Tulare County inks development deals

Tulare County Board of Supervisors are expected to finalize three deals with private developers in coming days.

In Porterville the long-vacant Cornerstone property at Main and Olive in Downtown will see a new three-story complex built as a result of several years of negotiations with developers. County General Services Director John Hess says the county will lease two floors of the proposed 33,000 sf building from partners Sunny Basra and David Paynter. The ground floor will be leased by a restaurant.

Hess says the county plans to relocate both DA and Public Defender staff from across town to the new site near the new county courthouse.

The site was where the old hotel property burned down in late 2013 and has been the subject of discussion at the Porterville City Council since, concerned for the future of the Downtown. A city sponsored RFP process selected the development team.

Hess says the BOS will finalize the lease deal withe developers November 6.

Also the same day, the board will approve a lease to Family Healthcare Network for vacant space in the Hillman Health Center in Tulare. The space, used for clinic, was vacated by Tulare Regional Medical Center. The non profit FHCN already has 30 locations the Central Valley including two in Tulare.

Family Healthcare Network will lease 16,000sf at the Hillman Health Center,1062 South K St in Tulare. The building has some 29 exam rooms. The notice of the pending lease was made by the county who will retain the rest of the space in the building.

Lastly on November 6 the county will finalize a deal with Visalia developer Harvey May to build a retail-restaurant building to leased out on land May will lease from the county at Akers near Cypress in Visalia. The property is a surplus portion of the parking lot in the Cigna office complex bought by the county a few years ago. The purchase of the Cigna Building in 2015 was at a cost of $16.9 million and the county continues to seek ways recoup the investment.