Developers Flocking To Turlock Creating Business Boom
TURLOCK (CBS13) — After a successful year of new developments, the city of Turlock is expecting even more growth in 2019.
The groundbreaking ceremony at for a new Blue Diamond Growers facility Tuesday symbolizes the type of growth the city is experiencing. Development such as new restaurants including a new Buffalo Wild Wings and entertainment facilities including the 52,000 square foot Ten Pin Fun Center, which features bowling lanes, a laser tag room, an arcade, a bar, restaurant, billiards, and outdoor bocce ball courts.
Maryn Pitt with the city's housing and economic development department said part of the reason builders are interested in Turlock is because of its demographics.
"We're a city of 72,000 people, but our primary retail market area is almost 300,000 and that's how site developers and site selectors who are looking for retail opportunities start to look at you," Pitt said.
READ ALSO: Blue Diamond Growers Break Ground On New Turlock Facility
Stanislaus State's 10,000 students are another big influence.
"We also have two new hotels entitled with a university and parents coming to visit their students as well as the fairgrounds located here and our big employers, our hotels are full most of the time," Pitt said.
Even nearby Modesto Junior College is interesting in expanding to Turlock, recently purchasing the land near Dustbowl Brewery and a new Chevron Station to build some sort of satellite campus it has yet to reveal.
The city said several other companies including US Cold Storage and Sunnyside Farms are also expanding their facilities this year, creating about 200 new jobs in Turlock.