Visalia commercial permits top $98 million
The City of Visalia commercial building permits so far in 2025 are staying strong, topping almost $99 million year to date as of August 1. Permits for 511,000sf have been issued so far this year. Both square footage and valuation are ahead of last year when just $63 million in valuation for 336,000sf were issued for the entire year.
Permits so far this year include a $23 million permit issued to construct the 160,000 square-foot Visalia North Costco Wholesale building on Riggin at Shirk. The permit was issued May 1.
Farm machinery firm opening new Visalia distribution center
DULUTH, Ga. | August 7, 2025 | AGCO (NYSE: AGCO), a global leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of agricultural machinery and precision ag technology, today announced a multimillion-dollar investment in its U.S. West Coast operations with a new, expanded Visalia Parts Distribution Center. The modern facility will support all AGCO leading brands, including the rapid growth of Fendt® in the U.S., and provide enhanced service to western U.S. farmers, including California’s crucial crop farmers.
Located less than three miles from the current site, the new 115,000-square-foot facility will replace the existing center and feature advanced warehouse automation, expanded stocking capacity and improved forecasting capabilities to ensure faster delivery and greater parts availability for AGCO dealers and customers.
“California’s high-value crop farmers rely on precision equipment that runs long hours, often logging over 2,000 hours per year in demanding conditions,” said Jena Holtberg-Benge, AGCO Vice President of After sales and Parts. “By expanding our parts distribution capabilities in Visalia, we’re putting Farmers First – ensuring rapid access to critical components that keep machines running and on track during peak seasons.”
Visalia’s central location in the heart of West Coast agriculture enables AGCO to reach any dealer or farmer in the region within a day. The new facility will reduce lead times and improve fill rates for high-demand parts across AGCO’s full brand portfolio. The new facility is scheduled to begin operations in late 2026 with no expansion of the existing workforce.
Tulare Co homes for sale inventory heads higher
The latest charts from the Tulare County Association of Realtors indicates more homes on the market – up by 31% compared to a year ago.About 713 homes are for sale compared to about 500 in July 2024. Meanwhile the number of homes sold is the same at 77.Average price of a home sold is $407,000, down 2.6% from this time last year.
Oakland Zoo releases frogs in Sequoia Park
August 7, 2025: This month Oakland Zoo transported 43 yellow-legged frogs by helicopter to their release site in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park . This release marks the 1000th frogs released by Oakland Zoo and a decade of efforts to save these frogs, now on the verge of extinction from a deadly disease, Chytridiomycosis (chytrid). This release was in partnership with Mountain Lakes Research Group, the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service.
Yellow-legged frogs have experienced a 90 percent decline in their population due to the devastating effects of the chytrid fungus, a global pandemic considered the most significant loss of biodiversity caused by a pathogen. Oakland Zoo emphasizes the importance of saving frogs because they play a crucial role in the ecological food web as prey for larger animals and as predators of insects that control populations. They have permeable skin making them easily affected by environmental changes. This trait makes them excellent bioindicators, alerting us to environmental stressors. Frogs once were a keystone species in high elevation lakes but chytrid and other factors reduced their populations significantly.