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Hatch Road additions include Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers
• McDonald’s replacement, Raising Cane's now framed
Raising Cane's Ceres
Construction at the former Kmart store property on Hatch Road is bringing Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers to Ceres this year. - photo by Jeff Benziger

A replacement McDonald’s and a new eatery are in the framing stage on Hatch Road near Highway 99.

The oldest McDonald’s in Ceres was demolished in January to make way for a larger boxy structure of 4,506 square feet at the southeast corner of Hatch Road and Herndon Avenue. The new restaurant will open sometime this year.

Across Hatch Road the framing is up for a new 3,267-square-foot Raising Cain’s on 1.38 acres of the former Kmart parcel. The new restaurant will feature a drive-thru lane and 83 parking spaces. The eatery is part of a development plan of Evergreen Devco, Inc. to reuse the property which Kmart customers frequented for decades.

The 84,000-square-foot Kmart building will be converted into a Public Storage self-storage facility while the former parking lot will be filled with a number of new businesses including the Raising Cane’s. Coming will be a 5,828-square-foot Quik Stop building and gas island to be constructed closer to the corner of Hatch and Herndon. The Quik Stop will be sized for an additional retail use.

Public Storage also plans to build four additional buildings near the Kmart building, sized at 2,481, 2,481, 5,041 and 22,121 square feet, for a total storage area of 116,624 square feet.

Two other parcels have not been claimed by any specific businesses but are earmarked for a 2,500-square-foot restaurant with drive-thru; as well as a 1,500-square-foot oil change shop.

An economic impact study indicates that the project will be valued at $20 million when completed with the potential to bring the city over $37,000 in annual property tax revenue, over $119,000 in sales tax revenue and more than $10,000 in sales tax revenue generated by what the employees of those businesses will spend in Ceres.

Raising Cane’s opened in 1996 in Baton Rouge, La., and has recently expanded into the Bay area and the Central Valley market with restaurants in Manteca, Fresno and Tulare. Locations are planned for Berkeley, Hayward, Citrus Heights, Elk Grove and Stockton. The restaurant serves chicken fingers, French fries, coleslaw, and Texas toast.

Dutch Bros coffee, the first new business on the former Kmart site, is nearing the end of construction and will be opening soon. The building is 950 square feet and will feature a drive-thru operation and 13 parking spaces.

Not far from the building projects on Hatch Road is construction of a new 5,300-square-foot Circle K store at 1212 Joyce Avenue at the northbound freeway off-ramp for eastbound Hatch Road. The store will sell Union 76 gas and feature Pizza Hut and Jamba Juice businesses. The parcel will also have a separate 1,530-square-foot Express Car Wash.

Elk Grove dentist Devan Dalla broke ground on his project 11 months ago.

The new store is located in the unincorporated area of Stanislaus County but within the Ceres sphere of influence meaning that eventually it will be annexed to the city of Ceres.

Hatch Rd McDonald's 2023
Workers took advantage of clear skies on Monday to work on the new McDonald's restaurant at Hatch & Herndon. - photo by Jeff Benziger
Circle K framed 2023
A new Circle K store is being constructed facing lanes of Highway 99 at the west Hatch Road exit. - photo by Jeff Benziger