The Colliers Government Solutions team represents owners of government-leased properties nationally. So, we travel a lot. This slideshow profiles my recent trip to Fresno, California. (Use arrow buttons to advance slides)
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The Best Little City in the U.S.A.
https://www.capitolmarkets.com/wp-content/uploads/slideshow-gallery/Fresno Sign.jpgFresno bills itself as the “Best Little City in the U.S.A.” We may debate the accuracy of this claim but clearly it’s a city striving to be better. This historic sign was erected in 1929 at the southern gateway to the city. The sign fell into disrepair and was adopted by a local businessman who refurbished it in 1980, adding the “Best Little City” slogan. The famous sign is located, incongruously, in the midst of an industrial district. You would never find it if you didn’t search for it.
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Heat Wave
https://www.capitolmarkets.com/wp-content/uploads/slideshow-gallery/Historic Heat.jpgFresno was hot. The day I arrived, the city was in the midst of a heat wave and in stepping from the airport terminal outside into the rental car lot I was hit with a wall of 109 degree heat on what would turn out to be the hottest day of 2013. Fortunately, it was a dry heat.
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Fresno Map
https://www.capitolmarkets.com/wp-content/uploads/slideshow-gallery/Fresno Map.jpgThe symbols on this map show all 39 GSA leased locations in the Fresno-Clovis area totaling nearly 1.4 MSF. A million square feet of that total is occupied by IRS. That cluster in the bottom-left of this map is the downtown and it is home to 2/3 of Fresno's GSA leases. Wherever possible, the city is directing government agencies to occupy downtown buildings in an effort to revitalize the city's historic core.
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IRS Presence
https://www.capitolmarkets.com/wp-content/uploads/slideshow-gallery/5045 Butler.jpgIf you live in California or Hawaii, chances are your tax return is opened and processed in this 530,000 SF facility at 5045 Butler Avenue. It is one of nine IRS service centers in the United States.
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Much of the Downtown was Built in the 1920s and '30s
https://www.capitolmarkets.com/wp-content/uploads/slideshow-gallery/1171 Fulton Mall.jpgMost government agencies (federal, state and local) are clustered in the downtown in a bid to revitalize it. Unfortunately, government tenants rarely do much to enliven the downtown scene. Fresno has a ways to go but there is great potential in the renovation of some terrific Prohibition Era buildings such as this one.
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...Most of the Rest was Built in the 1960s and '70s
https://www.capitolmarkets.com/wp-content/uploads/slideshow-gallery/Downtown Building.jpgIn downtown Fresno, if the building wasn’t constructed in the 1920s or 1930s then it was probably built 40 years later and looks something like this. By all appearances, the city’s downtown architecture is defined by two great waves of development. The newest, Class A, corporate office buildings are to be found 10 miles north of downtown along I-41 in the West Herndon/Northwest submarket district.
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BBQ Nite Club
https://www.capitolmarkets.com/wp-content/uploads/slideshow-gallery/BBQ Nite Club.jpgMy kind of nightclub!
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Vacancy Rates
https://www.capitolmarkets.com/wp-content/uploads/slideshow-gallery/Vacancy rates.pngFresno is a 20.2 MSF market with an overall vacancy rate of about 13%. It has been a tenant's market and will remain so for a while but a modest uptick in demand has served to burn down concessions a bit.
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Prop 65 at Starbucks
https://www.capitolmarkets.com/wp-content/uploads/slideshow-gallery/Prop 65 Warning 1.jpgI’m from Washington, DC so I’ve experienced a lot of government paternalism, but California has perfected it. This is the sign at the Starbucks, helpfully noting the extremely remote possibility that my coffee may inflict me with cancer…
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Prop 65 at My Hotel
https://www.capitolmarkets.com/wp-content/uploads/slideshow-gallery/Prop 65 Warning 2 landscape.jpg…I was still dwelling on the probability that my coffee might kill me when I came upon this plaque in my hotel. Now both my coffee AND my hotel are conspiring to kill me. These ominous signs are everywhere, making California a scary place.
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Leaving Fresno
https://www.capitolmarkets.com/wp-content/uploads/slideshow-gallery/Leaving Fresno.jpgBye, Fresno. I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.
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https://www.capitolmarkets.com/wp-content/uploads/slideshow-gallery/THE END.JPG