‘These buildings speak to me.’ Downtown Fresno landmark regains its original beauty

Marek Warszawski
·4 min read

Fresno’s oldest high rise, for so long treated as a least-favored stepchild, is finally getting some love and attention.

The 10-story, 107-year-old Helm Building, on the corner of Fulton and Mariposa streets, recently had a facelift — and boy is the difference striking.

The faux brick tile and dated signage that covered the building’s facade were removed, revealing the original exterior. To replace sections of decorative carvings that were damaged or missing, a local stone mason was brought in to custom fabricate and install 360 feet of new facade that almost seamlessly blends with the old.

Complete with new windows covering the street level storefronts and installation of smaller ones on the second floor underway, the Helm Building hasn’t looked this good in decades.

“People forgot how beautiful this building is, or was,” owner Sevak Khatchadourian said. “The exterior was a complete mess. People throughout the years had no idea what they were working on. They had no respect and nothing to do with the business of historical buildings. They really messed it up.”

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Khatchadourian and his brother/business partner, Serko, have owned the Helm Building since April 2012, six months after the duo purchased its taller and more famous neighbor across the street, the 16-story Pacific Southwest Building.

Rather than sit on these prominent edifices of downtown Fresno’s heyday while waiting for their value to increase, the Khatchadourians are active participants in their revitalization.

When the Khatchadourians bought it, the Pacific Southwest Building was 90 percent unoccupied. Today, it’s more than 90 percent occupied, according to general manager Charles Atikian, with two floors currently undergoing renovations. (One is for residential lofts, bringing the total to 20; the other is for offices.) When those are finished, the only unoccupied floors will be at the very top, 15 and 16, which are reserved for a restaurant and bar.

By contrast, the Helm Building has sat vacant (besides a T-Mobile store) since July 2015 when wire thieves started a basement fire that blew out the electrical transformers. The upper floors haven’t seen occupants in a quarter century.

Building’s rebirth begins at ground floor

Khatchadourian’s vision for the building’s rebirth begins at ground level. Lease agreements with the Ethiopian/Kenyan restaurant Faska and Little Bean cafe were previously announced, and a wine bar may soon join them. However, interior renovations in those spaces have yet to begin.

Sevak Khatchadourian, who owns the Helm Building on Fulton and Mariposa streets in downtown Fresno, has hopes of preserving the building’s historic architecture while turning it into a living and working environment, much like he’s done with the Pacific Southwest Building across the street.
Sevak Khatchadourian, who owns the Helm Building on Fulton and Mariposa streets in downtown Fresno, has hopes of preserving the building’s historic architecture while turning it into a living and working environment, much like he’s done with the Pacific Southwest Building across the street.

Once the ground floor is completed, Khatchadourian plans to convert the upper floors into between “75 and 90” small residential lofts with concrete ceilings and floors and exposed brick walls. It’s a formula that has proven successful at the Pacific Southwest Building, where a long wait list vies for available space.

“We need more market-rate housing,” he said. “That’s what is going to make downtown successful.”

Why is Khatchadourian, a Beverly Hills-based developer who mainly renovates and sells luxury homes, so invested in Fresno’s urban core?

A lot of it has to do with his attachment to the buildings themselves.

“I love architecture — my background was architecture,” Khatchadourian said. “So when I look at these buildings, for me they’re not only buildings, they speak to me. … Every piece of it, every angle has a different meaning.”

Designed in the Renaissance Revival style by architect George Kelham, best known for San Francisco landmarks such as the Russ Building and the Palace Hotel, the Helm Building opened in 1914 as the Griffith-McKenzie Building after its original owners. It was renamed in 1934 in honor of William Helm, the 19th century Fresno County settler who started out as a sheepherder and became a prominent landowner and financier.

Bargain price for downtown high rise

When downtown Fresno bottomed out as the city expanded north, the Helm Building took the fall especially hard. Twice during the early 1990s it was sold in foreclosure, including in 1993 for the bargain price of $200,000 — a sum a local real estate agent called “the cheapest I’ve heard of” for a building that size.

The Helm Building on Fulton and Mariposa streets in downtown Fresno was Fresno’s first high rise when it opened in 1914. Vacant for decades, the building now owned by Sevak Khatchadourian is going through renovations with hopes of creating loft apartments and retail space while preserving its historic architecture.
The Helm Building on Fulton and Mariposa streets in downtown Fresno was Fresno’s first high rise when it opened in 1914. Vacant for decades, the building now owned by Sevak Khatchadourian is going through renovations with hopes of creating loft apartments and retail space while preserving its historic architecture.

The restored exterior facade (kudos to Robert Saramazian of Precast Mantel and Columns) and broad flat cornice are matched in ornate style on the inside. There are marble-lined hallways, an old-fashioned lobby mailbox with a glass chute that stretches 10 floors and an elevator door adorned with bronze reliefs depicting San Joaquin Valley agriculture.

“It’s all still there,” Khatchadourian confirmed.

Even after Fulton Street reopened to cars in 2017, the last 20 pandemic-filled months haven’t been especially kind to downtown Fresno. Nevertheless, the Lebanese-born Armenian remains upbeat about the future.

Which is a big reason, besides simple pride of ownership, why Fresno’s oldest high rise is starting to regain its original beauty.

The Helm Building on Fulton and Mariposa streets in downtown Fresno was Fresno’s first high rise when it opened in 1914. Vacant for decades, the building now owned by Sevak Khatchadourian is going through renovations with hopes of creating loft apartments and retail space while preserving its historic architecture.
The Helm Building on Fulton and Mariposa streets in downtown Fresno was Fresno’s first high rise when it opened in 1914. Vacant for decades, the building now owned by Sevak Khatchadourian is going through renovations with hopes of creating loft apartments and retail space while preserving its historic architecture.