More Signs Of Recovery: Tulare County’s unemployment rate dropped to 14.1%, the lowest since September 2008 before this “great recession” hit.The rate dropped from 15% in August 2012 and 15.4% in September 2011. By category,the biggest jump year over year is 300 more jobs in the local hospitality industry.
And Housing Stirs: Visalia home building permits for new single family homes are up 31% from the same time last year as a few home builders are busy. Home grown Mangano Homes is proposing to build the first new home subdivision in the city permitted in a couple years says planner Brandon Smith. The project, a 73 unit subdivision called Tumblerose will heard by the Planning Commission Nov 13.The subdivision is located at Riggin and Linwood.
Retail Too: National home decor retailer Kirkwoods will open later this month in a 7000 sf building in line with Target at the Packwood Creek shopping center says the center’s developer Patrick Orosco. Tennessee-based Kirkwoods has 300 stores across the country. Orosco tells an interesting story.”We actually built this building four years ago for Kirkwoods but the downturn in the economy sunk the plans and Kirkwoods themselves went through a restructuring.Now they are back and its kind of emblematic of how the economy is recovering and amazing we had the same vacant building ready for them four years later.” Orosco says there are active tenant negotiations going on now for existing space left in the south Mooney center and says stay tuned for more.