Old Vons grocery site may become affordable housing for Fresno seniors. Public input sought
A future senior center to be located at the site of the former Vons grocery store on North Blackstone Avenue could also see senior affordable housing added as a component of the multimillion-dollar, city-owned project.
Fresno’s Planning and Development Department opened a public comment period Friday on an amendment to its plan that outlined spending of almost $5 million in federal Community Development Block Grant funds that were used to buy the property.
The amendment, which will be considered in late March by the Fresno City Council, proposes to make senior affordable housing an “eligible activity” at the site in addition to a senior center.
The city announced last July that it was spending a combined $6.4 million to buy the Vons property on North Blackstone Avenue between Gettysburg and Ashlan avenues, plus a second parcel of land now occupied by a strip mall along the south end of the Vons parking lot.
The two properties amount to about 5.5 acres. The sale was finalized and recorded in October 2022.
Besides the federal block grant funds, the city used about $1.5 million from Measure P, a special city sales tax for parks, recreation and other services and programs.
“This substantial amendment does not allocate any additional funds to the project,” city records state. “Rather, it reprograms the $2,584,000 portion of CDBG funds used to acquire one of the parcels of land to add the development of affordable senior housing as an eligible use.”
“The remaining $2,409,211.79 in CDBG used to acquire the second parcel will remain as the development of a senior center,” the amendment summary states. The document also notes that the amendment aligns with the city’s goal “to increase the availability of safe and affordable housing.”
Analysis includes housing component
When the Fresno City Council approved the property purchase in July 2022, an environmental analysis included not only a 29,000-square-foot senior center, but also about 33,000 square feet for development of 70 affordable housing units for senior citizens, both on the site of the former grocery store.
“The resulting residential density of the proposed Project would be 16.5 dwelling units per acre,” the assessment reported. “Residential units would account for 46 percent of the development.”
The documents offer no indication of what it may cost to build 70 units of senior housing or potential sources for the money.
Plans call for the eventual demolition of the vacant 45,850-square-foot grocery store and building a new senior center from the ground up – a process that Mayor Jerry Dyer last year said could cost more than $20 million.
A staff report to the City Council when it approved the purchase stated that services at a new senior center could include a hot meals program; health, fitness and wellness classes and programs; transportation services; volunteer opportunities; and education, arts and technology programs. Dyer said there are also plans to build an outdoor green space for activities and relaxation, fitness equipment, walking trails, trees and spaces for gardening.
The plans do not call for doing anything with the adjacent strip mall. Businesses in the building, including an O’Reilly auto parts store and others, would remain tenants on the city-owned property.
Public comments on the proposed reprogramming of the grant funds for senior housing will be accepted through March 20, and the City Council will consider the issue on March 30. People can submit comments in several ways:
By mail to: City of Fresno, Planning & Development Department, Housing & Community Development Division, 2600 Fresno Street, Room 3065, Fresno, CA 93721.
By email to: HCCD@fresno.gov, and include “Sub Amend 2020-04” in the subject line.
By phone: 559-621-8300.
By fax: 559-457-1579.
By TTY: 559-621-8721.
Online: surveymonkey.com/r/SA20-04.
