After nearly two decades and three tries, the eight-story, 174-unit South Stadium housing project overlooking Chukchansi Park in downtown Fresno had its groundbreaking, with a ribbon-cutting planned for June 2028.

Seventy units will be reserved as affordable units.

Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer said Monday the project will greatly contribute to the vibrancy of downtown, bringing people to the Brewery District to help build momentum in the area.

“The project will bring hundreds of students and young adults into the heart of our brewery district,” Dyer said. “People who will walk to restaurants, support our local businesses, fill our coffee shops, and enjoy our nearby brewery district. They will attend baseball games and concerts at Chukchansi Park and become part of the daily life of downtown Fresno.”

Dyer also recognized developer Mehmet Noyan who, since first identifying the location in the late 2000s, created the vision for the apartment complex but died shortly before the groundbreaking.

“He was a visionary, he saw opportunity where others saw obstacles,” Dyer said.

Three Different Versions of South Stadium

The South Stadium apartments will occupy the parking lot directly adjacent to Chukchancsi Park, in a way that residents with the right room location will get views of baseball games and events.

Jeff Isentadt, president of JCI Development and project partner with Noyan, said the housing project would be unique will multiple programming options for residents that will be revealed in the coming months.

The project had its obstacles. Work began in earnest around 2015 to bring together funding and clear permitting requirements on the project. About seven years later, once the project had nearly met all state and local requirements, the Fresno City Council denied a fifth extension request by Noyan for what he told them at the time would the last one.

A disagreement between the council and Noyan’s business partner, Terance Frazier, played a large role in the project’s denial.

Fast forward a few years and after Noyan repurposed the project, South Stadium ran into another hurdle when State Center Community College District turned down an offer to develop the spot for student housing.

Noyan and Isentadt pivoted to private financing and turned it into the current project, which will include a mix of affordable and market rate units.

The city of Fresno also provided a five-year $8 million loan and an additional $3.7 million from the city’s local housing trust fund. Developers financed the project with a $69.6 million bond.

Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias said when he took office, he was warned about not getting involved with South Stadium.

“This is a third version of South Stadium with the third different group of developers, the third different vision for what it could be,” Arias said. “But we finally got it done and for that, I have quite a bit of appreciation for the mayor and for the developers, who have been open to changing, modifying, reassessing, and reapplying themselves to this work.”