July 3,2018-
General Growth Properties, owners of the Visalia Mall have filed for a permit to demolish the long vacant, old Wells Fargo bank building on the corner of Mooney and Beech – 2245 S Mooney- to make room for new retail use.
Mall administrator Rick Feder says the building should come down later this month allowing construction of new multi-tenant 5000sf retail building by the first of the year.
“We cant yet announce the tenants” says Feder. But that news could come soon.
The building was the home for several banks years back including a Wells Fargo branch. It has been vacant since 2004 with a few temporary uses in that time including a Halloween store.Now it will come down to allow configuration as a retail/restaurant complex.
“This deal has been a long time coming” as mall leasing agents struggled to lease the space without anyone making a commitment until now. At one time they were working with agents for The Elephant Bar restaurant – but that deal too, fell through
Feder says in general business is good at the mall with sales up on 6% year-to-date.Feder adds that several other new uses will be coming into the mall that will be newsworthy later this year.