Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Fresno City Gets Extension in Herndon 4-Story Apartment Case

18 hours ago

With Major Heat Risk Forecast, This Is a Good Weekend to Stay Indoors in Fresno

20 hours ago

Trump Says Intel Has Agreed to Deal for US to Take 10% Equity Stake

21 hours ago

Epstein Associate Maxwell Says She Never Saw Trump Behave Inappropriately

21 hours ago

Pew: US Immigrant Population Declines for First Time in Nearly 60 Years

23 hours ago

Powell, Citing Jobs Risk, Opens Door to Cuts but Doesn’t Commit

1 day ago

FBI Agents Search Ex-Trump Adviser Bolton’s Home, Source Says

1 day ago

Gaza City Officially in Famine, With Hunger Spreading, Says Global Hunger Monitor

1 day ago

Gavin Newsom’s Redistricting Plan Is on Its Way to Voters. What You Need to Know

2 days ago
New Schools, Homes, and a Costco for North Visalia Master-Planned Neighborhood
By admin
Published 2 years ago on
November 28, 2023

Share

Long-time Visalia residents may recognize the Shannon family name. Developers have all but finished building out the enormous Shannon Ranch community.

Now, the family wants to begin construction on a similar master-planned neighborhood in up-and-coming north Visalia. Plans include thousands of homes, shopping centers, a high school, an elementary school, and if everything goes right, a Costco.

On Oct. 2, the Visalia City Council approved the specific plan for 507-acre Carleton Acres. Eric Shannon, managing member of Hayes Ranch Partners, the landowner, described the vision for the neighborhood, especially the project’s considerations for the environment.

“We have a very walkable community, a bicycle-able community, and we incorporated a lot of things, bio-swells and stuff like that where we can be eco-friendly and keep as much water going through natural permeability,” Shannon said.

A tentative map shows the planned layout of Carleton Acres. (City of Visalia)

Mix of Single-Family Homes, Apartment Complexes

The name Carleton Acres comes from Shannon’s grandfather, Carleton Shannon, who purchased the land decades ago from local resident Helen Hayes. Carleton Shannon grew wine grape and row crops on the land.

The plan area spans Riggin Avenue to the south and Avenue 320 to the north, bordered by Shirk Road and Akers Street. Built around homes “maybe a step or two up from entry level and a mix after that,” according to Shannon, the project would be delivered in two phases across 15 years.

That translates out to 1,182 residential units — both apartments and single-family — in the first phase and 2,080 units in the second phase.

Tulare County supervisors are expected to approve the annexation to Visalia in December. Kingsburg-based West Star Construction is the contractor.

Housing would be nearly evenly split in the first phase between low-density and high-density lots. And being near the industrial park, Shannon sees jobs in the area being a big driver for housing.

“I think there’s quite a demand for multi-family, and I would believe that the city’s done a real good job of growing the industrial park and probably a big need for some housing for people that aren’t quite ready for homeownership yet,” Shannon said.

Shannon hopes to begin prepping the land in spring 2024.

The plan focuses heavily on landscaping, said Brandon Smith, principal planner with the city of Visalia.

The project boasts 17 acres of parks, trails, and recreational facilities, according to the specific plan.

Half-acre and one-acre parks will be scattered throughout residential areas.

Twenty-two-foot-wide biking and walking trails will connect the proposed high school to the proposed elementary school and to different neighborhoods. Trails will run along a ponding basin and connect to retail.

“There’s a lot of emphasis that’s been put into things like the landscaping, the landscaping treatments and signage and treatment of open spaces,” Smith said.

A rendering shows what the Costco at Shirk Road and Riggin Avenue could look like. (City of Visalia)

Costco Discussions Moving Along, Developer Hopes for Announcement Soon

The project also reserves 35 acres for commercial development at two locations.

At Shirk Road and Riggin Avenue, builders hope to bring Costco. Talk of Costco going to the northeast corner there has circulated since Visalia officials first teased the project in April 2022.

The project description also calls for a car wash, drug store, additional retail, and restaurants. In the second phase, a more neighborhood-focused shopping center at Akers Street and Avenue 320 would provide retail, services, and restaurants on 6.4 acres.

While the Visalia City Council and the planning department have been doing leg work on Costco ahead of any announcement, the wholesale giant has yet to file an application, said Smith.

“They do need to get a conditional use permit, which needs to go through a public hearing, but once they do that, they already have an approved environmental report to rely on,” Smith said.

Costco had begun working with property owners to find a place appropriate for them. The plan was to have them open in two years.

Planners prioritized widening Riggin Avenue to four lanes on the assumption Costco would come to the area.

But Shannon said he hopes to have negotiations finished soon.

“It’s ongoing and it’s promising,” Shannon said.

Two Schools Possible at Carleton Acres

With the additional 3,000 housing units comes the inevitable need for schools. Land has been set aside for a future high school and elementary school. Ridgeview Middle School is the area.

Visalia Unified School District doesn’t yet have the money set aside for construction, but Smith doesn’t think housing will reach the elementary school site for five years.

The plan predicts construction to occur at a rate of 100 of the low-density homes a year. In total, Shannon predicts a 15-year rollout, a bit faster than the 20-year completion timeline for Shannon Ranch.

