FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – $100 million more has hit Fresno’s Downtown revitalization efforts, after it was announced the second lump sum of money came in from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office this week.

As of now, the total sits at $150 million from the state, out of the $250 million promised in 2023.

It’s big money for big aspirations, but a major investment Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer believes will make a huge difference to bring people back to Downtown and Chinatown.

“You can look to see a lot more people living Downtown over the next 24 to 36 months,” said Mayor Dyer.

Dyer, who has always been a strong proponent of downtown’s revitalization, says these dollars will immediately be put to good use.

“That’s going for the construction of two garages, all of the infrastructure with water and sewer mains, lights that will be put in, the sidewalks, and a number of other things that will really allow the development to come in,” Dyer said.

The mayor says that by taking care of those major infrastructure projects, especially the water and sewer mains, some being well over 100 years old, it takes a lot of the load off developers looking at Downtown.

Elliott Balch, CEO of the Downtown Fresno Partnership, says there is a ton of excitement and inquiries about more housing and attractions in the area, but he agrees that this work is absolutely needed for that to be viable in the near future.

“If you’re proposing to take a building or take some land and build some housing anywhere, including Downtown, the infrastructure has to be in place,” said Balch. “These are the things that can add costs to a project. At the end of the day, somebody’s got to pay that cost.”

The mayor says the city is not waiting; they are getting to work now to get these projects finished as soon as possible and to get ready for more big plans with the next $100 million coming next year.

“We’ll have an intermodal transportation hub that we’ll be developing Downtown,” said Dyer. “Some green space and a number of other amenities for Downtown Fresno.”

To further speed up development, Dyer also shared with us that the city plans to start a revolving loan fund in the near future.