Why are these buildings in Fresno’s Tower District still empty? What we know

The Tower District is home to some transcendent vacancies — buildings that have been empty so long they’re no longer just eyesores, they’re part of the very landscape. It’s as though they’ve always been, and will forever be, vacant.

It’s these types of spaces the city likely had in mind when it created and passed the Vacant Business Ordinance, a pilot project it’s testing in the Tower District. Adopted in June, the ordinance set fines of up to $10,000 for owners who leave the buildings in disrepair. To be compliant, an owner must be actively seeking a permit to do work, working to sell, or otherwise prove the structure is not abandoned.

Notifications have yet to be sent out, according to the city, but here is a look at what we know about some of the Tower District’s best-known abandoned spaces.

Grandmarie’s Chicken Pie Shop

861 E Olive Ave. The classic diner, known for its pot pies and green vinyl booths, closed after 64 years when the 72-year-old owner decided to retire.

The building at Olive and Wishon avenues takes up a good deal of visual real estate on one of the Tower District’s main corners and has been empty since 2019.

It is boarded up, though the iconic signs still remain: “Chicken Pie Shop” and “Food to Go.”

And plenty has happened behind the scenes the past six years.

When Chicken Pie Shop was still open, the building was owned by local lawyers Marc and Peter Kapetan and a partner. They tried to find a new restaurateur to move in the space. But the 1955 building needed major renovations and they couldn’t find anyone with enough money willing to make the changes.

So, they gutted the inside and drew up plans to separate it into three shop spaces.

Those plans ran into conflicts over preserving the facade and when the possibility of it becoming a cannabis shop arose, they decided to sell, Marc Kapetan said.

Today, property records show the building is owned by Kevin Barclay, who is also the majority owner of the 500 Club Casino. He did not return messages seeking comment.

His sister, Kerry Burrough, had hoped to open Towertopia, a cannabis dispensary, in the building.

Her application for a permit was denied. She sued the City of Fresno, saying the application was wrongly denied and the scoring system was arbitrary. The lawsuit is ongoing, with a hearing scheduled for October.

Babylon Club

1064 Fulton St. Opened as the Avalon in 1995 by one of the groups of people who helped restore the Tower Theatre, this building is know for its Art Deco design and below-ground entrance.

It operated as the Avalon, a billiards club and part-time live music venue until 2005, when it became the Babylon Club.

It kept the billiard tables and live music.

It operated as the Babylon until 2013, when someone busted a pipe on the roof and flooded the building, damaging the pool tables, bar and walls. The general manager at the time told The Bee there was more than three inches of water on the floor.

“It was raining from the ceiling,” he said. “It looked like Hurricane Katrina went through there.”

The club never reopened, though the owners eventually started another pool hall, Detention, on Olive Avenue, in what had been an abandoned Blockbuster Video store.

The Avalon/Babylon building did have a short revival in 2023, when Laura Barboza leased it as an event space. Barboza was known for her work with the Azteca Theater downtown. Several events were booked at the venue, including a weekly arts pop-up and the Summer Kickback concert, which featured DJ Yella and Lil Eazy-E.

That lease was terminated during its contingency period and the space is now available again, according to Shane Sousa with Retail California, which brokered the deal.

“It’s been sitting vacant for a few years and will need some work,” Sousa said.

“But we’re actively marketing it and just looking for the right tenant who’s open to putting some improvements into it.”

Cafe Midi/Archer’s Music

Fern and Maroa avenues This building is a standout on the end of an otherwise vibrant stretch of Fern Avenue that includes Livingstone’s Restaurant and Pub, the music venue Strummer’s and the cannabis dispensary Dr. Greenthumbs.

A portion of it has been vacant for at least 50 years, and a second spot has sat empty since the late 1990s.

In the 1960s, it was home to Cafe Midi, a counterculture hot spot and folk music hangout that is widely considered Fresno’s first coffee house (though not without some debate). The owner moved up north to Shaw Avenue and closed the Fern Avenue spot in 1970.

It’s been empty since. An attempt was made to remodel the space into a bar called Tower District Dive in 2001. It never materialized.

Another section of the building was home to the original Archer’s Music, an instrument repair shop and music store that operated until the late 1990s when its owner, following a pattern it seems, moved north to Shaw Avenue.

It is unclear if there are any current plans for the building, though there are no permits listed with the city and the interior is in bad shape, according to Cami Cipolla, the executive director of the Tower District Business Association. It will take a significant amount of time, money and construction to get it up to code and rentable, she said.

Starbucks

741 E. Olive Ave. The Tower District was home to Starbucks’ second Fresno location when it opened on Olive Avenue in the late 1990s, much to the chagrin of the neighborhood, which resented the intrusion of a national chain.

Ironically, the neighborhood also resented the chain for permanently closing the Tower location during the pandemic.

Though the space, between Irene’s Cafe and Mama Mia Pizzeria, has been empty since 2020, it is in the process of becoming something new.

It will be additional seating for the combined adjacent business that is Mama Mia and cocktail bar Lucy’s Lounge.

It’s being remodeled, though it’s going slowly, said Lucy’s owner Bobby Salazar.

When it’s finished, the wall will be knocked down and a banquet room will seat an additional 60 to 70 people. It will have a small bar and use of the patio. When not being used for special events, it can be used as seating for Mama Mia’s and Lucy’s.

The Wild Blue

1145 Fulton St. This spot, sandwiched between two restaurants — Golden Restaurant and India’s Oven — remade Fresno’s live music scene during the mid-1970s and ’80s. It was a breeding ground for locals of all stripes, a centralized stop for artists from the Bay Area to Los Angeles and instrumental in helping create what would become Fresno’s arts and entertainment hub.

Last year, the venue known as the Wild Blue was installed in the Valley Music Hall of Fame.

The spot has been mostly been boarded up since The Wild Blue closed in 1994. SoHo, a disco club, was there for three years, before its dance permit was revoked by the city. It also faltered as Jax House, a live music venue and Elementz, a Christian nightclub.

Last year, neighbors took note when a notice for alcohol sales was posted in the window of the spot. City permits show a proposed expansion of India’s Oven, the restaurant next door. The owner declined to give any details about what he was planning for the space or when it might be open.

This story was originally published July 24, 2025 at 11:14 AM.