Riverstone broke ground on Madera retail space in 2019. Why hasn’t it built out?
Apartments above shops, a hotel and a main plaza with space for entertainment.
All of that and more are in the conceptual plans for Riverwalk, the 1 million-square-foot mixed-use space being developed as part of the master-planned Riverstone community in Madera County. Riverstone broke ground on its ambitious commercial plans in 2019, when there were far fewer rooftops in the county’s rising Highway 41 neighborhoods.
But today, few of the structures planned for Riverwalk have been constructed and filled with businesses.
What’s taking so long?
Timothy Jones, Riverstone’s developer, described numerous factors impacting retail that have contributed to the slow pace of Riverwalk’s development, among them COVID-19 and stringent, fluctuating market requirements.
“It’s not enough to say, ‘If you build it, they will come,’” Jones told The Fresno Bee about retail. “Things have to fit together like hand and glove.”
Riverstone is not alone in the quest to bring more storefronts and restaurants to the Rio Mesa area. Located along Highway 41 in the southeastern part of Madera County, the area is also home to the Tesoro Viejo master-planned community and includes Valley Children’s Hospital.
Both of those entities have their own undeveloped commercial ambitions for Rio Mesa, which has been planned for 30,000 homes and 100,000 residents — Madera County’s next city, some area residents have called it.
Quickened Pace?
In fact, Riverstone’s Riverwalk is the oldest and furthest along of the three. But the emptiness of its large dirt lot set aside for future businesses — long tagged with a big sign announcing available commercial space — is the most visible from Highway 41.
Jones told The Bee that a quickened development pace is on the horizon for Riverwalk now that it has attracted an anchor grocery store. Sacramento-based Raley’s is expected to open a 40,000-square-foot market in the shopping center by 2027 as part of Riverwalk’s 61,000-square-foot expansion announced a few weeks ago.
And these developments are happening as Madera County is seeing the fastest housing growth of all counties in the state, according to state data.
Why Riverstone retail has taken so long
Generally, companies are looking for a customer base when they are considering moving into a new location, said Kristina Gallagher, executive director of Madera County’s Economic Development Commission.
“What are the statistics? What’s the population looking like? Is Madera growing? What’s the number of rooftops?” she said.
They’re also looking at competition and daily vehicle trips on adjacent roads, said Jones.
For Riverstone’s Riverwalk, the numbers that businesses required fluctuated after 2019, he said.
The developer said the first market study for a Riverwalk grocery store was done before the COVID-19 pandemic and the rise of grocery delivery services.
“They said they needed 7,000 rooftops,” he said. “Then, COVID and food delivery came, and they moderated that number up even more.”
Some Riverstone tenants
Today, Riverwalk’s first two buildings — one-story structures on the commercial development’s northwest corner — are fully-leased and feature multiple dining options and other stores that opened in more recent years. Previously, some spaces sat empty in those buildings.
Jones said Riverstone is being careful by building only when it has the necessary commitments from businesses. He said the two initial structures were not built until they had those commitments, but some businesses pulled out before and during the pandemic.
“Being a responsible developer means weighing risk and developing when demand is there,” said Jones. “We will take our time if that’s the right thing to do from a risk standpoint.”
He pointed to the Park Crossing Shopping Center, which hosts the Trader Joe’s in north Fresno, as an example of developing when the time is right.
“That property sat vacant for more than 30 years because it didn’t make sense to develop it until 10-15 years ago,” he said.
Though he said reaching a certain number of homes and highway trips facilitates development, “the fact of the matter is population has to increase.”
“Until you reach a critical mass, they (businesses) just don’t do it,” Jones said.
Rio Mesa growth, accelerated development
Jones said the Riverstone area has reached the tipping point that will spur accelerated commercial development in the Riverwalk shopping center.
The data seem to agree.
A May report by California’s Department of Finance showed Madera County’s housing growth rate of 2.7% from 2024-2025 was the highest of all counties in the state.
Much of that growth has happened in the southeast Madera County communities of Riverstone, Tesoro Viejo and The Preserve. In total, the county has issued 4,744 building permits in these neighborhoods since 2016.
And, according to a Madera County growth forecast published last month, the Rio Mesa area will be the site of 52% of new housing constructed in the county over the next 25 years.
“We’re the number one fastest-growing county in terms of housing units,” said Gallagher, the economic development commission director. “Businesses are looking at that.”
She said planning is much smoother for businesses looking to move into master-planned communities because they already have the necessary infrastructure in place.
“Now that there’s an anchor,” Gallagher said, referring to the coming Raley’s supermarket, “it’s going to be a lot easier to pull different, smaller types of businesses.... These types of businesses, they’re looking at, ‘How well do we fit within the environment or within the community?’ ”
Jones said he already has letters of intent for 15,000 of the 20,000 square feet of commercial space that will be built around the Raley’s.
“We’ve reached a tipping point,” he said about development at Riverstone’s Riverwalk, “and we anticipate to proceed now at an accelerated rate.”
