REPORT TO THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION February 23, 2026 FROM: JENNIFER K. CLARK, AICP, Director Planning and Development Department BY: ASHLEY ATKINSON, AICP Assistant Director Planning and Development Department SUBJECT ..Title Hearing to consider eligibility for listing on the Local Register of Historic Resources, the property located at 755 E Shaw Ave (Assessor Parcel Number: 427-030-37) ..Body RECOMMENDATION Staff recommend that the Historic Preservation Commission review the available evidence, hold the hearing and determine whether to initiate designation of the property located at 755 E Shaw Ave (Assessor Parcel Number: 427-030-37) as a Historic Resource. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The City has received an application for demolition of the property located at 755 E Shaw Ave., which was constructed in 1970 as Weinstock's Department Store, the eastern anchor of the Fashion Fair shopping mall. It is not a designated Historic Resource nor located in a historic district but based upon its date of construction and intact exterior, it may be eligible for listing on the Local Register of Historic Resources under Fresno Municipal Code Sec. 12-1607. BACKGROUND The structure at 755 E Shaw Ave. was constructed in 1970 as Weinstock's Department Store, serving as the eastern anchor of the new Fashion Fair shopping mall. A time capsule with a plaque indicating that it contains historic items to be removed in one century was placed under the building on June 26, 1970. News reports from the time indicate that the store was designed by Charles Luckman Associates of Los Angeles and that it opened on August 31, 1970, at a construction cost of $8 million. Its construction was noted in news articles for the steel frame that allowed for a lack of interior columns; the climate-controlled interior; and an "advanced" exterior with a "series of protruding levels and planes which give a dramatic play of light and shadow in the bright California sun" (Exhibit B). According to the City of Fresno's Mid-Century Modernism Historic Context Statement (Exhibit C), The development of Fashion Fair Mall was initiated when Gordon L. MacDonald Investments Ltd. of Santa Barbara purchased a 58-acre undeveloped tract fronting Shaw Avenue between Fresno and First Streets in 1965 with the intent to build a regional shopping center. To allow this, City Council had to approve a rezoning of the land uses designated by the College Community Plan, which took place in December 1966. The proposed development sparked concern and discussion about the spread of commercial development away from its historic core in downtown Fresno, and the opening of the mall is widely regarded to have resulted in the northward migration of retail activity in Fresno. Fashion Fair relied upon three major anchors to draw customers: Weinstock's, a department store chain founded in Sacramento in 1874; Gottschalks, a chain founded in downtown Fresno in 1904; and JC Penney's, founded in Wyoming in 1902. Per staff research, JC Penney's and Weinstock's each contracted their own architects and launched independent construction bids. Weinstock's eastern anchor building was financed by Broadway-Hale Stores and designed by Charles Luckman Associates. Charles Luckman Associates is a commercial architecture firm founded by renowned architect Charles Luckman in 1958 after he parted ways with his original partner, architect William Pereira. It is known for its work nationwide with offices in Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, and Phoenix as of 1968. The firm is responsible for the design of well-known buildings around the country such as the LAX Theme Building in Los Angeles (1961); the Prudential Center in Boston (1964); and Madison Square Garden in New York (1968), as well as numerous other commercial projects. Per staff research, the Weinstock's Department Store design appears to have been replicated in in other department stores designed by Charles Luckman Associates in locations such as Riverside and Citrus Heights. The structure at 755 E Shaw Ave. first housed Weinstock's; then Gottschalks; and most recently Forever 21, a women's retailer founded in Los Angeles that closed its doors nationwide in 2025. There have been no major modifications to the building's exterior other than updated signage reflecting the change in tenants. However, an extensive interior remodel took place in 2010-2011. 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. (2) It has been in existence less than fifty years, it meets the criteria of subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of this section and is of exceptional importance within the appropriate historical context, local, state or national. The building located at 755 E Shaw Ave. was constructed in 1970 and maintains the original integrity of its exterior, but it is unclear based on the available evidence whether it achieves significance or meets any of Criteria a (1) (i) - (iv). A Historic Resource Assessment has been requested from the applicant but was unavailable as of the time this report was drafted. 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. CONCLUSION Staff recommend that the Historic Preservation Commission review the available evidence, hold the hearing, and determine whether to initiate designation of the property located at 755 E Shaw Ave (Assessor Parcel Number: 427-030-37) as a Historic Resource. ATTACHMENTS: Exhibit A - Notice of Public Hearing Exhibit B - Fresno Bee Articles Exhibit C - Fresno Mid-Century Modernism Historic Context (2008) Exhibit D - Fresno Municipal Code Designation Criteria & Process