Fulton Street renovations continue in 2018

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Developers Terance Frazier and Mehmet Noyan took turns at the controls, demolishing the old building at Fulton and Inyo Streets, making way for their new development.

"Its 54 units of apartments, four levels, the ground floor, there's about 10,000 square feet of office retail that will wrap around Fulton and Inyo. The majority of the units will have a view into the baseball park," said Developer Mehmet Noyan.

Noyan and Frazier promised to start the project once the Fulton Mall was turned back into Fulton Street.

"It's the reason we are standing here without the street going in I don't think we would have committed our funds our energy to do this," said Mehmet.

The $18 million project is the biggest to get going, but other projects aimed at bringing nightlife to the mall are in the works.

"Once people see how nightlife works then everyone else wants to jump on board," said Craig Scharton.

The sculpture will be the centerpiece of an outdoor dining experience here on Fulton Street, known as Renoir Corner, they expect food and beverages served on the sidewalk and at night.

Two restaurants, Chicken Shack and Toshiko's Sushi and Ramen will open near the sculpture by Auguste Renoir, and down the street, the existing Los Panchos restaurant is planning outdoor sidewalk dining.

Scharton notes the effort to get the big empty buildings on this street occupied will take some time.

"My focus for the next year or so is to focus on the smaller storefronts that we can get fixed up for a lot less money, get the foot Traffic, the entertainment, dining going and then you can sort of build up the economic case for spending $20 million on those big guys," said Scharton.

Right now, this is the biggest project to get going. The goal is to have the apartments and businesses available in less than two years.

"But what I'm doing here I'm gonna continue with it and keep pushing forward because we believe in downtown," said Frazier.