Major progress is underway at the new Fancher Creek Town Center in southeast Fresno.
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer and Councilman Luis Chavez were on site on Tuesday at Clovis and Tulare Avenues to look at the construction of a new Target, which will be the first store to open at the new complex.
The big picture: The walls of a new 147,000 square-foot Target are currently going up at the new complex, which is being developed by the Lance Kashian company.
- Along with the target, the complex will also house Sprouts, In-N-Out, Petsmart and Michaels, with Home Goods and Chipotle in negotiations as well.
- Target will be open in October 2025 with Sprouts to follow closely behind.
- Along with the big box retail, land on the north side of Tulare Ave. is planned for a movie theater and smaller retail stores, bringing the whole project similar to the Lance Kashian-developed River Park center in north Fresno.
Driving the news: The Fancher Creek project has been in the works for decades, with plans taking a major hit during the 2008 recession and later getting delayed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
- The Brandhaven affordable senior living apartments have already been completed and are nearly full, offering 360 units.
- Another affordable housing project, Sarah’s Court, is currently being constructed and will open with 120 units in December with another 120 to follow.
What they’re saying: Dyer said Tuesday that all of the new housing development in southeast Fresno over the last decade has led commercial buildings, restaurants and retail to follow.
- “All of those things are important to a live, work, play, dine, shop development area,” Dyer said. “And what that is is simply a 20 minute walkable neighborhood where people can leave the place where they live, walk to shop, walk to dine, walk to get services and then go back home – and to be able to do that within 20 minutes. That’s important to our environment, it’s important to the convenience for people that live around here, and I’m proud to say that we are well on our way here in the Fancher Creek development to make that happen.”
- Chavez said it is a Godsend to southeast Fresno to now have a Target, adding that the tax revenue and jobs created by the development will be a huge benefit for the city.
- “We see these types of amenities, but we see them in north Fresno. We don’t necessarily see them in south Fresno,” Chavez said. “Now we have our own here in our own backyard in southeast Fresno. So millions of dollars in revenue generated for the city coffers, but more than anything bringing those amenities to the residents here in southeast Fresno I think has been a long time coming.”
