![\"fresno](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Del-Webb-fresno-county.png\")
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Downtown Fresno is seen at sunset, with the 21-story, black-and-white County Plaza building, commonly known as the Del Webb building, at right. Fresno County\u2019s facilities master plan calls for eventually demolishing the building after county departments are relocated. Photo courtesy of Gensler<\/p>\n
One of Downtown Fresno\u2019s most recognizable towers could eventually come down under a $426.5 million plan to overhaul Fresno County\u2019s aging facilities.<\/p>\n
The Fresno County Board of Supervisors accepted a 10-year facilities master plan Tuesday that calls for eventually demolishing the County Plaza building, commonly known as the Del Webb building, after relocating the county departments that occupy it.<\/p>\n
The 21-story tower was completed in 1964 as the Del Webb Fresno Center, a hotel and office complex developed by Fresno-born Del Webb, according to the Downtown Fresno Partnership.<\/p>\n
Gensler, the San Francisco-based architecture, design and planning firm that developed the county\u2019s facilities plan, identified County Plaza as an underperforming property with the most deferred maintenance in the county\u2019s downtown portfolio and said it would be too costly to renovate. <\/p>\n
The recommendation is part of a broader plan to address years of deferred maintenance and reorganize county operations while maintaining Downtown Fresno as the county\u2019s civic and administrative center.<\/p>\n
Ed Hill, the county\u2019s chief operating officer, said the plan is intended to guide investments over the long term.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to make sure that it\u2019s clear that it\u2019s understood this is not a short fix but a long-term plan,\u201d Hill told the board.<\/p>\n
The Del Webb building would not disappear immediately. Under the proposed implementation schedule, the county would use it as temporary \u201cswing space\u201d while the Hall of Records and Crocker Building undergo renovations. Departments would move out in phases before the tower is demolished and the property disposed of. <\/p>\n
The presentation says the Plaza, Hall of Records and Crocker buildings collectively have more than $100 million in deferred maintenance. Gensler described County Plaza specifically as the downtown building with the most deferred maintenance. <\/p>\n
The plan also calls for new purpose-built facilities for the Sheriff\u2019s Office and emergency services dispatch at the Juvenile Justice Center, as well as a new public works building at the Fresno Fairgrounds.<\/p>\n
The Hall of Records, where the Board of Supervisors is located, the Crocker Building and the recently acquired 650 O Street and 705 P Street properties would be renovated.<\/p>\n
The preferred option has an estimated cost of $426.5 million, including $221.7 million for new construction, $178.6 million for major renovations, $23.5 million for demolition and $2.6 million for building acquisition. <\/p>\n
Gensler representatives said the county does not necessarily need more space but needs to use its existing space more effectively.<\/p>\n
Supervisors noted the size of the proposed investment and said implementing it would take years.<\/p>\n
Supervisor Nathan Magsig said the county is facing \u201chundreds of millions of dollars in investment\u201d that \u201ccan\u2019t be done overnight,\u201d but added that the plan provides needed direction for maintaining county services.<\/p>\n
Supervisors also questioned whether the Del Webb building could be sold rather than demolished. Gensler representatives said a sale would likely require the county to address the building\u2019s substantial deferred maintenance.<\/p>\n
The county\u2019s implementation plan anticipates roughly four to five years of construction and renovation, although officials described the facilities plan as a \u201cliving document\u201d that could change with economic conditions, funding opportunities and the real estate market.<\/p>\n
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