Housing Watch: New luxury apartment complex opens in northeast Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Rock Ranch at Alluvial and Chestnut in northeast Fresno is the latest entry into the luxury apartment market, which Adam Goldfarb says has seen an increase in demand.

The lights and doors are programmable.

"You can either put your phone up and open your door, you can use an old school key or you can put in a punch pad," he said.

Goldfarb is Chief Operating Officer of Manco Abbott, which manages this property and dozens of others.

Sixteen duplexes separated from the complex were the first units to be taken.

They rent for $2,600 a month.

"They could afford the houses, a couple of them are building houses and they're waiting for them to be done," Goldfarb said. "If someone moves into Fresno, they don't know where to move. They'll want to rent for a year."

Construction Isn't even finished on the 176-unit complex but it is already 50% full.

"We're moving people in as soon as the apartments are available," Goldfarb said.

Luxury complexes have helped raise the area's average rent, though prices have gone down 3% since September.

Still, Rob Warnock of ApartmentList.com says rent in Fresno has gone up 16.5% in a year.

"If we use March 2020 as kind of the start of the pandemic for our purposes, prices in Fresno are a little over 23% higher than they were," he said.

Warnock says Fresno ranks 26th out of 100 big cities when it comes to rent increases.

"Everywhere else that ranks higher than Fresno are in Arizona, Florida and Nevada," he said.

One-bedroom apartments at Rock Ranch start at $1,900 a month.

But Goldfarb says this complex constructed by Ginder Development fills a need in Fresno and residents are drawn in by amenities which include a clubhouse, rec room and workout areas.

"I think we're competitive in the market and obviously have rented a lot of them, so there's definitely a demand for high-quality products," he said.

Rock Ranch actually competes with other complexes Manco Abbott manages, but Goldfarb says it doesn't appear the new place has taken away residents from those complexes.