Company spokesperson teases response
-June 5,2022-
A sprawling 1.1 million square foot warehouse under construction since last year and now nearing completion,is just north of the existing Amazon Fulfillment Center and Riggin. The huge tilted concrete building is located on Ave 320, a mile north of Riggin, on a street that now carries the name of Kibler by the city.On Visalia city permits the address of the project is listed as 8817 W Kibler.
Caption:Amazon warehouse number 2 seen from Plaza Drive earlier this spring
Formerly this country lane saw little traffic but now trucks carrying construction supplies often clog the 2-lane road. The big building makes an impressive half mile silhouette viewed from Plaza Drive from cars moving along the north entrance of the industrial park prompting many gawkers to wonder – Hey, what’s that?
Conventional wisdom has said’ that would be another Amazon.’ Since the company is typically closed lipped on these matters until they have to – as they were the first time that Amazon landed in Visalia in 2021 – our latest conclusion would be understandable and turns out to be correct.
Now several issued building permits with the address 8817 W Kibler are listing Amazon as the tenant.
Asked if that was true – Amazon spokesperson Natalie Wolfrom did not deny it and instead waffled in an email “No update on this. Will have more to share hopefully in August. I’ll circle back then!”
Reliable sources say Amazon expects to take occupancy of the new facility this fall with the goal to be in business in time for the holiday season this year.
That means hundreds more jobs coming here, added to the 1200 or so that work at the existing Amazon at Riggin and Kelsey. Kelsey also runs next to the new warehouse.
Concerns that the volatile stock market and inflation worries may be slowing new distribution warehouse deals or even cancelling some underway have yet to surface in Visalia. Asked about any slowdown he has seen – Visalia Economic Development chief Devon Jones retorted “not at all.”
“We’ve heard that on-line sales activity is not as strong but we don’t expect to see a negative impact here” says mayor Steve Nelsen.
Nelsen says he understands the new Amazon number 2 in Visalia will handle smaller items while the Riggin Amazon does larger packages.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Amazon’s” decision to throttle back on its e-commerce operations threatens to slow the growth of the industrial-space sector, one of the hottest areas of commercial property.”
At least half a dozen new industrial buildings are expected to break ground later this year in the Visalia Industrial Park.
Industrial real estate construction in the U.S. rose 48% year-over-year in the first quarter as the national vacancy rate fell to a 27-year low, says Supply Chain Quarterly.
Tilt-up concrete walls go up this week in the industrial park’s latest new building, a 350,000sf warehouse owned by YS Industries and being built by Visalia contractor BJ Perch. The building is expected to be ready for occupancy by the fourth quarter of this year.The spec warehouse is south of Riggin off Clancy, near the big Amazon 1 facility.
Residential growth
No slowdown in Visalia’s booming residential construction market can be seen in the latest permit numbers despite the big uptick in interest rates.
Visalia permitted 101 new single-family homes in May, the highest monthly total for the year. In 2022 new home permits are up 27% and multi-family permits are up 80%. The total of all permits are up 86% vs last year.
BJ Perch construction photo