Healthcare: Visalia City Council approves property deal that could put medical office, multistory parking structure downtown
The Visalia City Council late Monday approved an agreement to the sell a 2.5-acre city-owned parcel in downtown to a development team made up of local builders and investors.
The property, bounded by Acequia and Mineral King avenues and Stevenson and Conyer streets, is currently used as a parking lot.
The 4-0 vote approved a deal with Mill Creek Professional Center LLC, a partnership that proposes to build a 45,000-square-foot multistoried medical office complex on the land.
Later phases of the project could include a multistory parking structure, a linear park along Mill Creek and a mixed-use residential and commercial development.
The development team, consisting of Harvey May of Paloma Development; Tom Gaebe, a certified public accountant; Doug Lawrence, a real estate professional; and Jody Graves, an investor, was selected by the city during a request for proposals last October.
The partners have built several downtown structures, including the Visalia Chamber of Commerce and Buckman-Mitchell buildings, and control several other buildings downtown.
The team’s proposal is intended to serve the expanding Kaweah Delta Medical Center and doctors seeking office space within walking distance of the hospital, said May, president of Paloma Development.
The deal approved Monday does not officially nail down the sale of the property, May said. Instead, it paves the way for more in-depth studies in the coming months of the current market for medical offices in downtown, he said.
“Now we’ll get busy on the real specifics,” he said, “the nuts and bolts of the development.”
An appraisal expected back within the next three months will set the purchase price for the property, May said.
If the market conditions are right and planning goes smoothly, construction crews could break ground on the medical offices next summer or fall, he said.
By Brett Wilkison for Visalia Times Delta
