After years of jokes and false starts, Anaheim has finally put shovels in the ground at the long-vacant corner locals call “Sinkin’ Lincoln.” City leaders on June 30 officially launched construction on the retail portion of the 39 Commons project, turning the empty 30-acre lot at Lincoln Avenue and Beach Boulevard into a roughly 140,000-square-foot shopping center.
The plan is to build the center in phases, with early pads expected to house an In‑N‑Out, a Dave’s Hot Chicken and Anaheim’s first Dutch Bros. Neighbors who have stared at dirt, fencing and the occasional sinkhole for years got a different show this time: flags, officials in hard hats and heavy machinery finally rolling onto the site.
According to The Orange County Register, city officials and council members turned out for the ceremonial groundbreaking, with Councilmember Ryan Balius telling the crowd, “this has certainly been a long time coming.” The Register also reported that Mayor Ashleigh Aitken joined the event and that the first construction phase will zero in on small pad restaurants and neighborhood retail. Businesses are expected to open as each phase wraps, rather than waiting for the entire center to be complete.
Site history and cleanup
The project site has a long and complicated past. Environmental records show the land held a county landfill in the late 1950s before cycling through a go‑kart track, a mobile‑home park and various retail uses. The city’s initial study maps out the old landfill pits and the gas‑collection system now in place, along with years of remediation work that involved removing and replacing tens of thousands of tons of soil. Technical details are spelled out in environmental records from the City of Anaheim.
Local real estate coverage has tagged the property with the “Sinkin’ Lincoln” nickname for years because of the settling and sinkhole problems tied to that landfill history, a moniker that shows up prominently in earlier reporting by Bisnow.
Developer plans and approvals
Master developer 39 Commons Partners is a joint venture led by Los Angeles-based Zelman Development Co. and Irvine-based Greenlaw Partners, a team confirmed on the project’s leasing page. The retail layout calls for three drive-thru pads and two shop buildings aimed at quick-service restaurants and small retailers.
Materials from Zelman describe the center as focused on neighborhood-serving tenants, with local leasing contacts listed for businesses interested in staking out space. Buildout will roll ahead as entitlements are finalized and leases are signed, which means pieces of the project can come online while other sections are still under construction.
Rebuild Beach context
For Anaheim planners, 39 Commons is just one piece of a larger reset along Beach Boulevard. The project is part of the city’s Rebuild Beach initiative, which targets a 1.5-mile stretch of the corridor and has already involved motel acquisitions, utility undergrounding and street upgrades. The City of Anaheim has said public investments along the boulevard now total in the tens of millions of dollars, with work intentionally spread over several years; additional background is available in a project overview from the City of Anaheim.
Nearby residents, including those in the Nolin townhomes that opened in 2023, will be closest to the action as construction picks up and new storefronts start to open within walking distance. City officials and the development team say the staggered openings over the next several years are expected to add jobs and everyday services to west Anaheim while the broader Beach Boulevard overhaul continues to unfold.
