New Lodi businesses prepare to open doors

Retail center, restaurants and gym among projects nearing completion

In the past year, the citizens of Lodi have gotten word of several new business coming to the area. While some developments are finishing up, others are just beginning.

“With the economic meltdown that took place in 2007 and 2008, I think most communities didn’t see a lot take place since 2008 until about 2013,” Lodi Senior Planner Craig Hoffman said. “Now you’re seeing that a lot of spaces that were empty are now filling up and businesses that have previously not been in Lodi before are coming to Lodi. I think it continued economic growth for Lodi and it’s good. It provides a great tax base and a lot of investment in property.”

According to Hoffman, a new retail center is coming to 113 N. Cherokee Lane at the corner of Elm Street. The retail center will be a 9,000-square-foot building that will have five tenant spaces.

The site was formerly the home of a service station that was demolished in 1987, and the property is owned by Michael Bertolone.

“It’s a vacant site, so it’s a nice redevelopment,” Hoffman said. “This is an area along Cherokee Lane that could benefit from new commercial development and help jump start other commercial investment in the area.”

If approved by the city, the retail center should be up and running within the next year and a half, Hoffman said. The project has been approved by the Site Plan and Review Committee and next will go before the Planning Commission.

Work on the former Walmart space at Kettleman Lane and Tienda Drive is underway, with Petco, Hobby Lobby and Party City set to move in soon. Facade and tenant improvements on the space are close to being completed, Hoffman said.

“Those should probably be opened in the next two to three months hopefully even sooner,” Hoffman said.

The former McDonald’s space located in the same parking lot, which is being turned into a Farmer Boys restaurant, has also seen a lot of progress.

Hoffman anticipates it will open within the next month.

“That one is going to go quick. That should be open by the end of April, I would think,” Hoffman said.

Planet Fitness has already gotten a special use permit to occupy 23,000 square feet of the old Kmart space on Cherokee Lane, and Grocery Outlet will be going before the Planning Commission for a use permit in April. The developer is still working on getting two other tenants, Hoffman said.

So far, no work on the space has been completed. Developers are still working on the building plans, which should be submitted to the city in the next month or two. After they finish the plans, Hoffman said, they will began separating the tenant space and making facade improvements.

As for Starbucks and Mr. Pickles, which will soon move into the former Boston Market location at the corner of Kettleman and Hutchins Street, a lot of work has been done to that space, Hoffman said. He anticipates an opening within the next three months.