Important space in downtown Fresno’s core has gone up for sale or lease this year, but one longtime area advocate and businessman says many of the listed prices — which are in the multi-millions — are likely too high to succeed in the current market.

John Ostlund, owner of One Putt Broadcasting on Fulton Street, says property owners are now setting prices that bet on revitalization that the area has been waiting decades for. He said a continued lack of parking space and vacancies also pose a problem.

“Most of the stuff I see, they want tomorrow’s price today, and they still haven’t resolved some of the challenges,” said Ostlund, who has now worked in downtown for half a century.

Mayor Jerry Dyer says the prices property owners are asking reflect the value added by investments developers and the city have made in recent years. The city over the past three years has been using $250 million awarded by the state to upgrade downtown’s infrastructure and loan money to builders in hopes of spurring a downtown population boom.

Progress became more apparent this year as construction began on a long-stalled Fulton Street apartment project and also two new downtown parking structures meant to accommodate new housing primarily. But various area buildings that have been listed online repeatedly or for an extended period have yet to sell or lease.

That includes the nine-story former Radisson hotel and the former Club One Casino on Van Ness Avenue. The historic T.W. Patterson building on Fulton Street also was momentarily listed for sale earlier this year.

Currently, four buildings are listed on Fulton Street — mostly at the intersection with Mariposa Street.

“That’s where the potential is,” Ostlund said. “Downtown needs to fill that spot.”

A business inside the Kress Building is not open on Fulton Street in downtown Fresno. Many buildings in the downtown area are available for sale or lease and a property owner says the market there is really good. But a lot of work is needed: more parking, more engagement between the city and businesses that could open locations in those spaces. A business inside the Kress Building is not open on Fulton Street in downtown Fresno. Many buildings in the downtown area are available for sale or lease and a property owner says the market there is really good. But a lot of work is needed: more parking, more engagement between the city and businesses that could open locations in those spaces. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com New garages not enough for downtown Fresno?

Parking has been difficult this year in downtown Fresno as the city has taken over parking operations and as construction blocked spaces in front of small businesses.

Apart from building prices, parking is also a main issue for selling commercial space on the Fulton Street corridor, Ostlund said.

New parking the city is building downtown includes more than 600 spaces at Tuolumne and Broadway streets, and more than 900 at H and Inyo Streets. But those garages don’t do much for potential shopping at Fulton and Mariposa streets, Ostlund said.

Elliott Balch, president of the Downtown Fresno Partnership, said the new operating system in the adjacent underground parking garage also is not the best for business. It now requires drivers to prepay for the time they plan to spend there.

“If you’re going to be somewhere, and you’re not sure how long, it’s just less easy to refer people to that structure,” he said.

Dyer acknowledged there are not yet enough parking spaces, but said more will be built as the arrival of downtown’s promised high-speed rail station nears.

“We are making our way toward where we need to be,” the mayor said.

Boarded up windows are shown on the former Newberry's department store on Fulton Street in downtown Fresno. Many buildings in the downtown area are available for sale or lease and a property owner says the market there is really good. But a lot of work is needed: more parking, more engagement between the city and businesses that could open locations in those spaces. Boarded up windows are shown on the former Newberry’s department store on Fulton Street in downtown Fresno. Many buildings in the downtown area are available for sale or lease and a property owner says the market there is really good. But a lot of work is needed: more parking, more engagement between the city and businesses that could open locations in those spaces. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com How to fill Fresno’s Fulton Street with business?

Balch said retail developments thrive when tenants work together to drive customer traffic. Coordination can be difficult downtown because different spaces have different owners, he said. Now, the downtown partnership is trying to collaborate “at a block scale.”

The area this year has been hit with multiple restaurant closures, a problem that is not unique to downtown Fresno. But at least one owner of a shuttered restaurant — Des Washington of the Take 3 x Grumpy Burger Lady’s — mentioned a lack of support from the downtown partnership when her restaurant closed in January.

Balch said the partnership has tried to support businesses with social media promotion, but added that the organization is not as well-resourced as similar districts in major metropolitan areas.

“I recognize more could and should be done,” he said, “but there should be more resources to be able to do more. We work within the reality of the resources that are available.”

Ostlund said the city needs to help fill the empty space near the Chicken Shack restaurant on Fulton and Mariposa streets. He called for Dyer to negotiate with restaurants, perhaps Me-n-Ed’s, to open up a shop there.

Dyer said he talks to business owners often about coming downtown and has “recruited a significant number of restaurants” to the area. But the mayor added that some have told him they need to see thousands of new rooftops downtown before they decide to move there.

“Infrastructure is needed to support housing, housing is needed to support business,” Dyer said. “Once the businesses open, you’re going to see more and more people who are shopping downtown and eating downtown — because they live there.”

The building that currently houses The Chicken Shack restaurant stands at Renoir Corner on downtown Fresno's Fulton Street where Pierre-Auguste Renoir's famous washer woman sculpture is also located. Many buildings in the downtown area are available for sale or lease and a property owner says the market there is really good. But a lot of work is needed: more parking, more engagement between the city and businesses that could open locations in those spaces. The building that currently houses The Chicken Shack restaurant stands at Renoir Corner on downtown Fresno’s Fulton Street where Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s famous washer woman sculpture is also located. Many buildings in the downtown area are available for sale or lease and a property owner says the market there is really good. But a lot of work is needed: more parking, more engagement between the city and businesses that could open locations in those spaces. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com Pedestrians walk past B-Maxx on Fulton Street in downtown Fresno. Many buildings in the downtown area are available for sale or lease and a property owner says the market there is really good. But a lot of work is needed: more parking, more engagement between the city and businesses that could open locations in those spaces. Pedestrians walk past B-Maxx on Fulton Street in downtown Fresno. Many buildings in the downtown area are available for sale or lease and a property owner says the market there is really good. But a lot of work is needed: more parking, more engagement between the city and businesses that could open locations in those spaces. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com A cyclist rides by the RH Christian Center on Fulton Street in downtown Fresno. Many buildings in the downtown area are available for sale or lease and a property owner says the market there is really good. But a lot of work is needed: more parking, more engagement between the city and businesses that could open locations in those spaces. A cyclist rides by the RH Christian Center on Fulton Street in downtown Fresno. Many buildings in the downtown area are available for sale or lease and a property owner says the market there is really good. But a lot of work is needed: more parking, more engagement between the city and businesses that could open locations in those spaces. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com

This story was originally published September 23, 2026 at 2:19 PM.

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Erik Galicia

The Fresno Bee

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.