The Fresno Bee plans move to downtown’s historic Bitwise 41 building

After more than 40 years at 1626 E St., The Fresno Bee will move downtown – a change that reflects the company’s own transition from a newspaper company to a digital news organization.

The Bee will relocate its news and advertising operations to the Bitwise 41 building at Ventura and R streets. The building – which was home to a raisin packing plant and more recently was the site of The Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant – reopened in 2019 after a $7 million renovation by Bitwise.

The space The Bee will occupy offers panoramic views of downtown Fresno and a presence on Highway 41, which is one of the busiest stretches of freeway in Fresno County.

“When looking for a new location, we wanted to find a place that kept The Bee in the core of the downtown area and made us a part of its rebirth,” Publisher Tim Ritchey said.

The current Bee building will be closed and is for sale.

“Today’s Bee is so much more than print and we’re looking forward to continuing to serve our community with essential local journalism and advertising services in new ways from our new base of operations,” Ritchey said.

The city’s Historic Preservation Commission declared the Bitwise 41 building an example of the Industrial Concrete architectural style and noted its importance to the region’s fruit-packing industry.

Bitwise, which was founded in Fresno in 2013, is a tech company that focuses on building skills and products through education. It has leased more than 100,000 square feet of space in downtown Fresno and has recently expanded to Bakersfield and Merced.

“The space is clean, modern and fits The Bee’s digital present as well as its future,” Bee Executive Editor Joseph Kieta said. “If I started with a blank sheet and created the ideal space for The Bee’s newsroom, this is what I would have come up with.”

The Bee is not the only tenant in the building, which offers a variety of suites and co-working spaces. A mix of 10 to 12 tenants already have moved in. The space also houses Bitwise’s Hashtag co-working space – where individuals rent solo workspaces on a month-to-month basis. It has a 50-person conference room, classroom space, a small cafe and an outdoor patio.

“There’s clearly a lot of innovation going on in Fresno, and we’re happy to be a part of it and to meet our new neighbors,” Ritchey said.

The move also comes ahead of The Bee’s 100th anniversary, which will be celebrated in 2022.

“The Bee represents an important part of Fresno’s history and plays a major role in shaping our Valley’s current culture,” said Jake Soberal, CEO and co-founder of Bitwise Industries. “As media companies evolve to become technology platforms, Bitwise 41 is a perfect home for the outlet to celebrate the history of downtown Fresno and be part of the growing technology industry that is the future of the Valley.”

History of The Bee’s location in Fresno

The Fresno Bee began operations in 1922 in a building at 1545 Van Ness Ave., which now is home to CMAC.

The 1626 E St. location was built in the early 1970s as a production facility. It housed the pressroom and circulation departments. News and advertising teams remained at the Van Ness building until 1976, when a renovation united all operations in the E Street facility.

An extensive multimillion-dollar addition in the 1990s added a state-of-the-art flexographic printing press and a packaging center.

The second floor over what was the old press bay and packaging center was renovated in 2000, resulting in the current newsroom.

Positioned for the future

By the mid-2010s, it was clear that the building no longer met The Bee’s needs. At 295,000 square feet, it was built to print and distribute a paper news product. The Bee still circulates throughout the San Joaquin Valley but stopped printing in Fresno in 2016.

“News travels very differently today than it did in 1976,” Kieta said. “Today, The Bee can break a story online on a moment’s notice. This is something we do routinely every day. We do not wait to print a newspaper to distribute news. Social media also is a key pathway for news, and we use it every day to reach our audiences.”

In the past year, The Bee has expanded its news team through the formation of the Education Lab – an initiative financially supported by philanthropy. The new space can accommodate additional growth.

“We are not abandoning the printed newspaper,” Ritchey said. “While the frequency may change based on consumer demand, we are dedicated to providing high quality and impactful journalism the way our subscribers and readers choose to receive it.”

A majority of staff should be in the new downtown space by the end of February.