January 2018 Old Town Clovis Construction Update

All the changes at FAX took my attention last month, but now I finally have time to post my latest update on the changes going on in Old Town Clovis!

Previous updates:

September 2017
February 2017
May 2016
July 2015
February 2015 

We start in the center, which is the area surrounding the new Centennial Plaza. Construction here is all done, and the new new buildings and plaza are looking good.

For reference, this is what the area looked like in 2011, according to Google Streetview:

And after the plaza was built, but before the buildings went up:

Here’s what we have now:

I like the sign.

Everything looks good except this little service alley – way too exposed.

Sidewalk is tight, but it wasn’t a big lot.

I really like this indoor/outdoor dining area.

Moving to the side of the building. The entrance to the dining area is via the plaza.

And the back. They did a really good job here, as this side is just as attractive as the front.

This is what the other new building looks like from the back. Not as nice.

Reminds me of a motel.

By comparison…

Ok, moving to the second building, there is also retail on the first floor. Here is the entrance.

Plaza to the right, Pollasky to the front

It is part of the Me n Eds chain. This is the view from the street.

Plaza in the center looks nice.

On Pollasky, this is the front.

This entrance is a disappointment. The stairs lead to an entrance to Blast and Brew…but a sign points you to the side. There is also a retailer up these steps.

And from a little bit down the street.

For reference, this is what was proposed, specifically the building on the right side of the plaza. The clock feature wasn’t built, the retail isn’t at street level, and windows were removed.

Final photos of this project:

 

Overall a success, although I would declare the building on the left the winner.

It’s good added infill in “downtown” Clovis, and improves the street. Instead of a parking lot, there are two new buildings with retail on the ground, and a decent product above them.

Moving away, we see progress on the hotel being built on Clovis Avenue. This one is “special” because the parking will be underneath the building, something uncommon in the area where surface parking dominates. Construction has been really slow.

It’s ok.

And finally, our last bit of Clovis infill. These new homes are unique because they front the Fresno-Clovis rail trail, instead of a street. I was excited to see what they’d do, but the end product is pretty disappointing.

Part of the project included building the same crap you see everywhere else, except the driveways front Sierra, which is rare for new development.

Here is the alley where vehicles can access the new trail homes, on the right.

The back of these homes looks like the front of most other places, except the fence is there to hide the backyard. It looks odd.

I feel like they should have just fenced the entire back yard in.

No idea if this parking is legal.

And there we see the bike trail and an existing hotel.

The trail is pretty popular.

Looking back at the new homes, the front is a whole bunch of fencing too.

It’s like a house with no front or back, just sides.

Ok, fine, this is the front. But it sure is ugly. Windows too expensive these days?

The other new one has nicer shielding.

I understand they would want a fence to make it clear this is a private property and not part of the trail, but why does it look like a chicken coop?

And then the fence for the homes that front Sierra.

Boring boring boring

Lots of bikes out though.

 

So that’s it for Clovis infill!

Once that hotel is finished, I’m not aware of any “real” infill construction in the city coming up. And no, I don’t count a CVS being built on a strip mall parking lot as infill. That’s a little disappointing. The first project here is a big win, and the other two are better than the status quo. Shame nothing is in the pipeline. I guess my attention will shift back to Downtown Fresno, which had a couple of years of construction inactivity (aside from Fulton Mall), but is supposed to be picking up again.