The Peerless Building, at 1755 Broadway Street in Fresno, California, was built in 1935.[1] Originally built for pump manufacturing, sales and service, it was renovated and reopened 2018 as a mixed-use commercial space.[1][2]
 Peerless Building in 2022 | |
 | |
| General information | |
|---|---|
| Address | 1755 Broadway Street |
| Town or city | Fresno, California |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 36°44′27″N 119°48′00″W / 36.740740°N 119.799970°W |
| Elevation | 308 ft (94 m) |
| Completed | 1935 |
| Renovated | 2018 |
| Technical details | |
| Floor area | 30,000 sq ft (2,800 m2) |
Location
editThe building is on the north end of downtown Fresno, adjacent to the right-of-way of the old Union Pacific Railroad.
History
edit
Formed in 1923 in Los Angeles, California, Peerless Pump was one of the original companies manufacturing deep well vertical turbine pumps for groundwater applications, particularly effective for agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley.[3] Peerless Pump quickly expanded its operations and opened a factory in Fresno on 1225 Broadway Street, closer to central downtown.[4] Operations moved to the former More-Pak building at Sacramento and H streets in 1930 in a lease arrangement while a permanent building was being constructed a block over.[4] In 1935, the 30,000-square-foot Peerless Pump building was completed at 1755 Broadway Street.[1]
Peerless Pump was acquired by FMC Corp. in 1932 and continued to assemble, sell and service pumps out of the Fresno facility.[5] In 1976 FMC Corp. sold Peerless Pump to Indian Head. In 2007, Peerless became a wholly owned subsidiary company of the Grundfos group of Denmark. By that time most operations had been consolidated to other locations.
The Peerless Building was sold to a local developer and investor Nader Assemi, for whom the renovation of the building became a passion project.[6] The building was re-opened to tenants in June 2018 and since then has grown to include retail, restaurants and office space.[7] The renovation kept original artifacts such as manufacturing equipment and windows to keep some original character of the space.[8]
Events
editThe building is a site for community events such as a pumpkin patch for charity[9] and the recurring Fresno ArtHop event.[10]
References
edit- ^ a b c Kohlruss, Craig (June 8, 2018). "Peerless Building in downtown Fresno holds grand opening with an ArtHop show". Fresno Bee. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
The building, which originally built for the Peerless Pump Company in 1935, is now a 30,000 square-foot mixed use commercial space on the north end of downtown Fresno
- ^ "Downtown Fresno's Renovated Peerless Building to Welcome New Tenants". The Business Journal. June 4, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
The 30,000 square-foot building at 1755 Broadway St. was originally owned by the Peerless Pump Co., which has been around for nearly 90 years.
- ^ "Announcing The Peerless Pump Company". The Los Angeles Times. July 22, 1923. p. 148. Retrieved July 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Peerless Pump Moves Into New Fresno Quarters". The Fresno Morning Republican. February 2, 1930. p. 10. Retrieved July 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Food Machinery Corporation". Journal of the American Water Works Association. 38 (1). 1946. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
Peerless Pumps are made by FMC's Peerless Pump Division, with Factories at Los Angeles & Fresno, California; Canton, Ohio and Quincy, Illinois
- ^ "Assemi Real Estate Partners With Side in SME Real Estate, Boosting Its Old-School Customer Service With the Latest Tech". Yahoo!. January 20, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
Assemi has been flipping houses since 2011. Downtown Fresno's Peerless Building, one of his passion projects, was years in the making and hosts a mix of tenants, including a women-owned clothing retailer, microbrewery, natural wine bar, boxing gym, and several art galleries
- ^ Venegas, Amanda (February 18, 2022). "Woman-owned business, KLSD, expands in downtown Fresno". ABC30. Fresno. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
KLSD was one of the first businesses in the Peerless Building. In addition to her shop and an engineering firm, it has grown to include a brewery, wine bar and hair salon
- ^ Nelson, Patrick (June 7, 2018). "1930s Building gets new life in downtown Fresno". YourCentralValley. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
Original artifacts including manufacturing equipment, windows, and more have remained intact as a nod to the past, while aiming to inspire the future. What was once a manufacturing facility is now a mixed-use space for modern day creators
- ^ Hawkins, Stephen (October 8, 2019). "Michael previews a free Fresno pumpkin patch". Fox26. Fresno. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
A local pumpkin patch is helping lower income schools celebrate Halloween. Michael Ikahihifo spent the morning at the Peerless Building Pumpkin Patch in Fresno to give us a preview
- ^ "Newly Renovated Peerless Building Debuts With ArtHop Event". GVWire. June 5, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
External links
edit- Peerless Building website