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This shopping center at busy Clovis intersection is adding some healthy business

The Trading Post shopping center at the southeast corner of Clovis and Herndon avenues has been a magnet for new tenants since renovation.

The Trading Post shopping center at Herndon and Clovis avenues is getting some new tenants that promise to keep you fit, healthy and calm.

Five new businesses have opened recently or will soon open in the center that has undergone a revitalization over the last few years. New landscaping, new owners and other improvements have helped attract anchor tenants including Sprouts, Ross and Tuesday Morning, along with local entrepreneurs whose businesses are focused on health and fitness.

Joining the center are: CycleBar Clovis, Beyond Pilates Studios Clovis, EZ Fit Meals, Blue Moon Yoga and Weight Watchers. CycleBar, a trendy indoor cycling franchise, opened in December last year and Beyond Pilates opened in June. The three other businesses will open in the coming days and weeks.

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The renovated Trading Post shopping center, southeast corner of Clovis and Herndon avenues.

Beyond Pilates Studios Clovis — Those looking for a different type of exercise routine may find Beyond Pilates appealing. Owner Brandi Marino describes her method as similar to circuit training, but without the boot camp mentality. The studio combines the elements of pilates and aerobic exercise to give you a calorie-burning workout.

Marino, who launched the concept in Dallas, opened the Clovis store after deciding to relocate to the area. Her clients say the 50-minute workout is both fun and intense. High-energy music and enthusiastic teachers help pump up the students through the circuit.

“It’s a mix of high intensity and small isometric movements…so cardio, plus all major muscle groups and then those small muscles you didn’t even know you had in places you didn’t know existed,” said Stephanie Cholakian, a studio client.

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One of the newer businesses in the renovated Trading Post shopping center is the Beyond Pilates Studio, where instructor Heather McCann, center, leads exercises, Friday morning, Aug. 17, 2018.

Blue Moon Yoga — Yoga students in Clovis are eagerly anticipating the opening of Blue Moon Yoga’s second location.

Britney Easton, co-owner of Blue Moon Yoga, said a growing demand for yoga classes triggered her decision to open in Clovis. The original studio is at 1144 E. Champlain Ave. in Fresno.

“We are maxed out in our classes, and we need more space,” she said. The new space can accommodate up to 60 people, 20 more than at the original location.

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Blue Moon Yoga is nearly complete in the Trading Post shopping center, southeast corner of Clovis and Herndon avenues.

The new studio will have hot yoga and inferno hot pilates. There will even be a class without the heat for first-timers who need to warm up to the idea. Easton said one of the reasons her business is doing so well is because people are looking for hot yoga classes.

“People like it because you get a lot more benefits, you get your heart rate up, your muscles are looser and you are less likely to injure yourself,” she said.

Easton expects to open by mid-September. The Clovis studio will also have the added bonus of providing students a cold-pressed raw juice bar. After class, students will be able to replenish and hydrate with organic, raw fresh juice and smoothies, Easton said.

EZ Fit Meals — Chris Garcia launched EZ Fit Meals in 2015 and has seen steady sales growth since then. The company makes prepared meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner using healthy options including lean proteins, vegetables and starches. Garcia already operates one store at 1512 E Champlain Dr. in Fresno.

His second store in the Trading Post shopping center is expected to open in about two weeks. The business is designed for people to pick up meals for the day or the week. You can also eat the meal there if you like. The meals range from $8 to $10.

“We are doing very well,” he said. “And we are even thinking about a third location, possibly in northwest Fresno.”

Leasing agent Lewis Smith of Retail California said also in the works is a Weight Watchers location. The sign recently went up.

The center is owned by two real estate developers from Southern California, Rich Development and Gryphon Capital. The partnership also developed the Marketplace at El Paseo shopping center at Herndon Avenue and Highway 99.

New options in the Valley to get in shape

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) — Fitness options continue to grow for the health-conscious in the Valley. It appears more people want to be in better shape for summer.

Music drives the workouts at Beyond Pilates Studios at Clovis and Herndon in Clovis.

The idea is to keep pace with the beat as you slide through your regimen. Studio owner Brandi Marino explained, “It’s a Pilates reformer.”

The Fresno State grad returned to the valley after opening studios in Texas and Oklahoma. She said, “If you see our slogan our Y is upside down. Actually the whole (word) “Beyond” is upside down. We take traditional workouts, and we turn them upside down, so boredom is not part of our vocabulary.”

The goal of each session is to burn 500 calories in 50 minutes.

Marino said, “So technique and tension is what we’re going for. The better the technique right, the more resistance you can add but you need to know how to feel it. Where you’re feeling it, and then you progress.”

Just around the corner, college athletes got in workouts at the Bod-e2 Shop. But sports performance specialist Isabella Quintero said the club is designed to serve the general public, “Pretty much anyone and everyone. Weight loss, strength training, maintenance training. People who just want to stay fit but need more guidance.”

The club offers an alternative to larger fitness centers which can be intimidating to some. Marino added, “They come in here mainly for guidance because they just how to work basic machines.”

Fitness choices in the shopping center also included Cycle Bar Clovis with Blue Moon Yoga also set to open soon.

