-January 13,2022-
The new year is bringing plenty of big development plans around the southern San Joaquin Valley – many within commuting distance from Hanford. Besides the new automobile plant in Hanford, here is a condensed description of what else is in the works.
Huge logistics centers on the drawing board
Visalia: Newport-based CapRock is processing another 2.68 million square feet of industrial buildings west of Plaza and north of Riggin in the industrial park. The developer has completed buildings and/or plans a pipeline of around 6.5 million square feet. That includes already built UPS and Amazon with a second Amazon expected, now under construction.The total development will mean thousands of new jobs
Kern County: Design firm Ware Malcomb is proposing a 3,417,199-square-foot multi-story warehouse and distribution facility on 69 acres of farm land at Houghton Road and Wible Road, 1.25 miles west of 99. Grading is anticipated to start in July 2022 with completion in 2023. Employment will be 2,878.The warehouse will use an automated storage retrieval system with shelf-like storage units (pods) that are moved by low-profile robots. No word on who it is.
Kingsburg: Tulare County is processing a plan to allow development of 286 acres of mostly farmland into a master planned development with over half zoned commercial and industrial.The project is located right across the Fresno County line south of Kingsburg on both sides of Highway 99 a. It’s planned as a new industrial area for the community with Tulare getting at least some of the revenue.
T-Mobile hiring 800 in Kingsburg
Phone giant T-Mobile has completed construction of their new call center in Kingsburg in the former KMART off Highway 99.Now they are busy hiring about 800 new employees who will start their training in April. The jobs begin at $20 an hour.
Group proposing 700-room “destination hotel” at Caldwell and 99.
Pictured: Propsed hotel with water slide. How it looks today, no activity
The applicant wants to build 1.5 million feet of mixed commercial uses now including a 7-story “destination hotel” with up to 700 rooms. Next door would be a water slide,some 375,000 sf of regional retail uses and 150,000sf of medical office – gas stations and fast food – all on 127 acres of ag land.The project is just south the Visalia Airport runway, off Caldwell and east of 99.New environmental filings are needed to be approved for the expanded project.
To date no commercial projects we are aware of, has completed purchase of their lots with both Valley Children’s and Kaweah Health projects still in escrow.
Plans for fast food and gas stations have yet to rise out of the ground although the streets are put in.The larger scale of the project may fuel worries in Visalia that this commercial development outside of Visalia may take away business from Mooney Blvd/Plaza and Downtown.
The staff report on the project dismisses danger from having a larger project and 100ft hotel next to the airport flight path even though a plane accident killing 4 just a few months ago crashed just across the freeway.
To accommodate the large project the 99/Caldwell Interchange, currently programmed for completion in 2024,will be needed.
One tenant may get some positive buzz if it happens – Dutch Bros coffee reportedly wants a site here.
County approve water purchase for Kettleman City
This week the Kings County Board of Supervisors approved a plan to purchase 235 acre-feet of water from the Mojave Water Agency Agency on behalf of Kettleman City.The cost of water is at $1,400 per acre feet. The total cost of the water purchase of 235 acre-feet is $329,000. Already the Board authorized funds from the Kettleman City Community Services District Reserve Fund for the purchase.The community receives some water from the California Aqueduct processed in the new water treatment plant but the drought has reduced the supply to just 96af – a shortfall of 235af to meet the town’s annual demand. However, KCCSD engineer Brian Skaggs says the state DWR and US government are each processing grant money to back-fill the shortfall in coming months that would make the reserve fund whole. In addition, 2 water wells are going to be repaired or deepened to get more supply. But on another front, Jackson Ranch development on I-5 has yet to come through to help Kettleman City with an additional water supply although they said they would. Kettleman City will be treating Jackson Ranch water they will need once their developments are operational.
No rain till end of January
That wet pattern has dried up in January with no storms in the offing until the end of this month. That is the forecast two weeks out showing high-pressure dominating the West Coast until a good size storm breaks through around the 25th to Feb 1 perhaps lasting multiple days.The storm looks to have push from both the north, off Alaska and the tropics – a potent combination.
High prices for dairy products
Consumers may not be celebrating but the Central Valley dairy industry are not complaining considering their high input costs.Record high prices for butter, cheese and milk powder this month.Butter prices worldwide are nearing $3/ lb and the spot price here is $2.78 lb today compared to $1.14/lb at this time a year ago. Export happy milk powder averaged $1.05 in 2020 is $1.72 today. Dairymen are looking at $22 milk in the early part of the new year – best since 2014 when Kings County dairy operators got $21.90 per cwt.
Cap: Potential 700 room hotel