Downtown Fresno is seen at sunset, with the 21-story, black-and-white County Plaza building, commonly known as the Del Webb building, at right. Fresno County’s facilities master plan calls for eventually demolishing the building after county departments are relocated. Photo courtesy of Gensler

One of Downtown Fresno’s most recognizable towers could eventually come down under a $426.5 million plan to overhaul Fresno County’s aging facilities.

The Fresno County Board of Supervisors accepted a 10-year facilities master plan Tuesday that calls for eventually demolishing the County Plaza building, commonly known as the Del Webb building, after relocating the county departments that occupy it.

The 21-story tower was completed in 1964 as the Del Webb Fresno Center, a hotel and office complex developed by Fresno-born Del Webb, according to the Downtown Fresno Partnership.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Gensler, the San Francisco-based architecture, design and planning firm that developed the county’s facilities plan, identified County Plaza as an underperforming property with the most deferred maintenance in the county’s downtown portfolio and said it would be too costly to renovate.

The recommendation is part of a broader plan to address years of deferred maintenance and reorganize county operations while maintaining Downtown Fresno as the county’s civic and administrative center.

Ed Hill, the county’s chief operating officer, said the plan is intended to guide investments over the long term.

“We want to make sure that it’s clear that it’s understood this is not a short fix but a long-term plan,” Hill told the board.

The Del Webb building would not disappear immediately. Under the proposed implementation schedule, the county would use it as temporary “swing space” while the Hall of Records and Crocker Building undergo renovations. Departments would move out in phases before the tower is demolished and the property disposed of.

The presentation says the Plaza, Hall of Records and Crocker buildings collectively have more than $100 million in deferred maintenance. Gensler described County Plaza specifically as the downtown building with the most deferred maintenance.

The plan also calls for new purpose-built facilities for the Sheriff’s Office and emergency services dispatch at the Juvenile Justice Center, as well as a new public works building at the Fresno Fairgrounds.

The Hall of Records, where the Board of Supervisors is located, the Crocker Building and the recently acquired 650 O Street and 705 P Street properties would be renovated.

The preferred option has an estimated cost of $426.5 million, including $221.7 million for new construction, $178.6 million for major renovations, $23.5 million for demolition and $2.6 million for building acquisition.

Gensler representatives said the county does not necessarily need more space but needs to use its existing space more effectively.

Supervisors noted the size of the proposed investment and said implementing it would take years.

Supervisor Nathan Magsig said the county is facing “hundreds of millions of dollars in investment” that “can’t be done overnight,” but added that the plan provides needed direction for maintaining county services.

Supervisors also questioned whether the Del Webb building could be sold rather than demolished. Gensler representatives said a sale would likely require the county to address the building’s substantial deferred maintenance.

The county’s implementation plan anticipates roughly four to five years of construction and renovation, although officials described the facilities plan as a “living document” that could change with economic conditions, funding opportunities and the real estate market.