A San Francisco group – New League has purchased the property at 608 E Center and intend to use it to help local start-up entrepreneurs go to the next level. The group advertises itself as experienced venture capitalists who will help with funding, consultation and networking to launch new businesses. Led by founder Naveen Singha who helped start hotmail, later sold to Microsoft, the consultants met in late October with business and education leaders at the Visalia Chamber of Commerce says chamber CEO Gail Zurek.”I think they see us as an untapped region – kind of a young Silicon Valley.” Just what shape the incubator center will take and how it will work with their fees is yet to be decided expects Zurek.Stay tuned.
New Home Permits Climb
New home permits in Visalia in October continued strong with 45 units permitted. That compares to 53 in October 2013.For the year new home permits are up 6% in number and 11% in value. Total number of all types of building permits are up 22% this year.
New Brew Pub: Bootleggers Brewery is planning to open a microbrewery and pub at 917 E Main in a former antique store. The plan was heard this week at the city site plan review meeting.
Solar Shines: No to be left behind by rival Walmart – Target is installing roof-top solar panels on their Mooney store to the tune of $1 million. Walmart across the street is doing the same.
On a much larger scale a Sacramento developer- Wellhead Renewables – got approval last month to build an 80MW solar project called Tulare Solar Center near the town of Ducor on a 1,144-acre site along the east and west side of State Highway 65, between Avenue 24 and Avenue 8, approximately 1.5 miles north of the Kern County line.
Visalia Industrial Park Filling Two More Buildings
Hydrite Chemicals has been in expansion mode in the past year and now has purchased an additional 14 acres nearby. The provider of chemicals used in the food industry expanded by 4,500 sf. including a new food ingredients room, raising the roof for 6,000 and 12,000 gallon tanks. The new acreage includes a 70,000sf building the company will use for storage enabling more room for production at their Clancy Ave plant.
The company purchased the 14 acres from Lloyd Heller of NY. Mr Heller has an additional 40 acres for sale after he closed his Heller Performance Polymers facility on Doe Ave some 6 months ago The property is served by rail and Mr Heller is considering a demo of the older building on the site and construction of a spec’ rail-served warehouse on the acreage says broker Doug Burr.
“The industrial park is out of existing space for sale or lease” due to strong demand he says.
Still more. Burr has leased 70,000 sf owned by Danny Freitas at the corner of Doe and Shirk to locally owned Western Milling who has several new divisions including Perfection Pet Foods with two recently built facilities in the industrial park already.
Western Milling owner Kevin Kruse says this third new plant will be the home of a new venture under the name of Pinnacle Premix. The new company’s general manager Travis Taylor says he hopes to equip the plant and start operations by mid January.”We will start out small with about 10 employees and grow from there.”Taylor says the company will mix vitamins and trace minerals and other ingredients used to bolster nutrition in animal feed. This part of the feed mixing process was formerly done elsewhere. ”Our focus will be on quality.” he adds considering that 10% of pet food can be consumed by humans. The expansion of Western Milling with their feed mill in Goshen and the success of start-up Perfection Pet Foods has brought jobs into the area says Kruse.The pet food operation now has a manufacturing plant and certified lab, a biscuit plant and has added additional warehousing – a 13,125-sq-ft packaging storage building and a 15,460-sq-ft ingredients storage building.
Realtor Doug Burr says these recent sales and leases means there is virtually no empty space in the industrial park of significant size prompting several developers to plan so-called spec’ buildings to accommodate firms looking to relocate or expand in Visalia on a short time schedule.
Apartment Complex In Works
Developer Harvey May is working on building a new 168 unit apartment complex of two-story,8 plexes east of Demaree and north of Goshen Ave.The multi-family units will be the first large apartment development built in Visalia in many years.
Tulare Gets New Gym. Fitness Evolution will open next to the new Grocery Outlet on Cross St In Tulare. The gym with some 45 locations, will be a full service facility with juice bar and and child care. The new business will open where Savemart closed some years back. Tulare already has the Evolutions facility owned by TRMC and a privately owned gym – Crossfit.
Earlimart Subdivision Could Add 190 Homes
County Planning Commission will hear a plan November 12 to build 190 homes in a multi-phase subdivision on 45 acres at the southeast corner of Road 128 and Washington Street in Earlimart.