This ‘eyesore’ in Clovis will be torn down and replaced with a chain restaurant
A long-empty building on Shaw Avenue in Clovis is slated to be torn down and a chain drive-thru restaurant built in its place — a Panda Express.
The shopping center owner promises it will look different than any of the chain’s other Asian fast food restaurants around with the company’s new building design.
The stand-alone building at 288 W. Shaw Ave. was built nearly 50 years ago as an amusement arcade. It’s between See’s Candies and Crunch Fitness, and has been vacant since a Mattress Land store moved out in 2018, according to city documents.
During a Clovis Planning Commission meeting last month, commissioner Amy Hatcher called the building a “total eyesore.”
“I’m glad to see that building will get demolished,” she said. “It looks horrible.”
The new Panda Express
The project came before the commission because the center owner was seeking a conditional-use permit to build a smaller building on the site with a drive-thru.
It will be a 2,036-square-foot building with a single-lane drive-thru entrance that splits into two lines and can accommodate 13 cars.
The dining room would seat 34 people. It will be open from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily.
Like most Panda Express restaurants, it will serve the fast food Chinese noodle and rice dishes the chain is known for.
But it will look different than others in the central San Joaquin Valley, noted center owner Greg Brown of Brown and Associates Clovis.
“This is a brand new design for Panda. It’s called Panda Home Design,” he said. “Its architecture is visually stunning and we think this is going to go a long way to really enlivening this section between Peach past the Walmart Center.”
He did not go into specifics, however, of what it would look like and could not be reached for further comment.
A description of the project submitted to the city describes a “bold color palette” with warm wood, a “moon gate-inspired” entrance, arched roof and exterior wall art depicting Mandarin writing.
The commission voted unanimously March 20 to grant the conditional-use permit so that the project may proceed.
