City of Fresno officials and more cut the ribbon on the Hotel Fresno five years after the start of its renovation into affordable housing. Photo by Ben Hensley

There was a long-awaited ribbon cutting in Downtown Fresno Thursday to celebrate the grand opening of an 81-unit affordable housing development.

Councilmember Miguel Arias, along with Mayor Jerry Dyer, Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, and Eugene Kim of engineering and architectural firm APEC International hosted the ribbon cutting ceremony on the completion of the historic Hotel Fresno for affordable housing.

The 112- year-old, eight-story building is fully leased. Units range from 500 square-foot studios to three-bedroom apartments. Restoration began in 2019 after the Fresno City Council approved final funding in 2018.

Rent for the smaller apartments starts at $400 up to $1,300 for the three-bedroom apartments, which are meant for families.

Around $36 million was invested for the restoration.

The ground floor lobby of the former hotel has been restored and will be used to host city events. It had been vacant for nearly four decades.

Dyer said that in the next 12 months, nearly 1,500 affordable housing units will come to Fresno.

“We want to ensure that working class families have housing that is respectable and that is affordable,” Arambula said.

Over 2,000 applications were submitted to lease units in the Hotel Fresno.

The last tenant moved in in September.