Residential, retail in works for old J.C. Penney building

Source: The Business Journal
Written by Ben Keller, The Business Journal

The 90-year-old former J.C. Penney building on the Fulton Mall is getting new life with the announcement that new owner Shay Maghame will fill the space with retail and residential units. Maghame, a 69-year-old Los Angeles attorney and real estate broker, was joined by Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin this morning to present his plans for the building located at the corner of Tulare Street and Fulton Mall. Abandoned by the department store retailer in 1986, the four-story building will now be restored with 60 residential housing units and six more upscale lofts thanks to Maghame's investment. As well, the lower floor will be decked with retail space, while the basement will be renovated for a parking garage for 50 to 60 tenants. "The price will be moderate and there will be maybe 10 units reserved for lower rents," said Maghame. Dubbed El Diamanti, meaning "diamond" in Greek, the project is expected to take two years to complete. The building will be operated by Maghame's limited liability corporation, 959 Fulton Mall, Fresno based in Sherman Oaks. Designs were actually drawn up and a permit obtained for the project in 2009 and only needs to be renewed for development to move forward. Considering the city's passion in improving the Fulton Mall and how welcoming the administration has been, Maghame said that step shouldn't be a problem. "I have not seen in all the places I have worked and several cities in the United States and a lot of places abroad, the level of cooperation and the level of support I have recieved here in Fresno," he said. Maghame first came over to Fresno from Iran in 1963 where he earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and met his wife. From there, he earned his master's degree in engineering and went on to make a name for himself as a contractor with projects in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Turkey and Ethiopia, while also pursuing a profession in law and real estate. Maghame also owns East West Products Manufacturing & Services, Inc., which has a factory in Northeast Africa making construction materials like steel beams, roofing, sidings and bath tubs. Swearengin called Maghame's project the latest in a series of successes along the Fulton Mall and Downtown Fresno as a whole. In May, the Droge Building at Van Ness and Inyo Street was torn down to make way for a four-story residential/retail building, while the Penstar Group headed by develop Tom Richards is working on a proposal to restore the 1917 Bank of Italty building at Tulare Street and Fulton Mall. Sevak Khatchadourian, a Beverly Hills developer who owns The Pacific Southwest Building, is looking to open a restaurant and bar on the 15th floor and also bought the 1914 Helm Building on the Fulton Mall earlier this year with plans to fix it up for commercial tenants. In 2011, Fresno leasing agent Robert Ellis bought up the 122-year-old former Southern Pacific Railroad Depot on Tulare Street and renovated it to add more office space for new tenants like Clovis-based OfficeBay. As well, residential developer Granville Homes has taken to the downtown area with hundreds of new living units in the last several years. "All of these projects alone represent well over 600,000 square feet of new investment just on the Fulton Mall area alone in the last four and a half years I've been in office," Swearengin. Swearengin said she expects to attract even more investors to the area once more manageable building codes contained in the proposed Fulton Corridor Specific Plan are adopted by the city council next spring.

URL to original article: http://www.thebusinessjournal.com/news/development/7281-residential-retail-in-works-for-old-j-c-penney-building

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