A decade-long dispute over parking in downtown Fresno that boiled over into a lawsuit could go before a jury on Oct. 12.

Real estate developer Cliff Tutelian alleges in his lawsuit against the city and Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias that the city reneged on a deal to give him 100 free parking spots when the city under then-Mayor Ashley Swearengin wanted a major construction firm to move downtown.

And with the city now building a massive parking garage at the site — a garage that Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer said is key to downtown revitalization — Tutelian has lost access altogether, albeit temporarily, to those spots.

The longtime Fresno commercial builder said losing those parking spaces will likely cost him a key tenant, Tutor Perini, at the Grand 1401. If Tutor Perini leaves, the losses could exceed $7 million, Tutelian said in court documents.

The lawsuit comes after Tutelian’s plans to develop the downtown block containing the former CVS building and the parking lot adjacent to The Business Journal’s “Fresno” Stamp mural building fell apart and ultimately went to the Fresno Housing Authority.

Neither city of Fresno officials nor attorneys for Tutelian responded to requests for comment.

In addition to the Grand 1401, Tutelian’s projects include Park Place, Villagio Shopping Center, and Civic Center Square.

Personal Vendetta Alleged

Tutelian in his legal statement says Arias torpedoed the project out of a personal vendetta. For his part, Arias said in city council meetings at the time that Tutelian had not met the terms of the agreement, including getting approvals from property owners and necessary bank financing. Councilmembers Esmeralda Soria, Nelson Esparza, and Tyler Maxwell sided with Arias at the time.

Additionally, state law changed during the project timeline making it illegal to execute exclusive deals with property owners such as the one touted by Tutelian.

Tutelian, however, said it was the city that violated the terms of the agreement.

“If the city proceeds with the planned full closure of (the parking lot), Tutor Perini will vacate The Grand… resulting in damages in net operating income in excess of $543,000.00 annually, loss of tenancy, prolonged vacancy, and permanent diminution of asset value,” Tutelian said in a legal document filed in January.

An Alleged Parking Deal and a Deal to Develop Downtown

In 2013, Tutor Perini secured a contract to work on the California High-Speed Rail project, according to legal documents. But when they wanted to move to north Fresno, Swearengin’s administration instead tried to get the firm to move downtown, and so city officials identified the Grand 1401 as a prime location.

The city tagged former city councilmember and then-downtown guru Craig Scharton to execute negotiations, Tutelian said in his statement. Tutelian said Scharton promised him 100 free parking spots in perpetuity to accommodate Tutor Perini’s needs. The city, however, in legal documents, objected to the claims that such an agreement existed. Nevertheless, the city honored that agreement for the next six years.

Less than a month before the end of 2018, and before councilmember Oliver Baines would term out with Arias replacing him, Tutelian and the city entered into an exclusive negotiating agreement to develop the block between Van Ness and Fulton streets, and Tuolomne and Merced streets. Despite not owning any portion of the property — property owners included Pacific Publishing Co., the city of Fresno, the Fresno Housing Authority, and CVS — the city gave him 270 days to secure financing and property owner concessions to build a parking garage, hundreds of new units of housing, and retail space.

As the clock ticked on the 270-day timeline, the city informed Tutelian that he would have to begin paying for parking, giving him five days to pay for the 100 spots — to the tune of $6,400 a month, according to city documents.

That change came only a few months after an internal audit found the city’s “lack of parking standards” had resulted in a loss of more than $250,000 in revenue.

Tutelian, however, thought the decision had more to do with corruption than getting parking revenue.

Corruption Accusation Against Arias Fizzles Out

On June 28, three days after the notice, Tutelian said in legal documents he met with Arias and Tutelian’s assistant, Barigye McCoy, according to legal documents. At that meeting, Tutelian alleges that Arias asked for a $12,000 campaign donation.

Arias repeatedly denied ever soliciting a donation, but Tutelian went so far as to go to then-Fresno City Councilmember Garry Bredefeld to report the action. Tutelian said by him denying Arias the bribe, that soured Arias on his project. Tutelian met with a Fresno County deputy district attorney and an FBI agent, though the investigation quickly ended.

“Following investigations conducted by the FBI and DOJ concerning allegations of unlawful attempts to elicit a bribe from me and potentially others, which only did not proceed due to lack of evidence, Arias began taking many different opportunities to obstruct the project,” Tutelian said in his sworn statement.

Arias in legal statements and from the dais said he didn’t like the idea of the city giving Tutelian exclusive development rights while not owning any property and not being able to secure sufficient agreements from property owners and financing.

Nevertheless, Tutelian got extensions on his agreement from the city manager’s office — after agreeing to drop a lawsuit in 2019 to get his parking back.

After Tutelian received two extensions, the city council in 2020, on a 4-3 vote, refused to consider a third.

In 2022, a judge sided with Arias who sought to have the corruption accusations dropped from the suit. Tutelian had to pay more than $30,000 in attorney fees to the city of Fresno.

Tutelian Failed to Stop Parking Garage Construction

Instead of Tutelian, Fresno Housing ultimately took on development and the nonprofit broke ground at the end of 2025. Alongside the housing, the city of Fresno is building a 603-stall parking structure to complement the project.

With construction underway, the city informed Tutelian he would have to use alternate parking while the garage gets built. When work began on the garage, Tutelian said Tutor Perini informed him it wanted to leave. Sometimes working late at night, the company’s workers felt unsafe walking the half-mile to their cars, Tutelian stated in a court document.

Tutelian unsuccessfully tried to get the court to halt construction on the parking garage while the case was being litigated. However, Dyer’s chief of staff, Kelli Furtado, testified in a sworn statement that the grant used to pay for the parking garage was time sensitive and the project needed to be completed in time. The garage is anticipated to be completed by year’s end.

The case is scheduled for jury trial Oct. 12 before Judge D. Tyler Tharpe. Tutelian secured representation through Sacramento-based Smith, McDowell & Powell.