“In a perfect world, hopefully, we’d see dirt start moving and the infrastructure getting done hopefully late next spring and hopefully, see a lot of activity going on late next spring going forward,” Shannon said.

The project site for Carleton Acres, a master-planned community in north Visalia, (GV Wire)

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Texas, Florida Seek to Join Legal Challenge to Abortion Pill

DON'T MISS

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego Released, May Be Detained Again

DON'T MISS

Judge Blocks Trump From Withholding Funds From Los Angeles, Other Sanctuary Cities

DON'T MISS

Lyle Menendez Denied Parole After 35 Years in Prison for Parents’ Shotgun Murders

DON'T MISS

California Cities Lack Unified Response On Homeless Encampments

DON'T MISS

Trump Crime Crackdown Deploys Troops in Washington’s Safest Sites

DON'T MISS

California Voters Still Support High-Speed Rail, Even If It Never Gets Done

DON'T MISS

Turkish First Lady Urges Melania Trump to Speak out on Gaza

DON'T MISS

Fresno Crash Sends Car Into Building After Running Red Light

DON'T MISS

Fresno City Gets Extension in Herndon 4-Story Apartment Case

UP NEXT

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego Released, May Be Detained Again

UP NEXT

Judge Blocks Trump From Withholding Funds From Los Angeles, Other Sanctuary Cities

UP NEXT

Lyle Menendez Denied Parole After 35 Years in Prison for Parents’ Shotgun Murders

UP NEXT

California Cities Lack Unified Response On Homeless Encampments

UP NEXT

Trump Crime Crackdown Deploys Troops in Washington’s Safest Sites

UP NEXT

California Voters Still Support High-Speed Rail, Even If It Never Gets Done

UP NEXT

Turkish First Lady Urges Melania Trump to Speak out on Gaza

UP NEXT

Fresno Crash Sends Car Into Building After Running Red Light

UP NEXT

Fresno City Gets Extension in Herndon 4-Story Apartment Case

UP NEXT

Atwater Prison Inmate Charged for Threatening to Kill Prosecutor’s Family

Lyle Menendez Denied Parole After 35 Years in Prison for Parents’ Shotgun Murders

1 hour ago

California Cities Lack Unified Response On Homeless Encampments

1 hour ago

Trump Crime Crackdown Deploys Troops in Washington’s Safest Sites

1 hour ago

California Voters Still Support High-Speed Rail, Even If It Never Gets Done

1 hour ago

Turkish First Lady Urges Melania Trump to Speak out on Gaza

1 hour ago

Fresno Crash Sends Car Into Building After Running Red Light

18 hours ago

Fresno City Gets Extension in Herndon 4-Story Apartment Case

18 hours ago

Atwater Prison Inmate Charged for Threatening to Kill Prosecutor’s Family

19 hours ago

Multiple Passengers Are Killed After Bus Crashes in Western New York

19 hours ago

Fresno Firefighters Contain Cambridge Avenue Blaze, No Injuries Reported

19 hours ago

Texas, Florida Seek to Join Legal Challenge to Abortion Pill

NEW YORK — Texas and Florida on Friday asked a federal judge to let them join a lawsuit seeking to restrict the availability of the abortion...

47 minutes ago

A patient prepares to take Mifepristone, the first pill in a medical abortion, at Alamo Women's Clinic in Carbondale, Illinois, U.S., April 9, 2024. (Reuters File)
47 minutes ago

Texas, Florida Seek to Join Legal Challenge to Abortion Pill

Kilmar Abrego Garcia walks, after he has been released from the Putnam County Jail in Cookville, Tennessee, U.S., August 22, 2025. (Reuters/Seth Herald)
51 minutes ago

Wrongly Deported Migrant Abrego Released, May Be Detained Again

U.S. flag and Judge gavel are seen in this illustration taken, August 6, 2024. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration)
1 hour ago

Judge Blocks Trump From Withholding Funds From Los Angeles, Other Sanctuary Cities

Lyle Menendez attends his Board of Parole hearing online from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California, U.S., August 22, 2025, that could lead to freedom after decades in prison for the 1989 shotgun murders of his parents. The final decision will rest with the governor, who can either accept or reject the board's recommendation. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation/Handout via REUTERS
1 hour ago

Lyle Menendez Denied Parole After 35 Years in Prison for Parents’ Shotgun Murders

1 hour ago

California Cities Lack Unified Response On Homeless Encampments

Members of the Mississippi National Guard eat ice cream and boba tea on the National Mall after U.S. President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard and ordered an increased presence of federal law enforcement to assist in crime prevention, in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 21, 2025. (Reuters/Al Drago)
1 hour ago

Trump Crime Crackdown Deploys Troops in Washington’s Safest Sites

1 hour ago

California Voters Still Support High-Speed Rail, Even If It Never Gets Done

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife Emine Erdogan arrive at a dinner for NATO heads of states and government hosted by Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Dutch Queen Maxima, on the sidelines of a NATO Summit, at Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague, Netherlands June 24, 2025. (Reuters File)
1 hour ago

Turkish First Lady Urges Melania Trump to Speak out on Gaza

Search

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Send this to a friend