Necessity Spurs Retail Development in Fresno and Clovis

Ground‑up retail development in Fresno and Clovis is gaining meaningful traction as developers responded to tightening supply, stable occupancy and a clear shift in tenant demand toward necessity‑based retail formats.

Across both cities, construction pipelines expanded modestly, supported by market fundamentals that remained unusually steady for an elevated interest rate environment.

Fresno's retail vacancy held at 5.5% through mid‑2026, signaling balanced conditions and encouraging new development activity.

Developers advanced roughly 350,000 square feet of ground‑up retail projects—slightly above the region's historical average—reflecting confidence that well‑located, needs‑driven retail could outperform even as discretionary categories softened.

Clovis mirrored this momentum through active leasing and selective new construction, particularly in neighborhood‑serving centers anchored by fitness, medical, grocery and daily‑needs tenants.

Major leases at properties such as Sierra Pavilion underscored the strength of experiential and service‑oriented anchors, which continue to drive foot traffic and support smaller shop tenants. These patterns reinforced the viability of new ground-up projects designed around necessity-based uses rather than traditional big-box formats.

Lender sentiment in 2026 aligned closely with this shift. Financing sources—especially non‑bank lenders, CMBS programs and competitive multi‑lender platforms—demonstrated heightened confidence in necessity‑based, grocery‑anchored, medical, wellness and daily‑needs retail, while remaining cautious toward discretionary or mall‑anchored concepts.

Lenders increasingly underwrote to properties showing in‑place cash flow and proven tenant performance, requiring stronger pre‑leasing thresholds for ground‑up projects, often 60% to 70% for conventional financing.

Necessity‑based retail in Fresno and Clovis met these criteria more readily due to stable trade‑area demographics, consistent sales productivity and limited competing supply.

Two Construction Deals Get Done

HKS Real Estate Advisors is capitalizing on these markets, arranging $7.8 million in construction financing for two ground-up retail developments in Fresno and Clovis.

Alex Dobosh and Andrew Pilchick of HKS secured the financing through North American Savings Bank for Bottom Line Group.

Both loans exceeded 90% loan-to-cost, with one supporting a 4,771-square-foot 7-Eleven convenience store and gas station at Belmont and Fowler avenues in Fresno. The other was for an 11,353-square-foot development at Temperance and Alluvial avenues in Clovis, featuring another 7-Eleven and a three-unit retail building with Chipotle and Phoenician Express already committed.

"Both projects benefit from strong locations in growing Central Valley markets, where there is consistent demand for convenient, daily-needs retail," Pilchick told GlobeSt.com.

"With national credit tenants already committed, the lender saw strong fundamentals and a clear path to execution."