The Garage nears completion in Fresno, bringing a cafe, cookies, more downtown
An old downtown Fresno building undergoing a face-lift has begun to take shape and already has new tenants.
The former Downtown Auto Care building on the southeast corner of Fulton and Inyo streets is being reshaped into five retail spaces of about 700 to 1,100 square feet in the Brewery District.
Developer Reza Assemi and tech entrepreneur Jamin Brazil, who also bought and restored Sun Stereo Warehouse, own the former garage. Hence the name and subtitle for the new row of businesses that’ll be on the sign: The Garage, Sun Stereo’s lil’ Sister.
“I love the old stuff. So hands down, all day long, I would prefer bringing those back whether it’s something historic, like Sun Stereo, or something like this garage that didn’t really look like much,” Assemi said. “But I feel like at the end of the day, it’s gonna really pop and be brought back with a more exciting use.”
The developer has replaced the large roll-up doors with walls of windows. Some of the sidewalk around the building will be reshaped, Assemi said, and the lot will become a patio with short metal fence around it, much like the one across the street at Tioga-Sequoia Brewing Co.’s beer garden.
The Garage name will go up in pink neon similar to Sun Stereo’s neon. Assemi said the construction is supposed to be done in early September.
The space closest to Fulton Street will be home to an eatery called Valley Nook Cafe, Assemi said.
Next to that will be Dads Cookies, a new brick-and-mortar for owner Lance Sanchez, who moved his business out of a gas station in north Fresno.
Sanchez said the food truck life is nothing new for him as Dads Cookies started in a trailer duringthe pandemic.
He said he was working a 9-to-5 job in audiology before the pandemic. He started baking cookies with his family and selling them as just something to do.
The business took off and Sanchez said he was baking thousands of cookies a week in a rented kitchen and selling them out of a food trailer he bought in 2022.
“We didn’t purposely start the business. We were just doing it for fun until we went back to work,” Sanchez said. “But then it just, it grabbed the community strongly, and the community grabbed a hold of us. So we embraced that situation and decided to just go with it.”
Sanchez said he’s excited about downtown and the way the Brewery District seems to be evolving faster as more businesses are moving to the area.
Plus, he was born and raised in Fresno and wants to see it succeed while he brings his family along. His nephew, Jordan Sanchez, is the main baker.
“We just love downtown. We know that it’s been growing a lot and we just want to be a part of the community down here,” the younger Sanchez said. “We know that we can add to it.”
The Sanchez duo said the classic chocolate chip cookie is their most popular followed by cookies-and-cream. They also have plans for dirty sodas, a non-alcoholic cocktail that typically has cream and fruit flavors.
The Brewery District has plenty of nightlife options so Assemi said he’s hoping the garage can offer options for youngsters and non-drinkers.
A cafe and bakery fit into that goal.
“I think more all ages stuff would be really great, especially down here in the Brewery District,” he said. “So we’re hoping for — if I have a dream list — it’d be a pizza spot, a juice bar, and then throw in a wine tasting and charcuterie board to grab different options.”
This story was originally published July 13, 2025 at 8:00 AM.
