The 30,000 square-foot lot, which currently houses a 17,500 square-foot motel, complete with 50 guest rooms and a pool, is in a prime location, according to Rob Boese of Boese Commercial, who noted the property is just steps away from the Fresno Convention Center, Saroyan Theatre and Bitwise South Stadium.

As the listing agent, Boese expects there will be interest shown from those wanting to maintain the property as a motel, but in the last 24 hours via word-of-mouth alone, he said he’s heard from a handful of people looking to potentially redevelop the property.

“We already have interest from developers with ideas for redevelopment into other uses, such as a midrise building with ground-floor retail,” Boese said.

In general, Boese said, interest in redeveloping properties downtown among his clients has skyrocketed since Bitwise announced its plans to redevelop two properties last week. Boese Commercial was the seller’s agent for Bitwise’s recently acquired downtown Old Spaghetti Factory building at 2721 Ventura St, and was the listing agent for Bitwise’s other property at 747 R St. from 2015-2016. 

“There are a lot of big projects happening downtown,” Boese said. “There were several small projects going on before, but now there are large-scale projects, and it’s exciting.”

“Since last week, I’ve had several calls from people interested in seeing what else we have downtown,” he added.

The Super 8 Motel listing is just the first of several new downtown listings, Boese said. Others will be announced in the coming weeks.

As for why Super 8 Motel owners are selling, Boese said the motel operation is doing well and the owners simply want to pursue other opportunities.

“I think it is a combination of market forces — they see there is interest — and the owners have other investment opportunities,” Boese said.