{"id":401904,"date":"2026-07-17T06:11:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T06:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/401904\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T06:11:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T06:11:10","slug":"community-fundraiser-helps-finish-fresno-water-tower-cafe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/401904\/","title":{"rendered":"Community fundraiser helps finish Fresno Water Tower cafe"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s taken six years for Albee Sanchez to get to the point where Frida Caf\u00e9<\/a> will be opening its doors in its new home.<\/p>\n

He just needs a little help from the community to make it across the finish line.<\/p>\n

Sanchez, the owner of Frida Cafe, launched a fundraiser July 10 to put the last touches on the interior of the Fresno water tower before the cafe opens this fall.<\/p>\n

The Frida Cafe originally opened in Los Panchos Mexican Restaurant<\/a> in downtown Fresno in September 2020. Sanchez said that even towards the end of 2020, he was looking for a more permanent place to run his business.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s when the city suggested the water tower.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember thinking, \u2018what of it? I\u2019m looking for a space for a coffee shop,\u2019\u201d Sanchez said.<\/p>\n

The water tower was built in 1894, and has been under the city\u2019s purview since 1956. In the past few decades, tower maintenance has fallen low on the city\u2019s priority list, and in order for a business to operate within the water tower, it needed serious renovations, including a new PG&E transformer, updated electrical panels, exterior lighting and other fixes.<\/p>\n

The water tower was officially added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. In the past, the water tower has hosted the city\u2019s visitor\u2019s center, and Sanchez is glad that if nothing else the water tower has been restored.<\/p>\n

He pointed to other historic locations in Fresno, like the Kearney Museum or the Brix Mansion, which often give tours or host events to raise money for restoration, cleaning and maintenance work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt becomes really hard (for historic places) to keep the doors open, and that\u2019s what a coffee shop provides,\u201d Sanchez said.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s work on the water tower is done now, and the city council approved Frida Caf\u00e9\u2019s lease of the space in a unanimous vote on June 4. That means the interior design choices, like the color patterns, equipment and seating can start.<\/p>\n

To help make that happen, Sanchez started a fundraiser for $260,000.<\/p>\n

He doesn\u2019t expect to raise the entire amount, but every extra dollar will help the cafe start on a more even level. The money will go to paying employees a better starting wage, investing more in programming and opening with less debt.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s part of Sanchez\u2019s strategy to create an \u201cunrealistic\u201d level of customer service.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to provide a level of service that does not exist in coffee,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cThis coffee shop will be an experience people return for.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is also putting his own future on the line: Sanchez is taking out a mortgage on his condo.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this venture goes south, I lose my place,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cBut I believe in it that much.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also believes in Fresno as a whole. Sanchez, who was born at Community Regional Medical Center and graduated from Clovis West High School in 2007, is dedicated to changing the perspectives Fresno residents have about their own city.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis coffee shop is more than just an effort to make money for someone who doesn\u2019t live here,\u201d Sanchez said.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Amber Hair<\/a><\/p>\n

The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n

Amber Hair (they\/them) is the food and restaurants reporter and influencer. Amber has been in professional journalism for more than a decade, writing for outlets like the Orlando Sentinel, The Villages Daily Sun, the Pacific Coast Business Times and others. In their spare time, they enjoy going to concerts, reading and spending time with their cats.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s taken six years for Albee Sanchez to get to the point where Frida Caf\u00e9 will be opening…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390461,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-401904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401904\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}