-April 10,2020-

Some developers are not halting their building plans in Visalia despite the virus shutdown of the economy with a number of projects getting a hearing in coming days. Here is a snapshot of just a few of them.

Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers

Based in Louisiana, Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers has some 500 fast food restaurants nationwide. The privately held company wants to build a new eatery at 3501 S Mooney – in front of the Sequoia Mall.

Texas Roadhouse Restaurant 

Kentucky -based Texas Roadhouse, a publicly traded company, wants to open a new 7500sf restaurant on Mooney at Visalia Parkway on the southwest corner. Across from Target, it would be part,  a larger 29 acre shopping center seeking approval for this vacant land.

Other businesses looking to build at this location are Les Schwab Tires  and a10,000sf Kern Schools Credit Union building. Also part of the center is new 5 acre CarMax dealership.It also includes anew 7-11 gas and convenience store.

This shopping center has a hearing April 11 with the planning commission.

Right across Mooney (SE corner of Mooney and Visalia Parkway) there are plans for another shopping center that would include a new 21,000sf Aldi grocery store. The project the has a hearing at the same meeting and faces criticism from city planners that grocery stores are not allowed on the Mooney corridor. But the applicant and the company are appealing to the planning commission that they have regional appeal and offer specialty food items that should allow them to qualify as a “speciality food store that is allowed. The Aldi store would require an annexation into  the city -part of a multi-phase 96 acre project.

The site plan shows two fast food pads on the Mooney frontage with a convenience store.It also includes a 126 unit new home subdivision.

Intriguingly, the site plan includes a specialty food store listed as a 15,000sf  building next to the Aldi.The average size of a Trader Joe’s store is around 15,000 sq ft, roughly a third of the size of your typical grocery store. Aldi and Trader Joes are owned by sister companies, both German owned.No word if this could be the long awaited Trader Joes.

Big multi-family projects

Several new multi-family projects are slated for development in Visalia according to a recent filing. On the north side of town The Reserve at Ritchie Ranch wants to build two market-rate projects – one 163 units and the other 219 units.The projects are near Riggin and Akers.

Industrial Park 

Visalia CSG LLC wants to build a 4MW solar project on open land in the Industrial Park at 7227 W Doe.

Advanced Career Institute wants to build a new 9.25 acre truck driving and welding school and a new 10,000sf metal building in the Visalia Industrial Park.

Quail Park North Memory Care open

The Kaweah Delta-sponsored Quail Park at Shannon Ranch Memory Care unit that is part of the larger adult residential retirement complex under construction has opened and is now enrolling residents. The project has several partners with KD including the Shannon family.

Today is Cesar Chavez’s birthday. Chavez leads farmworkers on a march through the valley in this historical photo

 

 

Americans hunkering down and stuck at home appear to be in no mood to shop for homes.

-March31,2020-

So how is the coronavirus affecting a top local industry – home building?

Figures from Construction Monitor show both on the Central Coast and in the SJ Valley – new home permits through March 28 are down by about half compared to March 2019.

In San Luis Obispo some 30 single family home permits were issued in March 2020 compared to 56 in March of last year.

In the Valley- the four county area covered by Construction Monitor shows a slowdown this year as well with 157 new home permits issued this March in Fresno,Madera,Kings and Tulare Counties compared to 322 in March 2019.

The slowdown may be viewed as more severe considering the four-county area was on  a tear through January and February 2020 with permits numbering near 900 for the first two months of 2020 compared to 619 for the for the same  months in 2019.

Builders hope to keep projects moving during the crisis to avoid a repeat of the last recession.State health officials changed the wording on the state website recently to include construction and home construction as “essential” work that could continue during the scare.

Here are the top 10 home builders in Tulare County so far this year.

The coronavirus  may have slowed construction schedules due to consumer hesitance but this week mortgage rates offered some better news.

This past week rates fell.Yahoo News reports that “ U.S. mortgage rates fell for the first time in three weeks. But for would-be homebuyers frozen in fear of an economic meltdown, borrowing costs are no longer a prime concern.The average rate for a 30-year fixed loan was 3.5%, down from 3.65% last week, Freddie Mac said in a statement Thursday.

Americans hunkering down and stuck at home appear to be in no mood to shop for homes.

Even if they can buy, many worry about how bad the coming recession will be, and how long it will last. A total of 3.28 million people sought unemployment benefits in the week ended March 21, the most in government data going back to 1967.

In an early sign of slipping demand, a index of applications for home-purchase loans tumbled 15% last week to its lowest level since August, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

America’s largest builder Lennar had enjoyed good earnings  unit this month but just withdrew their year-end guidance.The company announced it suspended its stock buyback program and is reducing the number of homes built on spec, moving out start times, and slowing land purchases.

