The Shops at Mid-State Plaza project on Clinton Avenue and Highway 99 should be completed by mid 2021. Photo by Breanna Hardy

A new 85,000-square-foot construction project is drawing attention at Clinton Avenue and Highway 99. The project is slated for a 2022 completion.

About 65,000 square feet has been built out so far on the project called the Shops at Mid-State Plaza. Yet to be built is 10,000 square feet of retail between Vallarta Supermarkets and the WSS shoe store.

At the north part of the building, Mehmet Noyan, president of the Noyan Frazier Properties, LLC, is trying to find a medical tenant — perhaps a clinic or urgent care facility.

“That area there, it’s a huge population base and it’s mostly Hispanic and it’s really underserved,” Noyan said.

Noyan says the retail at the center happened to be the most resistant to impacts from Covid. The Vallarta there has done well during shutdowns as have the Starbucks and Panda Express, which lend themselves to a take-out model.

Noyan says the shoe store, WSS, has a loyal customer base.

“We’re trying to be careful we’re not creating business that will be obsolete five years from now when the internet has devoured everything,” Noyan said.

Noyan said he can’t disclose his tenants, though he said there will be a couple of food establishments and an insurance company. Leases are signed but he’d rather wait for tenants to make announcements.

The Vallarta location there opened in 2016.