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Bottom Line Group is the developer planning a 27-acre retail and entertainment project.Project includes grocery, brewery, hotel, convention space, gas station, car wash, and.We were in talks and planning for two years with Topgolf but it didn’t pan out, Virk said.
When a “coming soon” sign went up and big trucks started rumbling by, neighbors started talking.
What’s happening at the corner of Veterans Boulevard and Riverside Drive in Fresno, they asked? Just south of the Floor & Decor store and the Marketplace at El Paseo shopping center where Bullard Avenue runs into Riverside?
A huge project is planned, but it’s still in the very early stages. Actual construction of the buildings is at least three years away.
The developer is planning 27 acres of stores, restaurants and entertainment, including a grocery store, brewery, hotel, convention space, a gas station, car wash and family entertainment center, said Jay Virk, CEO of the Fresno-based developer Bottom Line Group.
An indoor-outdoor entertainment space similar to ApCal — which recently rebranded as ApCal Rock’N Ranch in Madera — is also planned.
It’s more like an “entertainment zone for the Fresno area,” Virk said in an e-mail.
“We are in the pre-planning stages,” he said.
Such a project would need various permits approved by the City of Fresno.
The work happening now is on curbs and gutters.
It’s too early to know which businesses would end up locating at the site, Virk said.
One name, however, has come up: Topgolf, the sports entertainment complex with a bar, restaurant and multi-story driving range. It was on Fresno’s Top 10 wishlist of stores and restaurants it wants to see come to town.
But it fell through.
“We were in talks and planning for 2 years but it didn’t pan out with them,” Virk said.
The closest thing the Fresno area has to a Topgolf is the Topgolf Swing Suite simulator lounge at Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino, with a full location in Sacramento. Fresno is home to several other golf simulators, including Par-Fect Day For Golf and The Fairway Lounge.
A 27-acre commercial development featuring stores, restaurants, a hotel, car wash and an entertainment venue is planned for the corner of Veterans Boulevard and Riverside Drive. BETHANY CLOUGH bclough@fresnobee.com
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The Fresno Bee
Bethany Clough covers restaurants and retail for The Fresno Bee. A reporter for more than 20 years, she now works to answer readers’ questions about business openings, closings and other business news. She has a degree in journalism from Syracuse University and her last name is pronounced Cluff.