Malcolm Corona said in the statement. “They want to see more places to shop [and] we are definitely listening. If I could do it by snapping my fingers I would have all sorts of retailers in Perris.”

Perris Plaza covers about 150,000 square feet. It opened in the mid-1990s, and Its tenants include Food 4 Less, Regency Theatres, Burger King, Starbucks and Del Taco.

The shopping center, which is next to a Walmart, is owned by Wood Investments Inc. in Laguna Beach. The expansion is Perris Plaza’s long-planned second phase, said Clara Miramontes, assistant city manager.

“It’s a popular location,” Miramontes said. “Once Walmart went in there that lead to more development in that part of the city.”