-April 18,2024-
Atlanta-based Seefried Industries has submitted a environmental impact report to the City of Visalia to build a 284-acre industrial park at the NW corner of Shirk and Riggin. The big project would require annexation into the city limits to move forward. It would expand the Visalia industrial park to the north.
Called the Shirk and Riggin Industrial Project, the development would be the largest in City of Visalia history with plans to build 3,820,000 ft. of industrial buildings that could hire over 4000 workers once all phases are constructed. The site plan shows 3750 parking places for all types of vehicles.
The applicant plans eight industrial buildings used for warehouse, distribution, and light manufacturing; six flex industrial buildings; two drive-through restaurants; a convenience store; a recreational vehicle (RV) and self storage facility; gas station; and a car wash.
The footprint shows multiple phases of large industrial buildings with the corner of Shirk and Riggin having several retail uses located right across the street from the proposed new Costco shopping center.
The EIR says the prolect would offer via four access points along Shirk Street, five access points along Riggin Avenue, and five access points along Kelsey Street. On-site orchards would need to be removed, and appropriate landscaping and lighting would be incorporated into the overall site design consistent with applicable City requirements and guidelines.
The project’s draft EIR was filed 4/11/2024 with a comment period ending 5/28/2024. As is typical a final EIR would follow and consideration by the city council after that before the project is submitted to LAFCO for annexation.
Founded in 1984 by Ferdinand Seefried, Seefried Industrial Properties is a privately held real estate firm that focuses on the development, leasing and management of industrial properties across the U.S. The firm primarily focuses on development in core industrial markets and build-to-suits with tenants in core and second-tier markets. Seefried leases and manages approximately 25 million square feet for its institutional and European clients and has developed over 200 million square feet of space valued in excess of $18 billion across 30+ markets. Based in Atlanta, the firm has regional offices in Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Phoenix.
New $30 mil investment
In Visalia, Seefried built and leased the 1.2 million square-foot Ace Hardware distribution center on Plaza Drive – now in full operation. In related news, Ace Hardware is installing a $30 million conveyor system right now expected to automate deliveries from Visalia to all parts of California in a speedy manner. The end result is expected to be higher e-commerce sales from Visalia that could boost the city’s tax revenue.
Seefried also has plans for a second 500,000 square-foot spec warehouse nearby at Goshen Avenue and American. The company purchased the Shirk and Riggin property from the Ritchie interest.
The company’s site plan for the new industrial park indicates two huge buildings on Kelsey would be first to be constructed, adding up to about 1,800,000 sq ft. across from Amazon.
Seefried is pressing on with these massive plans despite the fact that the warehouse market has cooled in California and in Visalia.