City leaders, housing officials, and community partners break ground on Phase II of Avalon Commons in Northeast Fresno, marking the expansion of affordable housing with 45 new units set for completion by 2027. Photo by Dylan Gonzales
The first affordable housing complex in Northeast Fresno is one step closer to full completion as housing and city leaders officially broke ground on phase II of Avalon Commons at 7521 N. Chestnut Ave on Friday.
The second phase of the project will add 45 apartment homes, including one-, two- and three-bedroom units, bringing the total number to 105 units. Phase I was completed in December 2024 and brought 60 affordable units.
Phase II is expected to be completed in the second half of 2027.
Avalon Commons is equipped with a community room, where city District 6 Councilmember Nick Richardson recently held a neighborhood meeting, a playground, dog park and more.
The project represents Fresno’s ongoing mission to bring affordable housing to all parts of the city. Speakers called Northeast Fresno a “high-opportunity” area that is in close proximity to Clovis Unified schools, employment and essential services.
“Avalon Commons represents more than just a development. It’s a continued investment in people and opportunity and success for families,” said Fresno Housing CEO Tyrone Roderick Williams. “None of this happens in isolation and so we are intentional about our investment. It’s not just housing. It’s an investment in the community. It’s an investment in people, and we’re about both people and the places where they live.”
Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer noted the importance of equitable development across the city, saying that affordable housing should not be concentrated in one specific area of the city.
“Developments like this show our commitment to affordable housing growth across every part of our city,” Dyer said. “I cannot and will not be the mayor that concentrates affordable housing in any one neighborhood in our city. It is unfair to the people who occupy those homes, and it’s unfair to all of us within our city.”
The City of Fresno contributed $4.2 million toward the project, including $3 million from its local housing trust fund and $1.2 million from Community Development Block Grant funding.
Richardson discussed the role that community engagement played in shaping Avalon Commons, noting that the feedback from neighborhood meetings “slightly modified” some of the plans for Phase II.
“It would have been very easy just not to have a meeting and get home early and sit down and have a pizza and just cross your fingers and hope for the best over here. But that’s not what we’re trying to build in Fresno. That’s not what I’m going to build in Northeast Fresno,” Richardson said. “We’re less concerned with your social status and more concerned with social health, less concerned with your income, and more concerned with saying ‘welcome’.”
Fresno Housing City Board Chair Sharon Williams spoke on the life-changing impact of stable housing, drawing from personal experience to highlight the challenges families face without it.
“You want me to get a job? You want my mental health to be better? Housing is first,” Williams said. “You cannot think sound if your children are stuffed in one room.”