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Fresno, CA – Today, Fresno Housing hosted a virtual groundbreaking of The Monarch @ Chinatown, a transformative, affordable housing community in Fresno’s historic Chinatown community.
Funded by California’s cap-and-trade program, Transformative Climate Communities (TCC), The Monarch @ Chinatown is a mixed-use, infill development that will eliminate a blighted vacant lot and provide environmentally friendly amenities to residents and the community. In addition to a planned public art feature, a community room and commercial space, this four-story, 57-unit development is one of the first zero-net energy affordable housing developments of its kind. Future residents will also be provided with transit passes to encourage the use of public transportation.
“There is so much to like about The Monarch @ Chinatown, from its location in the previously underserved Central Valley to the mixture of low and moderate income residents it will serve to the alignment between several different state and local agencies that are providing financing,” said CalHFA Executive Director Tia Boatman Patterson. “This should serve as a model for the type of affordable housing development California builds going forward.”
The groundbreaking for The Monarch @ Chinatown is the culmination of years of collaboration between community leaders, residents, environmental justice advocates and businesses leaders to convene candid dialogues and strategize how to revitalize some of Fresno’s historically underserved communities. Through the TCC process, program leaders organized an open steering committee for Fresno residents who live, work or own a business or property in the neighborhoods eligible for TCC funding, which included Southwest, Chinatown, and Downtown Fresno.
The Community Steering Committee put forward more than 60 proposed projects, including submittals from Fresno Housing, the Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce and State Center Community College District, among others. Voting was reserved for residents involved from the beginning. They selected The Monarch @ Chinatown as a catalyst for Chinatown’s revitalization and transformation process, and the property has been designed to invest in community culture.
Fresno Housing is a longstanding leader in developing beautiful, quality infill developments aimed at promoting social equity, economic growth and community revitalization. The Monarch @ Chinatown contributes to the agency’s overall mission to create and sustain vibrant communities throughout Fresno County.
”All of us at Fresno Housing are very excited to begin construction on The Monarch @ Chinatown, a signature development that is just the beginning of reinvestment into Chinatown Fresno. For us, it’s an honor to work with the community to realize their vision and we have many other exciting projects on the horizon in other neighborhoods to further create community transformation, social equity, and inclusion through quality housing,” said Preston Prince, Fresno Housing CEO.