What’s happening with all the construction in Ceres? Hotels, restaurants, more coming
While another Stanislaus County city lays claim to the slogan “City of Action,” its southern neighbor Ceres seems to be vying for the title as construction on several projects continues apace.
The largest of the developments is the Ceres Gateway Center, where work has been underway nonstop for more than a year. The retail project across from the new Walmart Superstore already has several open restaurants and other businesses. Work is also steaming ahead on a handful of others, including a large hotel.
Four additions will join the existing In-N-Out, Chipotle and Ono Hawaiian BBQ at the intersection of Mitchell and Service roads. A Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Tractor Supply and Union 76 gas station are in various stages of completion, said Ceres Economic Development/Redevelopment Manager Tamra Spade. On the property’s western edge, the large Woodspring Suites also is taking shape.
The extended-stay brand is building a 122-room, four-story hotel on the site that will loom over the other businesses and hopefully attract travelers to the city’s newly beefed-up southern retail district. Work began earlier this year on the 51,600-square-foot project and is on track to open as early as March.
Meanwhile, the Popeyes is the furthest along of the other builds and is expected to open later this month. Following that will be Tractor Supply, which is projected to open by Thanksgiving. The Union 76 gas station, which will include a convenience store and drive-thru restaurant chain, does not have a target completion date yet, Spade said.
After those projects are completed, Ceres Gateway will have only one more available pad to lease. Spade said she expects the remaining space, just south of the Union 76 fuel station and near the freeway, to be filled by another drive-thru restaurant.
Drive a little farther north into the city and you’ll find the former Rancho San Miguel supermarket space on Hatch Road getting close to welcoming guests inside again. The Latino grocery chain closed is doors in the summer of 2019, and its 63,000-square-foot building has been empty since. But last fall, it was announced that national discount chains Grocery Outlet and Big Lots are going to split the space in two and open on their respective sides.
Grocery Outlet is about to open, with a grand opening and ribbon-cutting celebration scheduled for 10 a.m. Sept. 14. The discount chain takes up about 24,000 square feet of the space. Filling the other approximately 38,000 square feet will be Big Lots. The low-cost retailer is expected to open soon as well, by early October at the latest. But Spade said an official opening date has not yet been announced.
Nearby, also on Hatch, work continues to transform the former Kmart into a Public Storage facility. Two eateries attached to the redevelopment plan for the site opened earlier this year. Both Dutch Bros Coffee and Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers are now operating out of new construction fronting Hatch.
Plans have also been approved for a Beyond Foods Mart service and gas station, which is now in the development stage with building permits submitted, Spade said. The Public Storage conversion is in plan check, so no timeline is available for work or completion yet.
And finally, Ceres car owners will have three O’Reilly’s Auto Parts to choose from in the not-too-distant future. The Ceres Planning Commission approved preliminary plans to build a store on East Whitmore Avenue, on a vacant plot next to an existing Dollar General.
The auto parts dealer plans to construct a roughly 7,500-square-foot building on the site, which will join stores the national chain already has in central Ceres on Hatch Road and in the eastern part of town on Mitchell Road. The west-side addition is in the planning phase right now, with no ETA for opening. Ceres Community Development Director Christopher Hoem said he expects the other O’Reilly’s locations to remain open once the third site is completed.
