05-04-2025
Avenue 12 in Madera is getting new businesses. Here's what they're building
Madera Ranchos is getting its first Starbucks.
The Madera County community is also getting a new gas station with a convenience store and car wash, electric vehicle charging stations and an 11,160-square-foot Camarena Health medical facility.
The new businesses are already under construction on a 5-acre space at the intersection of Avenue 12 and Jason Court across the street from the State Foods Supermarket.
The developer, Fresno-based Legacy Realty and Development, said it does not yet have an expected completion date for construction. Madera County District 1 Supervisor Jordan Wamhoff said work is moving quickly.
'The structure for the Starbucks is now going vertical,' he said in an email to The Bee. 'The Starbucks will be the first building completed and Camarena will be the second. The developer is still looking for an operator for a gas station/convenience store/car wash.'
The coffee shop could open by fall 2025, a Starbucks spokesperson told The Bee.
The new development will provide Madera Ranchos residents with a second healthcare option in their immediate vicinity. It also signals the increased commercialization of Avenue 12, the community's main road and a major thoroughfare for those traveling between Highways 41 and 99.
The construction is happening as the county is also moving forward with major improvements to Avenue 12 near the Riverstone community, and after Madera Ranchos residents raised concerns that the development would increase traffic in the surrounding area.
'To address this, myself and the county have conditioned this developer to realign Jason Court with Fernwood (Drive) and install a four-way signal light, at their cost, prior to the development receiving a certificate of occupancy for any of the buildings,' Wamhoff said.
Devin Tienken, a development manager with Legacy, told The Bee that the traffic control conditions will improve the quality of life in Madera Ranchos.
'We are working to then improve the private road (Jason Court) — even beyond our development — that extends for those neighbors,' Tienken said. 'So, it's my hope that they will also receive some benefit there, in addition to all the services local to them.'
The 2,364-square-foot Starbucks will have a drive-thru and 23 parking stalls, four of which will be electric vehicle charging stations, according to plans submitted to the county.
The Starbucks is expected to generate about 15 jobs and serve about 500 customers daily.
The gas station pumps, convenience store and car wash will cover a total of more than 8,000 square feet. There will be six gas pumps that each service two cars at a time. The gas station section of the development will offer a total of 23 parking stalls, with four being electric vehicle spaces. (In Madera County, a space at a fuel pump counts as 1/2 of a parking space.)
The gas station is expected to serve more than 660 customers per day and will employ three people.
Camarena Health said in a statement that its 11,160-square-foot facility in the development will generate about 50 full-time jobs. Camarena services it will offer include: medical, dental, mild-to-moderate behavioral health, health education and insurance enrollment services.
'This new health center will benefit the residents of the Madera Ranchos along with other residents of South East Madera County by providing accessible healthcare services in the community where they live,' Camarena Health said in its statement.
Camarena Health expects the facility to open in spring 2026 and will offer 115 parking spaces, with 25 being designated for electric vehicles.
Besides realigning Jason Court and adding a four-way light signal, the development is designed so that drivers can only exit the center onto Jason Court on a right turn. Drivers will also only be able to exit onto Avenue 12 or enter from Avenue 12 on a right turn.
According to a traffic study, 'the dominant local-serving retail use of the project will improve retail destination proximity, shorten trips, and reduce vehicular miles traveled.'
The study, submitted to the county, found that the Starbucks and gas station are designed to serve locals and people who are passing through the Madera Ranchos, and are not regional destinations.
'Furthermore, given the nature of the existing development in Madera Ranchos, it is likely that many medical office trips are long trips, and that the additional opportunity of a medical office nearby is expected to reduce (vehicular miles traveled) rather than increase (them).'
