One of downtown Fresno’s most visible historic buildings that’s been family-owned and operated for decades has been listed for sale at $8.1 million.
The T.W. Patterson building was listed in March on the commercial real estate website LoopNet as “one of Fresno’s most recognizable and strategically positioned offerings.” The building, located at the intersection of Tulare and Fulton streets, stands eight stories tall and is more than 100 years old.
Unlike in some of the neighboring old buildings along the Fulton corridor, most of the business space in the Patterson building is being leased out to tenants. The 97,354-square-foot building has been well-maintained by the Roush family since Rick Roush, a Fresno financial adviser, bought it in 1994.
“That continuity matters, both in terms of the occupancy and in terms of the maintenance,” said Elliott Balch, president of the Downtown Fresno Partnership, which is located in the Patterson building.
The Roush family on Wednesday did not respond to a request for comment about the intent to sell the Patterson building.
An interior photograph of the historic T. W. Patterson building, a landmark in downtown Fresno, photographed Wednesday, April 1, 2026 in Fresno. The building has been listed for sale online at $8.1 million. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com Fresno’s historic T.W. Patterson building was an air conditioning pioneer in U.S.
The Patterson building was completed in 1923 by R.F. Felchlin & Co., the same builder behind the Hotel Californian building on Van Ness Avenue and Kern Street and several other historic structures in the area.
It was commissioned and given its name by the children of T.W. Patterson after his passing, according to a report on downtown Fresno’s historic buildings. T.W. Patterson had been a well-known Fresno banker, the report says. The building was leased to The Wonder department store for 25 years and has hosted many other well-nown businesses.
“The Patterson building is also the first (multi-story) building in the U.S. to have air conditioning,” said Balch, of the Downtown Fresno Partnership.
Balch said the building today is home to various types of businesses, including law firms, consultants and nonprofits. The Roush family operates it own investment advisory firm in the Patterson building, he said.
The building’s historic designation allows its owners to qualify for tax incentives through the California Mills Act, which provides property tax reductions if they commit to maintaining official historic properties.
An entryway along Tulare Street for the historic T. W. Patterson building, a landmark in downtown Fresno, shown Wednesday, April 1, 2026. The building has been listed for sale online at $8.1 million. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com T.W. Patterson building owner tried to put ‘my money where my heart was’
Rick Roush, the financial adviser who bought the building in 1994, previously told The Bee he made the purchase as part of the effort to help downtown Fresno.
He and his partners had been working on bringing the Grizzlies baseball team to Fresno when Roush bought the building. At the time, the building required a lot of maintenance — including roof repairs and new paint — and it had few tenants.
“I got behind Grizzly Stadium and tried to get behind renovation of downtown by putting my money where my heart was,” Roush told The Bee in 2018.
Even after giving up his stake in the Grizzlies, Roush kept investing in the Patterson building, The Bee reported.
Today, 67% of the tenant space in the Patterson building is leased out, according to its online for-sale listing.
“It takes a lot of work to maintain any building, especially a historic one,” said Balch. “The Roush family in particular has been just a model, a paragon for that attentiveness.”
“I’m hopeful that somebody with the same level of dedication and commitment becomes the new owner,” Balch added.
The historic T. W. Patterson building, a landmark in downtown Fresno, has been listed for sale online at $8.1 million. The eight-story building was built in 1923. Photographed Wednesday, April 1, 2026 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com 
The historic T. W. Patterson building, center right, a landmark in downtown Fresno, has been listed for sale online at $8.1 million. Photographed Wednesday, April 1, 2026 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com 
The historic T. W. Patterson building, a landmark in downtown Fresno, has been listed for sale online at $8.1 million. The eight-story building was built in 1923. Photographed Wednesday, April 1, 2026 in Fresno. ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com
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Erik is a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism, where he helped launch an effort to better meet the news needs of Spanish-speaking immigrants. Before that, he served as editor-in-chief of his community college student newspaper, Riverside City College Viewpoints, where he covered the impacts of the Salton Sea’s decline on its adjacent farm worker communities in the Southern California desert. Erik’s work is supported through the California Local News Fellowship program.