Fresno businessman wants to put large used-car dealership in Visalia
Fresno automotive dealer Scott Fahrney has submitted preliminary plans to build a large 5.5 acre used-car dealership next to the proposed Carmax lot near Plaza Drive. Fahrney has a similar dealership in Fresno. Called mycarpark.com,the dealership will have parking spaces to sell 350 vehicles and a 20,000sf showroom.The property is at Neeley and Hillsdale near other new car lots in west Visalia. Fahrney has both new and used cars dealerships in Selma and Fresno.
Planet Fitness wants new N Visalia gym
With 23000 locations chain wide, Planet Fitness is looking to open a second gym in Visalia choosing a north Visalia spot in the new Donahue Schreiber shopping center at Riggin and Sedona according to preliminary plans filed with the City of Visalia.The company has a gym on Walnut in Visalia, a spot in Hanford and 5 locations in the Fresno metro area.
Planet Fitness would build a new 16,514 sf gym across Dinuba Highway from Target. The new center is starting to fill up with recent plans submitted by retailer Tractor Supply, Panera Bread and now Planet Fitness in a center that will also have a car wash and several fast food names including In-N Out and Pollo Loco.
Veterans Affairs eyes clinic in Visalia
The current Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Tulare would relocate and expand service in Visalia according to a preliminary plan filed with the City of Visalia this week. Developer Josh Hausman of CBOC Visalia LLC has identified the location as the two-story office building at 500 N Santa Fe, the former Buckman Mitchell headquarters, now staffed by Chicago-based Gallagher Insurance.
An operational statement submitted by the developer says the 32,000sf VA clinic could see up to 95 patients a day.
The current VA clinic on Cherry St in Tulare is much smaller at a few thousand square feet.
The information filed through the city Site Plan Review process says the clinic would expand services to include mental health, optometry, podiatry,audiology, physical therapy, infusion, tele-health and others. The facility is expected to employ 45 to 53 workers.
The larger clinic would offer series to Veterans in Tulare and Kings Counties with support from the VA facilities in Fresno California Veterans Affairs estimates there are nearly 30,000 Vets in Tulare and Kings Counties as of 2022.
The VA has been looking for a spot for an expanded clinic for several years. Tulare officials have been vocal about their hope to keep the clinic in Tulare but now, if this bid succeeds, it appears Visalia will get an influx of new medical patients in the greater Downtown area where Kaweah Health and Family Healthcare Network each have a big presence.
To prepare the insurance office building to be converted to a medical clinic the LLC overseeing the project plans to spend $2 million, says the statement.
Still, building a clinic for the VA is a competitive process and there may be other developers in the running proposing another location.None has been made public but a Tulare developer has been talking about a location for a new VA building near the outlet mall.
According to the Visalia application Visalia Land & Investment Co LLC owns the insurance building.Public documents list Stan Simpson as the principal. Gallagher bought Simpson’s Buckman Mitchell business in 2000 when the insurance giant also purchased 15 other small brokerages around the country.In Visalia they also bought out the Lewis & Associates insurance business.
According to an article in the Foothill Sun Gazette back then, Gallagher had 71 employees after the purchase from locally-based Buckman Mitchell. But with the pandemic hitting at the time many workers began to work from home – a scenario that has continued. That, in turn, has impacted many large office building owners finding they have surplus space.
But a recent WSJ article made the point that the surplus started years ago with the change in tax law incentives allowing property to be written off more quickly.
Office vacancy rates in large cities around the US have been some of the hardest hit recently including Chicago where Gallagher is headquartered. The worst four office markets in terms of availability rates are Chicago Suburban (31.7%), Houston (30.5%), Dallas-Fort Worth (30.9%), and San Francisco (26.8%), according to data from Savills.
Gallagher, one the largest insurance brokers in the world, is traded on the NYSE reporting in the latest quarter that net income was up nearly 50%.Its stock is near a 52 week high.
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