Fresno area’s first ‘true rooftop’ restaurant in Clovis is delayed. Here’s why
Construction on a long-awaited five-story Hyatt Place hotel with a rooftop restaurant and bar near downtown Clovis has been delayed, but the project’s developer says it expects to reach a key milestone this year.
The hotel, located on a 2.5-acre piece of property west of Clovis Avenue and north of Highway 168, is planned to break ground in September with an expected completion by April 2027, said Jay Virk, president of the Bottom Line Group, the developer of the hotel complex.
The project received approval from the Clovis Planning Commission in fall 2022, and construction was expected to start in 2023.
“We wanted to take our time to make sure we have the right asset, right room mix, and also position our rooftop restaurant and our suite up top for the penthouse accurately,” Virk said. “We’re in the funding stage of the project, and we hope to be breaking ground by September of this year.”
Virk said the delay was primarily due to the wait for review and approval from multiple agencies, as well as some interior design changes. The group also decided to wait and observe how the hospitality industry in Clovis and Fresno recovered after the pandemic.
“We’re bringing a premium product to Clovis that is mainly for families and white collars, such as corporate travels and events, along with travelers for medical reasons, such as Clovis Community Hospital,” he said.
Since 2009, the group has built a dozen hotels in the Fresno metropolitan area, including Fairfield Inn & Suites, Comfort Suites, and La Quinta Inn & Suites in Clovis. The occupancy has recently dropped from 85% to 72%, according to Virk, but Hyatt Place is targeting high-end customers, and the “true competitor is only going to be the Marriott Courtyard,” Virk said.
The hotel will introduce the first rooftop restaurant and bar in the Central Valley, Virk said.
“There’s no other true rooftop. I’d say only Sacramento has a rooftop, and it would probably be Valencia (in Los Angeles County) after that,” he said. “I know there’s a small hotel in Visalia, they have a rooftop on their third floor, but there’s no true rooftop in the Central Valley right now.”
The restaurant would occupy about 7,500 square feet of the hotel’s top floor, including a 2,000-square feet outdoor dining deck, according to the project proposal.
The five-story, 76,350-square-feet property will become the tallest hotel in Clovis, featuring six 1,200-square-foot penthouse suites that can accommodate up to 10 people, Virk said.
Following inflation and supply shortages during the pandemic, the project’s budget had increased by 10% to a total construction cost of $20 million, he said.
This story was originally published July 7, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
