As progress on 39 Commons continues, the site of a former landfill long dubbed “Sinkin’ Lincoln” by its West Anaheim neighbors is discarding its infamous nickname for a new identity as a neighborhood spot.
Read more Airbnb to face LA lawsuit alleging price gouging during 2025 fires
Anaheim leaders, including members of the City Council, broke ground Tuesday, June 30, on another phase of the mixed-use development that will bring to the northeast corner of Lincoln Avenue and Beach Boulevard a Dave’s Hot Chicken, In-N-Out Burger and the city’s first Dutch Bros. Housing has already been constructed and more retailers and services are expected as the project builds out in phases through 2030.
Mayor Ashleigh Aitken, center, joins other officials as they ceremonially break ground at 39 Commons in Anaheim, CA, on Tuesday, June 30, 2026. 39 Commons is a new retail center along Beach Boulevard (Highway 39) at Lincoln Avenue. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The future site of 39 Commons in Anaheim, CA, on Tuesday, June 30, 2026. 39 Commons is a new retail center along Beach Boulevard (Highway 39) at Lincoln Avenue. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Councilman Ryan Balius addresses visitors during a ceremonial groundbreaking at 39 Commons in Anaheim, CA, on Tuesday, June 30, 2026. 39 Commons is a new retail center along Beach Boulevard (Highway 39) at Lincoln Avenue. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Sergio Ramirez, director of economic development, addresses visitors during a ceremonial groundbreaking at 39 Commons in Anaheim, CA, on Tuesday, June 30, 2026. 39 Commons is a new retail center along Beach Boulevard (Highway 39) at Lincoln Avenue. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The future site of 39 Commons in Anaheim, CA, on Tuesday, June 30, 2026. 39 Commons is a new retail center along Beach Boulevard (Highway 39) at Lincoln Avenue. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Mayor Ashleigh Aitken addresses visitors during a ceremonial groundbreaking at 39 Commons in Anaheim, CA, on Tuesday, June 30, 2026. 39 Commons is a new retail center along Beach Boulevard (Highway 39) at Lincoln Avenue. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Mayor Ashleigh Aitken, center, joins other officials as they ceremonially break ground at 39 Commons in Anaheim, CA, on Tuesday, June 30, 2026. 39 Commons is a new retail center along Beach Boulevard (Highway 39) at Lincoln Avenue. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The project is being developed by the Los Angeles-based Zelman Development Co., which is behind development elsewhere around Beach Boulevard, including several nearby residential townhome communities.
“This has certainly been a long time coming,” said Councilmember Ryan Balius, whose district includes the 30-acre site. “And it feels like a lifetime ago that I was on this very property, shopping for cassette tapes at Tower Records.”
Once a landfill, part of the property later were home to a mobile home park, a car dealership and a Tower Records that opened in 1992 and closed in 2006.
Locals infamously nicknamed the property “Sinkin’ Lincoln” when the landfill became sinkhole-prone, as dirt atop the compressed trash heaps began sinking, at one point collapsing more than a foot. The dirt was eventually replaced, and the land was stabilized, but the nickname persisted.
Read more Egg producers will pay $3.3M and donate 53 million eggs to settle price fixing claims
The city bought the property in 2001, with plans to reuse the site. But for years, the development on the property was stalled by environmental setbacks, economic slowdowns and the loss of anchor tenants, city spokesman Mike Lyster said. “It’s happening this time.”
Sarah Chang and her partner, Jeffrey Su, live just next door to the former landfill in Nolin, a community of 65 townhomes completed in 2023 — an earlier phase of 39 Commons.
They’re looking forward to having a new shopping center in their backyard.
“We’ve been waiting for a long time for this to come through,” Chang said.
“We’ve been keeping an eye out for what’s coming, what’s new here,” she said. “It was part of why we bought the property here. It was in the plans — Anaheim and revitalization projects — we’ve just been patiently waiting for all these years.”
39 Commons is part of a larger effort to uplift Anaheim’s 1.5 mile stretch of Beach Boulevard, which the city has spent $50 million on in the last five years to improve the area’s aesthetic and public safety.
“When this project is complete, I believe Beach Boulevard will once again be the vibrant, welcoming corridor that many of us remember,” Balius said, “and an even better place for the next generation.”
Read more SCNG journalists honored for news coverage by LA Press Club