The Hotel Fresno undergoing renovation project to assist low-income families

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The $27 million plan to refurbish a dilapidated hotel is quickly taking shape.

The Hotel Fresno's 200 rooms are being re-worked into 79 1,2 and 3 bedroom apartments for low-income families.

We caught up with Project Superintendent Kevin Bernell in the grand ballroom.

"We've framed walls up to the fifth floor," Bernell said. We have all the plumbing in, the waste vents and drains."

Bernell's mom attended her Selma High Senior Prom here in 1958.

There are plumbing snakes through the metal framing throughout the building.

The Hotel Fresno was named to the National Register of Historic Places, so extra attention is being paid to everything, from the architecture to this mural painted by Charles Maroot in 1927.

"The historical experts are here making sure everything from the historical elements to the color and the textures are all maintained," Bernell said.

The building owners, APEC International, were able to take advantage of tax credits to help finance the project.

The first floor will be reserved for retail, while housing will take up the six other floors.

All of the old windows have been removed. New ones are expected in March.

The project is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Families will then be allowed to move in.