Plan to Bring Smart & Final to Central Fresno Dead

A plan to bring a major shopping center to central Fresno is now dead. The project would’ve brought a Smart & Final store along with other shops to the corner of Blackstone and Clinton Avenues.

Fresno City councilman Clint Olivier, who represents the area, says this shopping center could’ve brought in more than 150 jobs between the construction of the site, and retail jobs from all the shops.

But Olivier says the City took too long and made it too difficult for the businesses to come in.

Thursday, Olivier took to social media to show pictures of the site that would’ve been redeveloped, showing a boarded up business, with trash and even human waste surrounding it.

Olivier says the developer had been working with Smart & Final for months to turn that property around.

They envisioned Smart & Final as the anchor store, with a restaurant and three shops to complete the shopping center. But the deal is now dead.

"That corner, the way it exists right now, represents everything that’s wrong with the City of Fresno. That Smart & Final project represented everything that was right with the City of Fresno–redevelopment, revitalization, growth, pretty new buildings. And now, it’s gone. And I’m not happy," Olivier says.

According to Olivier, the City did not agree with the site planning–the design of how the businesses would be laid out.

He says this move sends the wrong message–that Fresno isn’t welcoming to small businesses.

"We were sold a General Plan on the basis that it would fight poverty and blight. And now the General Plan has been used to actually foster poverty and blight," Olivier says.

Just a few months ago, a Super Walmart opened around the same area–a move Olivier was proud of, since it brought jobs and encouraged growth in the area. But the same did not happen for the corner of Blackstone and Clinton.

Olivier says the developer would still like to bring a business to that corner, but again, it will be a matter of time and getting the City’s approval.

Mark Standriff, spokesman for the City of Fresno issued this statement: "We’re really sorry that the developer couldn’t make the site work for Smart & Final, but fortunately that’s not the end of the story. We’re encouraged by the fact that Smart & Final is committed to Fresno, especially the Blackstone corridor and we’re looking forward to continuing to work with them to expand their business in our City."