Tailored after college towns across the country, construction on shops and restaurants for the Campus Pointe project adjacent to the Save Mart Center is beginning this month.

The $115 million development includes restaurants, retail stores, a Hyatt Place hotel and a cinema.­Edward Kashian, the project developer and chief executive officer of Lance-Kashian & Co., said that this new construction reflects the wants and needs of the community.

“The purpose is so that people who live and work in the area have somewhere to shop and eat and entertain themselves,” he said.
The Campus Pointe project aims to satisfy part of Fresno State’s long-range master plan, which looks forward to enrollment in 2025, by expanding community access. Kashian said he was chosen as the preferred developer for the project by Fresno State more than five years ago.

“What the university wanted is a community that would allow students, faculty and administration to have some social intercourse,” Kashian said. “So, fundamentally, what we’re building is a college town.”

Campus Pointe will include businesses like Cold Stone Creamery and KwirkWorld. Kashian said many spaces are still available to rent and that he hopes Fresno State students are not shy about voicing what they’d like to see there.

Kelly Lagle, a Fresno State nursing student, said she would like to see healthy food choices at Campus Pointe.

“The area should be a college environment, but I wouldn’t want there to be a bar,” she said. “I’d like it more family-based. It would be cool to have a Whole Foods or something along those lines on this side of town.”

Ruby Ferrer, a freshman who lives near campus, said she hopes it will act as a River Park for university students like her who drive across town to shop.
“I wouldn’t have to waste gas or worry about traffic,” she said. “I would just walk everywhere. I’m excited that the area would become more of a university town.”

According to Samantha Hopkins, a leasing agent at Campus Pointe Palazzo apartments, this new college-town vibe is certainly drawing people in. She said the student-living community is already 96 percent full.

“We have a lot of young people moving out of their parents’ house, from areas like Reedley and Madera,” she said. “They really like the fact that everything is going to be so close to where they are living. Especially if they don’t have a vehicle, it’s nice that everything is in walking distance.”

Kashian said that new buildings should be noticeable by the end of the month and that construction is set to finish in about a year.