Hearing to consider eligibility for listing on the Local Register of Historic Resources the property known as the Peacock Building located at 937-945 F Street and 942 Fagan Alley, Fresno, California (APN 467-074-02) (Council District 3).

REPORT TO THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION September 28, 2026 FROM: JENNIFER K. CLARK, AICP, Director Planning and Development Department THROUGH: ASHLEY ATKINSON, AICP, Assistant Director Planning and Development Department PHIL SKEI, Assistant Director Planning and Development Department BY: SARAH LAMBETH, Project Manager Planning and Development Department SUBJECT ..Title Hearing to consider eligibility for listing on the Local Register of Historic Resources the property known as the Peacock Building located at 937–945 F Street and 942 Fagan Alley, Fresno, California (APN 467-074-02) (Council District 3). ..Body RECOMMENDATION Staff recommend that the Historic Preservation Commission review the available evidence, hold a hearing, and make a determination that the Peacock Building at 937-945 F Street and ancillary structure at 942 Fagan Alley (APN: 467-074-02) are ineligible for listing on the Local Register of Historic Resources. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Peacock Building at 937 F Street (APN 467-074-02) was purchased by the City in October 2025 with the intent to demolish the building and develop the site with an affordable housing project. Environmental review has been completed, including a Cultural Resources Technical Report (Exhibit B), and the Commission is now asked to consider whether the property should be designated as a local historic resource under FMC Sec. 12-1607. Professional evaluations of the building’s integrity and historical associations have found that the building lacks sufficient integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, and is not associated with significant events, persons, distinctive architectural characteristics, or information potential, and thus does not meet the designation criteria set forth in Fresno Municipal Code (FMC) Section 12-1607. Additionally, a structural evaluation has found that rehabilitation of the building is infeasible. BACKGROUND The Peacock Building site consists of a .33-acre lot with a multi-story mixed-use commercial building facing F Street and a single story residential/dwelling structure in the rear. The site is located in the central business district of Fresno’s Chinatown, a neighborhood established west of the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks in the 1870’s. The twostory commercial block building located at 937–945 F Street was constructed around 1907, during a period of expanding development in the district. Early records indicate that the ground floor accommodated a variety of small enterprises, including shops, restaurants, and a shooting gallery, while the upper story provided furnished rooms and hotel accommodations typical of mixeduse commercial structures in Chinatown during the early twentieth century (Exhibit B). Throughout subsequent decades, the building passed through multiple owners. In 1911, a group of Armenian investors acquired the property, marking one of several transitions that reflected the multicultural commercial patterns characteristic of Chinatown. By the early 1930s, Allan C. Mar, Sr. established a dry goods store at 945 F Street. As the business expanded, Mar and his wife Jessie purchased additional portions of the building, ultimately transforming the property into the Peacock Department Store. Under the Mar family’s direction, the building became a longstanding commercial anchor in Fresno’s Chinatown and underwent major renovations in the 1950s. These improvements included façade updates that introduced a Modernera appearance and installation of the recognizable “Peacock” sign. Further alterations occurred during the mid and latetwentieth century, encompassing storefront reconfigurations, rear additions, and repairs following a 2014 fire (Exhibit B). The onestory structure at 942 Fagan Alley was built around 1925 to house laborers and service workers. Originally constructed as a simple brickmasonry building, it was expanded westward between the 1930s and 1940s to incorporate a smaller, recessed structure. Over time, 942 Fagan Alley experienced considerable modification, including the application of stucco over the original brick, the replacement of doors and windows, the infilling of window openings, and other changes that significantly altered its historic appearance (Exhibit B). The City acquired the site with the intention of demolishing the existing structures for an affordable housing development. In April 2025 staff presented the environmental assessment to HPC for comment on the proposed mitigation measures. During the meeting, staff discussed the earlier 2006 Cultural Resources Technical Report’s findings. The site was, however, noted to be potentially eligible for inclusion in a potential future Chinatown historic district. Because of this, HPC raised the question of the feasibility of preservation and adaptive reuse of the existing building. In response to this feedback, staff engaged a licensed structural engineer to evaluate the feasibility of preserving the existing structure and pursuing an adaptive reuse strategy for the proposed affordable housing development (Exhibit C). The consultant determined that although isolated repairs could be made, the building’s structural stability depends on interior partition walls functioning as bracing crosswalls, meaning no interior walls could be removed without compromising the structure. This constraint severely limits design flexibility and makes adaptive reuse impractical. The report