Here’s why historic Fresno homes, proposed site of Armenian museum, got offloaded by city

The fate of Fresno’s most talked-about — and perhaps most expensive — vacant houses has finally been settled. Under the cover of government opaqueness.

During its Sept. 29 meeting, the Fresno City Council approved the sale of three century-old houses relocated (by court order) to the southeast corner of Santa Clara and M streets in the area known as Old Armenian Town. There used to be five homes, originally owned by some of the city’s first Armenian immigrants, but two were destroyed in a June 2020 fire widely believed to be arson.

The three remaining houses, essentially empty shells with renovated exteriors, sold for $66,000 to Essayons LP, the development arm of the Penstar Group. The firm also received a $1.2 million loan to rehabilitate the structures (which range from 721 square feet to 1,007) and convert them into multifamily affordable housing.

It would be remiss of me not to mention that purchasing, renovating, relocating and (ahem) securing the houses has already cost taxpayers some $2 million. Just for them to sit unoccupied behind a wrought iron fence that, even since the fire, continues to be compromised.

“We’re over there regularly patching the fence,” said Marlene Murphey, executive director of Fresno’s former redevelopment agency.

Opinion

The council’s decision, made with little fanfare or advance notice, set off howls of protest from members of the Armenian community as well as the city’s Historic Preservation Commission. Why weren’t we informed about the sale of these houses? And what happened to transforming them into a living museum that celebrates Armenian culture and depicts the lives of Fresno’s early 20th century Armenian immigrants?

The simple answer to both questions: Depends who you ask.

“My proposal is on their desk and has been for years,” said Varoujan Der Simonian, director of the nonprofit Armenian Museum of Fresno. “I never got a reply.”

“The Armenian community has been absent on this,” countered Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias, who represents downtown. “They’ve been completely silent.”

Before wading through that mess, more background is needed. Let’s begin two decades ago, when developers Richard Gunner and George Andros proposed a 10-acre project bounded by Highway 41 and M, Ventura and O streets. Old Armenian Town, named for the immigrant families who settled in the neighborhood after being red-lined from owning property in other parts of the city, would provide a new home for the 5th District Court of Appeals, three multi-story office buildings, an Armenian cultural center and an 850-vehicle parking structure.

While the federal courthouse was built, other aspects of Old Armenian Town ran into a long legal fight with preservationists — specifically the fate of five single-story wood-frame houses built in the early 1900s that sat in the development’s path.

Per terms of a legal settlement, the city’s Redevelopment Agency (which no longer exists and now operates as the Successor Agency controlled by the city council) was ordered to relocate and renovate the five houses after thieves pillaged their historic “gingerbread” siding and squatters made a mess of their interiors.

Disagreement over museum’s financing plan

The RDA’s initial plan was to convert them into “a unique historical office park” suitable for a small engineering or architecture firm. But Der Simonian had another idea. In 2010, he began lobbying city officials about a project called Cultural Five-Home Town. Instead of offices, the five houses and an outdoor kitchen would be re-purposed into a “living museum” that showcased Armenian culture and served as a tourist attraction.

Der Simonian submitted a formal proposal to various mayors, council members and city managers that featured interior concepts designed by Fresno State business, engineering and art students. He also met multiple times with RDA/Successor Agency staff and representatives of the Penstar Group, the developer that took over Old Armenian Town after Gunner Andros backed out and later dissolved. The last such meeting evidently occurred in 2018.

Cultural Five-Home Town would be operated and maintained by the Armenian Museum of Fresno, according to Der Simonian’s proposal. The city could either retain ownership and award the museum a cheap long-term lease or transfer ownership of the property and houses outright.

Either arrangement was fine with Der Simonian, who estimated about $1 million would be needed to transform the empty houses into the living cultural site as envisioned.

“I wasn’t looking for a city handout or a bank loan,” Der Simonian said. “The money would have been privately fund-raised.”

Penstar project manager Scott Anderson confirmed receiving Der Simonian’s proposal. However, the developer said outstanding concerns over financing were never addressed.

“We were never really given any financial information, which was a bit of a red flag, to be honest,” Anderson said. “I don’t believe he had the financial backing to make the project work.”

Der Simonian, who has helped raise large sums for the Armenian Museum of Fresno and Holy Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church, contends he needed an approved project before starting a capital campaign.

In the years since, there has been no communication between the parties. Not even after two of the five houses perished in the June 2020 fire.

“Maybe I should have” followed up, Der Simonian said. “But I didn’t. My proposal has been on the table so many times.”

‘Armenians always get the crumbs’

The negligence goes both ways. The only community outreach effort Arias could point to regarding the historic houses was an October 2020 meeting with the Armenian consulate. Odd. Last I checked, the consulate is a representative of the Armenian government — not Armenian-Americans residing in Fresno.

“I feel like we honor so many communities, but the Armenians always get the crumbs,” said Councilmember Mike Karbassi, who cast the lone vote against the sale. “The bottom line is we stop things and do outreach all the time, and I feel like we’re not doing it here.”

Equally miffed are members of the Historic Preservation Commission, who for the last several months have been trying to get the city council to explain why the proposed Armenian Town Historic District has spent several years in limbo. (The historic district is separate from the Old Armenian Town development and would provide extra protection as well as potential monetary benefits for property owners.)

City staff and commission members spent hundreds of hours preparing an initial application for the historic district, including extensive surveys and a community petition containing nearly 5,000 signatures. A city council hearing was tabled in January 2017, and the matter has not been brought back since.

In June, Historic Preservation Commission chair Jason Hatwig penned a letter to council members asking for an explanation. There has been no response.

“This whole thing doesn’t make any sense to me,” commission member Christopher Rocha said. “Why did the city not reach out to the Armenian community and do all we can to retain the culture and history of Armenian town?”

Arias and the developer defended the decision to convert the homes into affordable housing, maintaining it’s the best option they have.

“It would (upset) people even more if the other three burned down,” Arias said. “That’s what we’re trying to avoid.”

Said Anderson: “The best way to preserve a historic structure is to have it occupied. If there was so much interest and outcry over those homes, why were they sitting vacant for so long?”

A ‘very unique’ idea for Old Armenian Town

The council’s decision is binding, and construction on Hye Court Project is scheduled to begin within 90 days. (The name is a play on the Armenian word for “Armenian” and the nearby courthouse, Anderson said.)

In an interview with KSEE-24, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer agreed that more should have been done to notify the Armenian community about the historic homes, and he pledged “to do something very unique” on one of the remaining vacant city-owned lots in Old Armenian Town.

Just so happens I have an idea that could help set things right.

Several blocks away, on the Fresno Mission campus, sits another dwelling rich with Armenian cultural heritage that needs a new lease on life: the Vartanian Home.

The 131-year-old structure and its three outbuildings (including a distinctive octagonal-shaped tank house) have sat unoccupied for several years and are no longer of use to the Fresno Mission, according to CEO Matthew Dildine.

Prior efforts to move the Vartanian Home have failed — primarily due to the estimated $130,000 cost.

This is where the city and Dyer should step in. While the fate of the three M Street houses appears to have been settled, the Vartanian Home could be relocated and transformed into a museum or cultural center fitting for Old Armenian Town.

Civic will and improved communication between city officials and the local Armenian community are all that’s required. Even in a place as dysfunctional as Fresno, is that too much to ask?