FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – City leaders gathered in downtown Fresno on Thursday for the grand reopening of Hotel Fresno.
The building where the historic hotel stood had sat empty for more than 40 years at Broadway and H Streets.
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer joined other city leaders for the ceremony at the 112-year-old building that had been retrofitted for a mixed-use of retail space and housing.
Dyer says it “marks a major milestone for our city.”
City engineers and workers had spent the last five years bringing the building up to city code by reinforcing pillers to be structurally sound and meet today’s earthquake standards.
It also adds 10,000 square feet of retail space that will “breathe new life into our downtown,” according to Mayor Dyer.
The project cost the City of Fresno a total of $41 million dollars, with two million from taxpayer dollars.
Hotel Fresno was converted to bring 81 units of “much-needed” workforce housing.
Rent at the building ranges from $500 dollars to market value depending on size of the space.