also identified extensive mold, widespread unpermitted and irregular repairs, and significant deterioration. The building has been neglected and altered over the years without permits, resulting in substantial noncompliance with current health and safety codes and creating unsafe conditions for occupants, neighboring residents, and the public. Any change in use or occupancy would trigger compliance with modern building standards, including seismic requirements estimated to impose structural demands three to four times greater than those of the code under which the building was originally constructed. ANALYSIS Per the Fresno Municipal Code (FMC) Sec. 12-1606, Duties and Powers of the Commission, a primary duty of the commission is the “identification, designation and preservation of Historic Resources and Historic Districts owned by the city or located within the city limits.” Any building, structure, object or site may be designated as an Historic Resource if it is found by the Commission and Council to meet the Designation Criteria in FMC SEC. 12-1607 (Exhibit D): (1) It has been in existence more than fifty years, and it possesses aspects of integrity to convey its significance based upon location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling or association, and: (i) It is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history; or (ii) It is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; or (iii) It embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of construction, or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values; or (iv) It has yielded or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history. The Peacock Building located at 937–945 F Street was constructed in 1907 and as such, meets the criteria for age of the structure. However, multiple surveys in 2006, 2011 and 2024 establish that it does not meet any of Criteria a(1) (i)-(iv). Regarding potential inclusion in a historic district, the 2024 survey noted that while “the major reconfiguration of the building occurred in the mid-1950s, within the post-war period of development identified as being significant to the district, the building has undergone other alterations that have continued to alter the original features relevant to this period,” including reconfigured and storefronts and entrances, new cladding materials, loss of windows, removal of signage, and a variety of replaced materials. It concludes that overall, the building does not appear to retain sufficient integrity to qualify as a contributor to a potential historic district. The building at 942 Fagan Alley was established to be individually eligible in 2006, noting that at the time of recordation, it exhibited a high degree of integrity and that much of the building was “unchanged.” However, the 2024 report concludes that the conditions have been significantly altered throughout the building and it no longer appears to be individually eligible. Both buildings were identified in the City of Fresno’s 2006 Chinatown Historic Resources Survey as contributors to a potential local historic district. Their historic significance was originally linked to their representation of Fresno’s Chinatown, post-World War II growth, and conveyance of sense of time and place. However, extensive alterations in recent decades, combined with widespread loss of historic fabric across the broader Chinatown area, have eroded their individual and collective integrity. According to the current Cultural Resources Technical Report (Exhibit B), neither structure retains sufficient historical integrity to continue to contribute meaningfully to a viable historic district under present conditions. In addition to the surveys described above, the City asked Stantec, which is currently updating the Chinatown Historic Resources Survey, to review the reports and survey forms for the Peacock Building and 942 Fagan Alley and provide their opinion in the context of the survey they are conducting. Stantec provided a memo dated September 10, 2026 (Exhibit E), in which they concur that the property lacks historical significance under all criteria and has insufficient integrity due to extensive alterations over time. Stantec found no new evidence suggesting individual eligibility and therefore concurs with prior evaluations. However, Stantec has not made a determination regarding whether the building contributes to a potential Fresno Chinatown historic district. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW The determination of eligibility and initiation of designation is not a project for the purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), as it will not result in a direct or indirect change in the environment. The environmental review for the broader Peacock Hotel project, including the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) and the associated Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program MMRP) were adopted by the City Council on August 28, 2025 (Exhibits F and G). CONCLUSION Based on the findings of the Cultural Resources Technical Report, previous surveys, and Stantec’s concurrence, staff recommend that HPC determine that the property known as the Peacock Building at 937–945 F Street and 942 Fagan Alley is not eligible for listing in the local register of historic resources. ATTACHMENTS Exhibit A – Notice of Public Hearing Exhibit B – Cultural Resources Technical Report Exhibit C – ADE Structural Assessment Exhibit D – Fresno Municipal Code Designation Criteria & Process Exhibit E – Stantec Evaluation of Eligibility Memo Exhibit F – Adopted Initial Study and Mitigated Negative Declaration SCH # 2025070333 Exhibit G – Adopted Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Plan