Surgit Singh went before the Ceres Planning Commission on Monday and received unanimous approval to develop a commercial shopping center of five buildings on 3.3 acres at the northeast corner of Mitchell Road and Roeding Road.
Singh won approval on his Vesting Tentative Parcel Map (VTPM) by creating three commercial lots out of two existing parcels. A Conditional Use Permit was also approved by the commission.
The L-shaped project will front Mitchell Road north of an existing small retail center and partially wrap around behind it. Immediately on the corner is an older strip mall that contains eight businesses including Liquor King, a floral shop, Indian store and hair stylist.
Singh is also proposing five commercial buildings totaling 32,287 square feet, which include:
• An 8,567-square-foot building (of which 5,567 square feet restaurant use with the remaining 3,000 square feet designed for retail/office uses);
• Two separate retail/office buildings at 8,520 square feet and 9,600 square feet;
• Two fast-food restaurant pads with each building designed at 2,800 square feet in size and each having a drive-thru.
Senior Planner James Michaels showed what the project will look like, noting that it’s architecture of varying heights and multiple planes and materials including horizontal wood panels and grey stucco.
“Staff is of the opinion that the design of these buildings will incorporate attractive high-quality design features that are readily visible to the public,” said Michaels.
The center will be accessible from Mitchell Road and also Roeding Road and include 157 parking spaces which meet the city’s parking ratio standard.
“It looks very nice – it’s an attractive facility,” commented Commissioner Bob Kachel.
Max Garcia of GDR Engineering in Ceres said he is proud of the design and that it will “make an excellent center.” He added that it was refreshing to see someone who wants to build something nice in Ceres.
Renee Ledbetter, an official with the Ceres Chamber of Commerce and local real estate agent, gave congratulations to Singh and his representatives “because this is a beautiful project and something that I’m very excited about.”
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had some new development take place in Ceres and now with Walmart and the Gateway project this is going to be a great addition to the Mitchell Road corridor. And it’s going to make my job a lot easier because I have people calling me every day looking for (commercial) space that we just don’t have in Ceres.”