Locally Tulare County largest builder in 2020, DR Horton saw its stock rise to $62 in February this year only to watch it fall by half as of March 30 to $36.

Real Estate website Redfin said March 25 that home buying demand       dropped 27% year-over-year. Redfin scrambled to broaden the availability of its on-line video tours such that by March 23rd, one-third of home showing requests were for remote showings.

Existing home owners who had been  looking to sell into a high demand market are deciding maybe now is not the time. Redfin reported “It’s not just buyers who are pulling back from the market. Homeowners who can wait to sell are putting their plans on hold, too. Last week, we reported that nationwide listing activations were up just a tick over the prior year. Now, in the last seven days, they are down 12% compared to the same time last year. What’s more, sellers with homes on the market are pulling them off at more than twice the rate that we saw last year. Nearly 4% of homes were pulled off the market in the last seven days when the normal rate is about 2%.”

Meanwhile one of the busier builders in Visalia -San Joaquin Valley Homes continues their plans for more subdivisions in town requesting a hearing on a 19 acre project just south of WinCo and Caldwell Ave at Demaree requiring a zone change from the city on land owned by the Christian Reformed Church planted to trees now. Here is map of the property.

-March 31,2020-

In a March 25 letter to the Board of the California High Speed Rail Authority the Kings County Association of Governments (KCAG) said they would support that agency’s recent 2020 Draft Business Plan that would include a rail stop at Hanford’s Kings/Tulare station.

Executive Director Terri King says the Kings government group supported writing the letter of support by a 3 to 2 vote, the first time any government agency in this county has voted support of any kind for the controversial project.

KCAG now joins the Tulare EDC and the City of Visalia in support of the plan that would insure funds are spent to electrify the 171-mile line Interim Operating Segment extending north to Merced and south to Bakersfield. That would be coordinated with improvements aligned with the State Rail Plan north of Merced to Sacramento and to the Bay Area and bus connections south of Bakersfield to Southern California. Benefits of the plan include

 – Merced to Bakersfield interim service will generate significant economic benefits, with the $20.4 billion capital  program projected to generate about $38 billion in total economic activity and over 200,000 job-years of employment.

    -Reduces travel times for rail passengers between Sacramento and the Bay Area to Bakersfield by up to 90 to 100 minutes.

   -Provides much faster, more frequent and more reliable passenger  rail service than is currently available in this corridor; more than doubling service frequency – more than doubling passenger rail ridership in the corridor.

   -Improve access and connectivity to other California destinations through better connections with expanded Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) and San Joaquins rail services to the north at a multimodal hub in Merced and Thruway Bus Service at Bakersfield  for travel to Southern California.

      -Corridor-wide ridership increasing from 2.6 million   passengers in 2017 to 8.8 million passengers in 2029 that results in reduced state subsidies for passenger rail services.

      -Improves air quality in the Central Valley and reduces   GHG emissions by shifting from diesel to clean, electrically powered trains. 

-March23,2020-

JPMorgan Chase is closing about a fifth of its bank branches nationwide to help contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus the company announced recently.

That includes some of their branches in Tulare and Fresno counties.Other Chase locations here remain open with reduced hours.

Bank locations that are now temporally closed with only ATM service available include the Mooney Blvd Chase in Visalia, the Court & Acequia branch in Downtown Visalia, the Sanger branch in Fresno County and the Clovis location on Shaw.

Operating with reduced hours are bank branches in the City of Tulare, in Hanford, Reedley, the Fresno branch on Kings Canyon and the Visalia location on Akers at Goshen Ave. These branches are open 9:30 to 4 PM, M-F and from 9 AM to 4 on Saturdays.

The financial institution, the largest in the nation, will close about 1,000 Chase bank locations temporarily around the country.

-March 29,2020-

Visalia Planning Commission takes up CarMax

CarMax, the nation’s largest used car dealer, will request a permit to build a 5 acre dealership at the southwest corner of Mooney and Visalia Parkway. A hearing on what could be a controversial application will be held at the Planning Commission March 23 at 7PM. As of now used car sales are not allowed in the regional commercial zone in Visalia.

Separately there is an application to to build a commercial shopping center on the same corer as CarMax on  28.7 acres. The center would include four commercial buildings ,one 56,800sf, 29,800sf and two10,000sf buildings.It would also include a gas station, sit down restaurant as well as two drive-thru eateries. Altogether there would be 11 lots.

Both projects are being proposed as mitigated negative declarations.

The CarMax application requires an amendment to the Visalia Zoning Ordinance that local car dealers have had to live with in the past.Noise from the two projects may be an issue to neighbors the area.

Kaweah Delta 5th & 6th floor buildout near complete

ED expansion this year

Kaweah Delta hospital’s 5th and 6th floor construction project in their Acequia wing in Visalia is near complete this month.Occupancy of the two highest floors in the tower is expected in April. Construction  of the $22 million improvements began in 2017 funded through 2015 revenue bonds. The 5th floor will be a new medical/surgical  wing and the 6th floor used as aa new a NICU unit, intensive care for newborns.

