Workers take down the CVS signs from the Downtown Fresno location soon after its September 2022 closure. Photo by Edward Smith

The vacant Downtown Fresno CVS building is getting its share of attention, with at least one previous plan to develop the block into mixed-use housing still in play.

Developer Cliff Tutelian confirmed he has sent a letter of intent to purchase the property from CVS with the goal of reviving the North Fulton Square project that would have brought 160 apartment units and bottom-floor retail to the block between Fulton and Van Ness streets and Tuolumne and Merced streets.

A negotiating agreement between Tutelian and the City of Fresno expired in February 2021. The City owns a parking lot in the North Fulton Square development area.

 

Representatives from CVS said there was nothing to report as far as a possible sale of the building.

Interest is growing for the 22,350 square-foot building — included in Rhode Island-based CVS’s plan to scale back retail locations.

In January, a surveying team came out to map the CVS property.

Tutelian said he submitted a public records request with the County of Fresno to determine its interest in purchasing the property. He said no documents turned up.

Fresno County Assessor Paul Dictos has expressed interest in acquiring the property for use as a document archive for his office, but no items have come before the Board of Supervisors.

Minutes from the Downtown Fresno Partnership’s October board meeting reported that CVS is trying to sell the building and the parking lot, “but they have not been responsive to anyone, not even the Mayor,” — referring to Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer.

The CVS closed in September 2022.