A host of commercial developments and new apartments are expected to be introduced to Ceres this new year.
The year 2022 began with construction activity already underway at the Ceres Gateway Project which will bring new businesses, mostly services for freeway travelers and locals alike. But there are a number of other businesses that should be underway.
Commercial
Construction has begun on the first phase of the Ceres Gateway Center, a new retail shopping center on the triangle-shaped property immediately south of the new Walmart Supercenter.
Construction on Phase 1 began last month with an estimated completion by the fall. Included are approximately 25,000 square feet of space featuring Chipotle Mexican Grill, In-N-Out Burger, Ono Hawaiian BBQ, Quick Quack Car Wash, Starbucks and others to be announced soon.
The center will occupy 13.68 acres bounded by Highway 99, Service Road and Mitchell Road.
The seven parcels in the first phase include:
• 1.6 acres for a 6,449-square-foot Circle K convenience store, gas pumps, carwash, and 43 parking spaces.
• A .67 acre site for a 2,500-square-foot Chipotle restaurant with a drive-thru operation and 27 parking spaces.
• 1.2 acres for a 3,974-square-foot building to accommodate an In-N-Out Burger restaurant with a drive-thru and 42 parking spaces.
• 1.11 acres reserved for a 2,192-square-foot Ono Hawaiian Grill with a drive-thru operation and 21 parking spaces.
• 0.91 acres for a 4,529-square-foot restaurant with a drive-thru operation and 46 parking stalls.
• 1.69 acres for an 11,142-square-foot building with a drive-thru to accommodate retail/restaurant/coffee shop uses and 76 parking spaces.
• A .65-acre parcel for a 2,600-square-foot building to accommodate a restaurant with a drive-thru and parking.
The greenlight has been given for Ranjit Singh to build a convenience store with a gas station, car wash, and two future retail pads on a 3.59-acre site at the southwest corner of Mitchell Road and Roeding Road. Singh proposes a commercial shopping center comprised of 32,846 square feet of commercial space. It includes a 4,320-square-foot convenience store with 16-pump fueling station, a carwash that consists of a 3,360-square-foot tunnel building and a 4,410-square-foot solar canopy to cover 20 vacuum stalls, and two future retail pads. The project also includes a 2,106 square-foot solar canopy to cover four electric vehicle charging stations (seven charging stalls), and a 138-stall parking lot.
Activity is expected to begin at the northeast corner of Hatch Road and Herndon Avenue on a project to convert the old 84,000-square-foot Kmart building into a new use. The building has been vacant for three years.
The former Kmart building will be turned into a Public Storage self-storage facility while the remaining property will be used for a Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, Dutch Bros Coffee shop, and Quik Stop convenience store and gas station.
The development proposal required a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) and approval of a vesting tentative parcel map to create six commercial zoned parcels out of the single 9.02-acre site. City officials supported the project but were disappointed that a retailer was unwilling to fill the former Kmart building. Senior Planner James Michaels suggested that the project, while not optimal, is better than nothing.
The Public Storage self-storage facility will be situated on 4.88 acres, which includes 45 parking spaces with landscaped areas. Public Storage also plans to build four additional buildings sized at 22,121, 5,041, 2,481 and 2,481 square feet, for a total storage area of 116,624 square feet.
The 3,267-square-foot Raising Cain’s will be located close to Hatch Road on 1.38 acres with a drive-thru operation and 83 parking spaces.
The building for the Dutch Bros. coffee shop will be smaller at 950 square feet with the 0.60-acre parcel accommodating a drive-thru operation and 13 parking spaces.
The 5,828-square-foot Quik Stop building and gas island is proposed to be constructed just east of the existing bus stop along Herndon Avenue. The Quik Stop building will be sized for an additional retail use. While the architectural renderings show the building with signs for Sbarro Pizza, Michaels is unsure if they were just placed for illustrative purposes. The Quik Stop parcel of 1.09 acres has been drawn with 47 parking spaces.
Across the street on Hatch Road, the 1977 McDonald’s will be razed and replaced with a new restaurant. In October the Ceres Planning Commission gave its approval to plans to bulldoze the 3,096 square-foot restaurant and replacing it with a new 4,506 square foot restaurant.
The McDonald’s corporation has been working with city staff since March about demolishing their old facility and expanding it. The staff said a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) was needed because of significant changes to the operation, including a two-lane drive-thru approach.
Senior Planner James Michaels said he believes the proposal is an improvement for this site and will add an overall attractive building frontage compared to what currently exists for the property.
“Furthermore, the design that has been proposed for the Hatch/Herndon site is consistent with an overall rebranding that McDonald’s is doing within the Central Valley,” he said.
Apartments
Ceres will be improving its multiple family housing stock with two new apartment projects that should get underway in 2022.
Construction is expected to begin on a 10-unit multi-family residential apartment project on a flag lot at 3420 Ninth Street in Ceres. The 0.64-acre site is located approximately 255 feet south of the Roeding Road/Ninth Street intersection. The site currently is occupied by a dilapidated home that will come down. Putney Ventures, LLC, is the applicant.
Proposed are two two-story buildings of 6,093 square feet. Each will contain five residential units of two bedroom/two and a half bathroom. Two carports which can cover five vehicles are included in the plans.
Harinder Toor, owner of applicant Interjit S. Toor Construction, Inc., said his apartment project will help fill a housing void in Ceres once it’s completed at 2125 Moffet Road just north of the Richland Shopping Center. The 28-unit apartment complex was approved for the 1.2-acre site. Four two-story units will include two bedrooms and two bathrooms of approximately 875 square feet. A total of 56 parking spaces will serve the complex that will be accessed along the north property line. A gated emergency access will consist of a 25-foot-wide path on the south end. A six-foot-tall perimeter block wall will shoulder the west and south property lines.
The project will be offered at market rates, not Section 8.
Infrastructure
Continuing work will occur through 2022 on bringing surface water to Ceres.
Pipeline construction will continue to occur along Hatch Road east of Ceres that by 2023 will bring treated Tuolumne River water to city water customers.
Through the Regional Surface Water Supply Project, the pipeline will transport Tuolumne River water treated at a new state-of-the-art water treatment plant to Ceres and Turlock households.
The completed Ceres pipeline will feed into a 2-million gallon tank which is under construction at the eastern side of the Ceres River Bluff Regional Park on Hatch Road. The tank will be between the soccer field at the northeast quadrant of the park and its adjacent parking lot. Part of the tank will be placed underground.
Work is also expected this year on a widening and pouring of sidewalks on Morgan Road in front of four ranchettes south of Hackett Road. The city is also planning to resurface Morgan Road between Whitmore Avenue and Service Road in the summer.