The Trading Post celebrates Cinderella-style transformation

Walker & Dunlop, Inc., a commercial real estate services and finance firm, closed a loan of $23,985,000 for The Trading Post shopping center on Herndon and Clovis avenues, as announced on Oct. 26. The property’s redevelopment and transformation has led to full occupancy and more shoppers. (Photo by Ron Sundquist/Clovis Roundup)

Merely a few short years ago, the now bustling Trading Post shopping center on the southeast corner of Herndon and Clovis avenues was home to just a few eateries and small retailers barely holding on due to a lack of an anchor tenant and visibility.

With a Wal-Mart Supercenter opening up across the street in the all-new Clovis Crossing shopping center, previous grocery store anchor Save Mart moved to the east to occupy the former Ralphs space next door to GB3 on the northeast corner of Fowler and Herndon, leaving the Trading Post behind. Gradually, other shops within the center began moving as well or shutting their doors altogether.

Once again, as has frequently happened in neighboring Fresno, another old shopping center seemed to be left behind in the wake of a shiny new construction nearby. Luckily for Clovis, the Trading Post shopping center’s story had a better end. Rather than fizzle and become forgotten, the center was revived thanks to a near $24 million investment loan from Walker & Dunlop, Inc.

More than two years ago, Walker & Dunlop, one of the largest commercial real estate and finance companies in the United States, arranged a construction line of credit to fund the property’s acquisition, rehab, and tenant improvements.

At the time, the shopping center was only 20 percent occupied with two unanchored spaces. The borrower, Rich Development, has since renovated, expanded, and revitalized The Trading Post with national and regional credit tenants, achieving over 95 percent occupancy and an incredible increase in activity.

Today, The Trading Post is anchored by Sprouts Farmers Market and Ross, and other previously vacated spaces are home to Skechers, Tuesday Morning and Deli Delicious. In addition to re-occupying the spaces and giving the center a much-needed facelift, two new pads were also constructed and feature new businesses such as AAA insurance and Pieology Pizzeria.

City planning director Dwight Kroll credits the Trading Post success story to the city’s strong partnership with the developer, Rich Development, which also developed the El Paseo shopping center in northwest Fresno. The developer was willing to work with the city on the turnaround project, with the assistance of Walker & Dunlop, after working with the city to bring a Burlington Coat Factory to a long-term vacant space in Clovis along Shaw Avenue.

“When Rich was working on Burlington, they had a date that they had to get in there or they were going to lose the lease or business. And we said we would get it done and we got through plan check and site plan review, and we worked with them to get that retailer in there in a very short amount of time. So, hopefully, it would be a success for them and also a success for us in terms of how that center is populated,” Kroll said. “Based on that relationship we had with the developer, they started looking at this shopping center at Clovis and Herndon.”

Kroll said the city took some heat from the community on the deal at first since the plan for the improved Trading Post involved the removal of some trees that were blocking store visibility from Herndon Avenue. But now that the center is thriving, Kroll says the minor grief was worth the ultimate outcome and the newly planted trees and shrubs, he added, will grow nicely and not block any of the businesses.

“It is lively and the plant material is coming back up and it looks good,” Kroll said. “We went through some tension and we were willing to take some community grief to get that going but now we have a full shopping center and it is across the street from Wal-Mart, and actually the vitality between those two centers is amazing. Those uses are bringing in more customers; they are stealing customers from each other.”

While the partnership between the city and the developer was vital to the center’s success, Joseph Rich, General Partner of Rich Development, said the turnaround plan could not have been completed without the expertise of the Walker & Dunlop team.

“We have worked with [Walker & Dunlop managing director] Jeff Hudson and his team for over 30 years and are once again very pleased with their results,” Rich said.

The firm, which recently announced closing on the $23,985,000 loan for the 127,764-square foot center, was also happy with the end result.

“Our client has done an incredible job with this property and we are thrilled that we were given the opportunity to play a role in this success story,” Hudson said.

Clovis shopping center, ‘turnaround’ success story, secures $24M loan

A Clovis shopping center is the beneficiary of a $24 million permanent financing loan, announced one of the largest commercial finance companies in the US.

The 127,764 square-foot Trading Post Shopping Center at Clovis and Herndon avenues had sat mostly vacant for several years when Rich Development Enterprises, LLC, purchased the center in 2015 with a plan to rehab the property.

Two anchor spaces were vacant at the time, and only 20 percent of the center was occupied. Rich Development — which also developed the Marketplace at El Paseo shopping center in northwest Fresno — expanded and brought in national and regional tenants including Sprouts, Ross, Skechers, Tuesday Morning, Dollar Tree, Deli Delicious, Union Bank and Pieology Pizza.

Walker & Dunlop of Maryland originally arranged the construction line of credit for the property’s rehab, and has now converted the floating rate construction loan to a fixed rate, permanent loan without requiring updated third-party reports, said Jeff Hudson, managing director of Walker & Dunlop.

“Our client has done an incredible job with this property, and we are thrilled that we were given the opportunity to play a role in this success story,” Hudson added.

Located near Highway 168, the Trading Post is situated in one of the newest retail growth corridors in the area, according to a news release.

“The financial experience and expertise of Jeff and the entire Walker & Dunlop team were invaluable to our turnaround plan,” said Joseph Rich, general partner of Rich Development, in a statement. “We have worked with Jeff Hudson and his team for over thirty years and are once again very pleased with their results.”

Walker & Dunlop has closed 59 retail loans in the first half of 2017 — nearly double the number of retail transaction in the first half of last year.