{"id":137373,"date":"2026-01-17T06:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T06:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/137373\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T06:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T06:30:08","slug":"future-city-lights-mall-in-east-bakersfield-to-revitalize-community-boost-local-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/137373\/","title":{"rendered":"Future City Lights Mall in east Bakersfield to revitalize community, boost local economy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 The future City Lights Mall in east Bakersfield is taking shape, bringing renewed hope to a community that has long struggled to attract investment.<\/p>\n<p>CSUB Professor of Economics, Richard Gearhart, highlighted the potential benefits of the development, stating, &#8220;Large projects like City Lights Mall are signs of economic growth.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"KBAK\/KBFX{p}{\/p}\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/a6973386-1ff9-4b74-8d48-1d058b715018-large16x9_EastHillsMall15June2017.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>He noted that the mall could bring jobs, local spending, and better access to necessities for residents. <\/p>\n<p>The mall is set to open on the site of the former East Hills Mall, which left a void in the community after its closure. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"New investors have purchased the East Hills Mall location and plan to demolish the location. FILE KBAK\/KBFX\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0f368a5e-aeea-4068-81a9-b996ed6b80cc-large16x9_EastHillsMall1228162.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>New investors have purchased the East Hills Mall location and plan to demolish the location. FILE KBAK\/KBFX<\/p>\n<p>A resident expressed relief at the new development, saying, &#8220;I\u2019m kind of tired of driving all the way down to Valley Plaza, it\u2019s gonna be real nice to have something close by.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>PREVIOUS REPORTING:<a href=\"https:\/\/bakersfieldnow.com\/news\/local\/a-new-mall-set-to-transform-east-bakersfield\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"> New mall set to transform east Bakersfield<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"KBAK\/KBFX{p}{\/p}\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/35210e1c-bbc6-4eca-9dd8-465f836e71f6-Sequence_LINARES_EASTHILLSMALLJAN2026_0001_frame_14034.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The project aims to create a hub for shopping, dining, and entertainment, with a Sprouts grocery store expected to be among the new additions.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Money FILE image (Photo by Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)\" class=\"ImageEmbed_image__qZBo_\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/20a780a7-1c36-4a08-b889-5993b576c9bb-GettyImages92575273.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Money FILE image (Photo by Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>Gearhart estimated that the mall could provide &#8220;maybe 500 to 1,000 more people having a steady paycheck,&#8221; injecting significant funds into the local economy. <\/p>\n<p>Comment with Bubbles<\/p>\n<p>BE THE FIRST TO COMMENT<\/p>\n<p>As the development progresses, residents and economists alike are optimistic about the positive economic cycle it could create.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK\/KBFX) \u2014 The future City Lights Mall in east Bakersfield is taking shape, bringing renewed hope&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":137374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":{"0":"post-137373","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bakersfield","8":"tag-bakersfield","9":"tag-bakersfield-headlines","10":"tag-bakersfield-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}