Development plans rise near Meadows Field

Oct. 15—One development project after another is lining up for takeoff around Meadows Field Airport.

A series of speculative warehouses, a hotel, a new Starbucks, a gas station-convenience store combination — all are proposed to accompany the casino project reported last month on the north side of Merle Haggard Drive across from the airport. On the south side, at least two more speculative buildings are planned next to William M. Thomas Terminal.

The lineup looks to escalate development along metropolitan Bakersfield's northern frontier. It builds on momentum from the giant distribution center Amazon opened in 2020 north of Merle Haggard at Wings Way. Several smaller but significant industrial buildings have since been built nearby to the south and the west.

Michael Bowers, who consults on the casino project, said Kern County's rising ambitions for the airport bring new energy as plans come together for more people to visit an overlooked part of Oildale.

"I think that, as the saying goes, if you build it," he said, "they will come."

Senior Vice President Steve Adams at ASU Commercial in Bakersfield said investors he's working with on the north side of Merle Haggard started in 2012 by buying 138 acres from Chevron Corp. That kicked off years spent subdividing, engineering, designing roads, laying out parcels and putting together separate environmental impact reports.

In the intervening time, Adams said, the market finally caught up.

"Ten years ago, it may have not been that hot," he said. "But 10 years later ...," he said, trailing off.

Property owners across from each other on Merle Haggard have pursued complementary developments, Adams observed, in the sense that Silver Wings Commerce Center on the south leases buildings, while Landings Logistics Center on the north sells parcels to developers.

The Landings recently sold land for a convenience and gas store at Merle Haggard and Wings Way, Adams said. The Starbucks will have a drive-thru, he said, and local business equipment retailer American Business Systems will have a warehouse, offices and showroom for printers, copiers and the like.

The two spec buildings planned next to William M. Thomas Terminal will total 26,000 square feet, ASU reported recently.

Parlaying off the casino plan, which is set for a vote by the county this month, the hotel deal remains in talking stages, Adams noted. He added that escrow has closed on five contiguous parcels comprising 18 acres for development of a speculative building for lease.

"That kind of fills in that whole corridor," he said.

Also north of Merle Haggard, two buildings recently went up totaling 66,936 square feet at the southwest corner of McMurtrey and Wishon drives.

As for why Starbucks would want another location barely a mile east from where it already has one on the south side of Merle Haggard, Adams explained, there's usually a going-to-work side of the street and a going-home side.

"All the traffic going west on Merle Haggard out to the oil fields, the distribution centers, Porterville, Highway 65, Shafter and beyond are morning people," he said.

Bowers said he was encouraged to hear word recently that county government is exploring expanding service, including possibly resuming international flights through Meadows Field.

He said he hopes the casino helps bring back flights to Las Vegas, and that the airport can add service to San Diego or somewhere else with a beach. He said that would fit nicely with plans to attract more people to that part of town.

"I think that (expanding flights) brings more excitement to that area," Bowers said.