The money comes from the Fresno\u2019s revolving loan fund<\/a> for downtown and Chinatown housing developers, launched last year with $20 million from the state. The money is intended to fill the financing gaps housing builders have faced in downtown Fresno, where rent prices often do not justify construction costs.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are dollars from the state of California that Mayor (Jerry) Dyer advocated to get for this specific purpose,\u201d Phil Skei, assistant director for the city\u2019s Planning and Development department, said during Thursday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n Lance Kashian president Sal Gonzales did not respond to The Bee\u2019s request for comment .<\/p>\n Uptown is just one of several downtown apartment projects announced years ago that has yet to produce one unit and has applied for a gap financing loan from the city. The council on Thursday also awarded $8 million<\/a> from the loan fund to a 174-unit mixed-income project next to Chukchansi Park. The Uptown project will be focused on market-rate units, which Dyer says downtown Fresno needs more of for the area to be successfully revitalized.<\/p>\n Housing has been planned for the Uptown site since 2015, when Fresno-area businessman Mark Astone proposed building apartments there on city-owned land. Lance Kashian took over Astone\u2019s development agreement<\/a> with the city in 2019, but has also been unable to fully fund the project, according to an update last yea<\/a>r to the City Council.<\/p>\n The city had sent the firm a notice of default in October 2024 for failing to meet performance benchmarks, but city leaders decided not to move to take the Uptown site back.<\/p>\n Despite not having broken ground on the project, Gonzales\u2019 presentation to the council last year showed Uptown had been approved for various building-related permits.<\/p>\n But the presentation also showed that the project\u2019s cost per unit came out to $546,241. The developer still had a $9 million financing gap on the $29 million project, the presentation showed.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the city is in a position to assist us with a gap loan, we\u2019ll hit the capital markets,\u201d Gonzales told the council in August. \u201cWe\u2019ve already started talking to brokers and to lenders.\u201d<\/p>\n Downtown Councilmember Miguel Arias told The Bee in December that the city loan to the Uptown project would be the \u201clast chance\u201d for the project.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the financing isn\u2019t there from the developers and the urgency to build isn\u2019t there, then the projects aren\u2019t going to get built,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n This story was originally published March 2, 2026 at 3:20 PM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n The Uptown Apartments project is planned for the intersection of Van Ness Avenue and Stanislaus Street in downtown Fresno. COURTESY OF CITY OF FRESNO CITY OF FRESNO Fresno developer has permits for Uptown, needed gap financing<\/p>\n
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