Coming in March, the completion of the next phase( zone 4) of the emergency department. This phase will be occupied by mid year also funded by the bonds. Total budget for the expansion is $32 million.

Kaweah Delta’s ED is undergoing a multi-phase expansion that is expected to be complete in 2020. It will modernize, expand, and improve Kaweah Delta’s ED facilities to better serve patients and meet the needs of the growing community by:

•Growing the number of patient beds from 41 to 74 beds

•Nearly doubling the size of the waiting room to accommodate 100+ patients

•Adding a new area that will allow patients to be more quickly screened.

Kaweah Delta is a level III trauma center- the only trauma center between Bakersfield and Fresno. Its ED was built to serve 72,000 patients a year, but today, staff cares for more than 90,000 patients a year.

Children’s Museum expanding outdoor area, will offer new ‘cow toot’ display

Children visiting Imagine U Museum in Visalia will see several new exhibits and an expanded outdoor play area in the future says Katy Young executive director. They plan to expand the outdoor play yard some 200ft to the east leasing more land from the city.

In addition new displays will celebrate Tulare County’s cattle industry and a renewable energy exhibit by the Gas Co will explain to kids how methane from cows is being used to make  renewable fuel.That includes a “cow toot” noise for emphasis.

The museum is open daily 9 to 5. Call (559) 733-5975 .The location is 210 N. Tipton in Visalia.

New shoe store on Mooney will replace Dress Barn

Tenant improvements are underway for a new Rack Room Shoes store that would replace DressBarn at the the Ross shopping center on Mooney. RackRoom is an American footwear retailer based in North Carolina. The company was founded in 1920 in Salisbury, North Carolina by Phil Levinson, who sold it to his son-in-law, Mort Lerner. It was bought in 1984 by the privately held Deichmann Group of Germany. Until that time Rack Room Shoes ran 22 stores.

Rack Room has an outlet store in Tulare.

Tulare cuts budget deficit in half

The City of Tulare has cut its budget deficit in half in 2019 from $950,000 in 2018 to $450,000 says Mayor Jose Sigala.General Fund revenues totaled $36.4 million which resulted in a $2.6 million increase over last fiscal year. Sales tax, property tax and hotel tax revenue were also higher.

-February 29,2020-

700k sf project gets Fresno County approval

Diversified Development Group (DDG) developer John Brelsford got unanimous approval earlier this month to rezone 42 acres of ag land in Malaga for industrial use by the Fresno County Board of Supervisors

On a 5 to 0 vote the board OKd the project the could mean about 700,000 square feet of new warehouse space ( 3 buildings) will be constructed on the land at at E Central Ave and S Willow about half mile outside  the city limits of Fresno. Supporters argued that site is surrounded by industrial uses and was once used for a junkyard. Brelsford has built many such projects in Fresno,Clovis and in Visalia.Fresno County EDC president Nick Audino, a realtor with Grubb and Ellis says demand is high for such projects in the Central Valley.Wearing his EDC hat Audino said ”We wish we had more of them” he told the supervisors.

Kingsburg call center may use old Kmart building

City of Kingsburg sources say the plan to open a T-Mobil call center in town later this year is focusing on the vacant Kmart building just off of Hwy 99. The building is owned by grocery owner Mufid “Mike” Alamsi of State Foods who is reportedly negotiating to lease the space.The center could employ 1000 based on a merger between T-Mobil and Sprint announced in 2018 and approved by a judge in recent days.Kingsburg Economic Coordinator Jolene Polyack says T-Mobil has made no decision on where in Kingsburg they will set up”but they do have options” including constructing a new building. She says the company has applied to the CPUC who must bless the plan before anything else happens. The CPUC could vote on the deal at its March 12 meeting according to reports

T-Mobile serves about 8.8 million customers in California, while Sprint has about 6.6 million in the state, according to the California Public Advocates Office.

Kings Co weighs sales tax measure

Last week a special meeting between Kings County and local cities discussed a possible sales tax referendum. A one half cent increase would mean local transportation funding would increase by $214 million over a 20 year period says KCAG executive director Terri King.

”You can better leverage your money.”The county would qualify for other self-help funding amounts through the state. King says the meeting  that included public officials discussed the need to raise local funds for projects adding that a new interchange costs $45 million a pop.”This is a 18 month process”  she says, adding that polling of the public would proceed before any measure was put on the ballot.”We agreed to keep talking about it” says King.

Other counties like Stanislaus recently approved a similar measure. Tulare and Fresno counties have long been self-help counties with local tax overrides.

