Vagabond Lofts In Downtown Fresno a Revitalization Pioneer

In May 2004 with the assistance of the Inner Agency Housing Task Force for the City of Fresno,a boarded up and dilapidated property that was so neglected that it was known by skateboarders around the country for its abandoned pool The Vagabond pool had been neglected for so long that it gained a reputation as an underground skateboarding mecca.

New Life For Downtown Fresno

Pyramid A-One acquired the blighted and boarded up property at 1807 Broadway where Vagabond Motel once stood. The Planning and Development Department, working with the Fresno Redevelopment Agency, Housing Authorities of the City and County of Fresno and other City departments, facilitated a public-private venture that had never been attempted in Downtown Fresno before. Granville Homes teamed with Pyramid-A-One to spend 4.2 million dollars to build two separate buildings, each two stories tall. Consisting of 38 lofts for residential lease and retail space on the ground floor on Broadway, the project offered the first new, mixed-use development in Downtown Fresno in more than fifty years.

Originally there was controversy over the Vagabond project. Business owners and employees in the neighborhood around the Vagabond project voiced concern over parking shortages and possible crime the project might bring. Others objected to spending millions of dollars on a single project for revitalization instead of spreading the funding out to more, smaller projects.

In 2004 Vagabond Lofts opened to great fanfare. Local politicians supported the project and the effect it might have on the Downtown Fresno area. Nobody was really sure if anyone would live there. There was not a lot of retail businesses in the neighborhood, but people did move in.

Artists, young people and young professionals rented lofts at Vagabond. It was such a success that another loft project was developed to share the parking lot with Vagabond, the H Street Lofts were completed in 2008. H Street Lofts represented a shift in the development style. Vagabond Lofts were austere, fairly simple design without much structural interest.

H Street Lofts were painted red and had more flare than Vagabond. With the success of Vagabond, developers were willing to try something different and spend a little more on construction costs because they knew that people were interested in living in the neighborhood.

Seven years later, time has proven that Vagabond Lofts was the right way to go. H Street Lofts has been successful, enjoying 95 percent occupancy most of the time. In addition to H Street lofts, Iron Bird Lofts a much larger loft project was developed a block away from Vagabond Lofts. Iron Bird Lofts includes many retail locations on the ground floor, including a successful cafe called Iron Bird Cafe.

Towards the end of the summer of 2011, Fulton Village will open in the neighborhood. Fulton Village is a mixed use development that includes some live-work units and retail space on the ground floor. Not all of the projects have been new construction, some projects have utilized existing buildings. Broadway Lofts is an example of re-use. GV Urban converted an old warehouse to studios at Broadway Lofts. Closer to Downtown, but within five blocks of Vagabond Lofts, Mayflower Lofts will be completed by the end of 2011. Mayflower lofts is an exciting project because it is breathing new life into an old brick building. With a 'living-wall' and solar energy, Mayflower Lofts will be an example of sustainable redevelopment.

The Cottages at 330 N. Van Ness is another project that will be completed in October of 2011. The Cottages represents another direction for GV Urban, the developer who built Vagabond Lofts, and Iron Bird Lofts. The Cottages are more like free standing houses. Some units have private backyards and all units have their own garage.

Like GV Urban's other recent projects in Downtown Fresno, The Cottages have been built with green technologies like 2X6 framing, dual pane windows, and tank-less water heaters. Two by six framing provides 50 percent more space for insulation in the walls. GV Urban also uses blown-in insulation instead of mat fiber insulation. The president of the company reported in a recent community meeting, that the power bill for a family in one of the new Downtown Projects should run about $30-$50 a month.

With many residential projects in Downtown Fresno, the cost of renting a loft or apartment in Downtown Fresno remains competitive, particularly when you consider that almost all of the units are gated. In central Fresno, where most of the mid-priced apartments are found, you can expect to pay between $.85 and $.90 cents per square foot.

Most lofts or apartments in Downtown Fresno rent for about $.90 per square foot. In fact there is very little variance between the units. The most expensive lofts cost about $.95 per square foot. You can get either a six month lease or a 12 month lease, the 12 month lease will get you a place for about $.90 per square foot.

The mid-priced apartments are not going to be gated, or if there is a gate it will probably not work most of the time. As for apartment complexes in this price range, you will not find hardwood floors, granite counter tops, or premium cabinets and fixtures. You definitely will not find an open floor plan with high ceilings and an open floor plan.

Other than Downtown Fresno, you will not find an apartment, loft or condo with the features described above. To find a rental with those amenities you have to go to north east Fresno. Those neighborhoods are nearly 20 miles away from Downtown Fresno. The commute is easily 40 minutes one way in the morning.

An apartment or condo, you can not find a loft in that neighborhood, costs about $1.12 per square foot. The difference adds up over time. With a 1,000 square foot loft you would pay $200 more per month in north east Fresno than you would for a comparable place in Downtown Fresno. Over the lifetime of a twelve month lease that is $2,400.00, not counting the cost of fuel for your vehicle to drive back and forth to work if you worked in Downtown Fresno.

With an organic, whole food cafe on the ground floor and easy access to government offices, many young professionals call Vagabond Lofts home. Walking distance to two popular cafes and a popular live music venue, the location is convenient because residents can easily walk to places they need the most. These professionals have chosen the urban lifestyle over suburbia. Sometimes the lofts are so popular that there is a waiting list to lease a unit. Some people want a loft so much that they accept a smaller unit than they originally wanted, just so they do not miss an opportunity live in the neighborhood.

Vagabond Lofts has proven to be the exact type of development that facilitates revitalization. Projects like Vagabond, coupled with re-use projects that remodel existing buildings can breath new life to neglected neighborhoods. Municipalities need to support more projects like the Vagabond Lofts project, in their urban centers to help control and minimize urban sprawl.