Costco land deal could close this week

Seth Nidever

Apr 12, 2016  

Officials say the sale of land for the new Costco warehouse slated to be built in east Hanford could be completed this week, clearing the way for construction to start.

Hanford officials say the sale of a piece of Hanford property to Costco is slated to close this week, potentially clearing the last major obstacle before major construction on the much-anticipated project can start.

“I think everything’s waiting on Costco to close,” said John Doyel, deputy Hanford public works director.

Rick Telegan, co-manager of Pinnacle Pointe LLC, the Fresno-based firm that owns the property at East Lacey Boulevard/Highway 43 where Costco is slated to go in, declined Monday to comment about the pending sale.

Costco representative Michael Okuma couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.

“I think it’s just a matter of final paperwork between the parties at this point,” said Darrel Pyle, Hanford city manager. “I don’t think there are any approval issues [outstanding] from any third parties.”

One major third-party obstacle was removed last month when Caltrans issued an encroachment permit for the city to put in a roundabout when the Lacey Boulevard/Highway 43 intersection is moved northward.

The intersection relocation is necessary to handle the increased traffic flow that will result from the development.

Once it starts, the relocation/roundabout project will likely take six months to complete. The Costco building itself will take roughly four months.

The roadwork and Costco are slated to be built simultaneously.

The city will be supervising the road work, but the developer is the one who is executing the construction agreement with the contractor for the approximately $6.5 million project, according to Doyel.

Doyel said it’s taken “close to a year” to get the encroachment permit from Caltrans. He said the city has done everything it needs to do in order for the project to go forward, including completing the purchase of new right-of-way to move Lacey northward.

“That was a lot of work,” he said. “As far as I know, we’re good.”

Last week, the Hanford City Council approved the expenditure of $431,204 for right-of-way staking/surveying and to hire a resident engineer to oversee the roadwork on behalf of the city.

Doyel said a parcel map for the Costco property was recorded with the city of Hanford last week.

“That creates the parcel map for Costco to close escrow on,” he said.

A plan obtained by the Sentinel shows the main Costco building and an unspecified smaller anchor tenant going in first and taking up the biggest chunk of the 58-acre site. Multiple medium and smaller sized retail outlets, including restaurants, are slated to fill out the rest.

Pyle said construction is “minutes,” not weeks, away. He said that showery weather shouldn’t hold things up much because the rain is being rapidly absorbed into the ground.

“We’re standing on the starting line,” Pyle said. “The professionals are ready to mobilize.”

http://hanfordsentinel.com/news/local/costco-land-deal-could-close-this-week/article_a31484cb-0895-593a-946f-7f3305c7e7c7.html