Cotton farmers face low price-before virus issue

U.S. cotton producers intend to plant 13.0 million cotton acres this spring – down 5.5% from 2019 (based on USDA’s February 2020 estimate) – according to the National Cotton Council’s 39th Annual Early Season Planting Intentions Survey. Upland cotton intentions are 12.8 million acres, down 5.6% from 2019, while extra-long staple intentions of 224,000 acres represent a 2.7% decline. It’s worse in the West where Arizona /California upland growers plan to plant 20% less than last year.

So what’s eating cotton growers?

Cotton farmers have faced relatively low cotton prices coupled with higher production costs. ”Prices are not enough to cover all production expenses for many producers” say one industry watcher.

The top reason-  the multi-year trade war with China, our biggest customer.That opened the door for Brazil,Australia and India to sell their cotton to China.Now the coronavirus promises to extend the pain. Cotton futures have been down in the past few weeks even as growers decide how much to plant.

-February 29,2020-

Snow headed for Sierra

Sierra is likely to get its first snow event in 6 weeks this weekend. From Tahoe down to Mammoth Lakes its been a dry winter since mid-January but several storms are knocking on the door in early March. The first one will hardly get the state’s low lands wet but promises to do better at upper elevations. They need lots more.Snowpack the southern Sierra is 43% of average.

Huntington Lake started January with a snow depth of 27 inches and as of today, February 26 – its just under 27 inches on the ground most of  the way through winter.Last year at this time Huntington Lake, a key station for Valley water interests – had 73 inches of snow – over 6 ft.

Snow depth at Big Meadow in the Kings watershed recorded 40 inches in depth January 15 after a storm added a a little.But that  has shrunk to just 18 inches of snow as of today.

Citrus farms on the sales block?

Exeter-based Citrus Mutual’s president Casey Creamer must be getting tired telling everyone how tough it is to make any money growing oranges this year -yet another year of red ink. Due to the on-going trade war with China and now a worldwide epidemic, Creamer recently told one  farm press publication “If we don’t get this thing straightened out in the next 30 days, we’re missing our major window for export,” he said. “We’re getting excited about regaining some market share, but the coronavirus is holding us back at this time.”

Creamer said the livelihood of growers depends on better days.

“Unfortunately, if it doesn’t correct itself here very soon, and you’re going to start seeing a lot more properties going up for sale and people getting out of the business.”

China has announced it will cut tariffs by one half – down to 35% in early March but USDA has not confirmed the news. This week in LA. a 48 size box of oranges is selling for $19, down from $28 this date a year ago says USDA.

Kaweah River Power Authority selling hydro plant to Canadian operator

Tulare County-based Kaweah River Power Authority has requested Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval to transfer the license for their 20MW hydroelectric plant at Kaweah Lake’s Terminus Dam to Canadian-based Ontario Power Generation.

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is Ontario’s largest energy provider, producing almost half of the electricity for the province. The US entity for the Canadian firm is called Eagle Creek Renewable Energy, a firm that actively seeks to buy underutilized hydro-electric facilities in the US and work to improve their operation. They would operate here under the name of Terminus Hydroelectric ,LLC.

Kaweah River Power Authority’s Mark Larsen says he can not comment due to a confidentiality agreement. The FERC notice requires a thirty day comment period from February 28 before the federal agency can take final action.

Terminus Dam generates hydroelectricity from the plant built in 1992 by the Kaweah River Power Authority – jointly managed by Tulare Irrigation  District and Kaweah Dealt Water Conservation District.

Electricity generated here is distributed by Southern California Edison. The power plant currently has a capacity of 20.09 megawatts (MW), upgraded from its original capacity of 17 MW and generates roughly 40 million kilowatt hours per year. Kaweah has surfaced plans to expand this capacity by a further 9 MW, which would allow for the generation of an additional 9.2 million KWh but has not moved forward.

Sources says Kaweah River Power been operating at less than optimum levels due to fluctuating water levels as well as competition from other renewable power sources nearby, particularly all the solar generation that is coming online. Solar power prices are falling ,putting downward pressure on prices for competitors.

OPG operates a diverse portfolio of low-cost, low-emission generating facilities including 66 hydroelectric, two nuclear, two biomass and one thermal station in Ontario. It also owns two other nuclear stations in Ontario that are leased on a long-term basis to a third party operator as well as co-owns two gas-fired stations.

While some critics look to dismantle dams and replace the power with solar, the Kaweah Lake dam serves multiple purposes from storm protection, water supply  and recreation along with a clean power source.One analyst suggests reservoirs and solar can work together.

“Rather than replacing hydropower facilities with solar PV, a far more sustainable approach would be to prioritize hydropower modernization investment which combines the strengths of both technologies. Today solar PV can be installed on the surface, or adjacent to a reservoir, increasing rather than replacing the overall generating capacity.”