FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – It’s been a project in the works for the last five years, and it’s almost complete. Hotel Fresno, the oldest hotel in Fresno built in 1912, will soon be ready to welcome new tenants.

Councilman Miguel Arias says they’re about a month away, fingers crossed until opening day.

“We are being intentional in building development at the core of our downtown and inviting families to come live here,” said Arias. 

Councilman Arias feels the excitement as he tours us around the property, a 40-million-dollar project.

“I’m a nervous wreck because I don’t know what the next obstacle is going to be,” he added. 

The building has been vacant for over 40 years and in the last five years Arias says they’ve been working hard to get the right finances and permits to fix it up.

“We have a couple of punch list items like painting rooms, fixing dents on the walls, that should take a couple of weeks,” he said. 

The renovated hotel building located on Broadway Plaza downtown will have about 80 units to rent out, from a studio to a three-bedroom, and the prices will range from $600 to $1300 dollars.

“By intentionally building mixed-income housing and inviting folks of all ranges of income to live downtown that gives us the ability to attract, the coffee shops and targets everyone wants to see in downtown Fresno,” said Arias. 

This is the first of 27 new housing projects in Councilman Arias’s district and 1 of a dozen projects in downtown Fresno to revitalize the area.

“It is one of the first hotels in the Central Valley and the first in the city of Fresno and what better place to start the renovation and revitalization here in downtown Fresno than rebuilding this iconic historical asset,” he said. 

Future tenants will have views of the high-speed railroad at the station once it’s complete and a clear view of Chuckchansi Park. 

“We are about 30 days away from the completion of this historic project and it’s going to be an amazing asset to the city of Fresno, everyone who gets to observe it and mostly live in this building,” he said. 

Arias says they anticipate thousands of people will apply to live in the building once it’s open.