[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 1170]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          HONORING REZA ASSEMI

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. GEORGE RADANOVICH

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 3, 2010

  Mr. RADANOVICH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend and 
congratulate Reza Assemi upon being awarded with the ``You Get It 
Award'' by the Greater Fresno Area Chamber of Commerce and Image Fresno 
Coalition. Mr. Assemi will be honored on Wednesday, December 16, 2009 
in Fresno, California.
  Mr. Reza Assemi was raised in Fresno, California. He attended Bullard 
High School and California State University, Fresno where he earned a 
Bachelors degree in Philosophy. After college, he resided in both San 
Francisco and Los Angeles seeking a viable art community where he could 
live and work. In 2000, with an idea in mind, Mr. Assemi returned to 
Fresno with a vision for creating a thriving arts community in downtown 
Fresno. With his father as a financial partner, Mr. Assemi purchased 
the former Red Cross Building and in sixteen months the Pearl Building 
was up and running as a true multi-use building. The Pearl Building now 
serves as a place for artists to live, work and show their work to the 
public. It also has a community space with plenty of room to bring in 
guest artists and show their work without opening the doors to private 
living spaces.
  Shortly after developing the Pearl Building, Mr. Assemi took on a 
redevelopment project for the Vagabond Motel, also located in downtown 
Fresno. The building is about a block away from the Pearl Building, 
making the site perfect for creating a community and helping the area 
grow. This is also a mixed use project; the site also serves as a 
commercial space, affordable housing, and artist spaces at market rate 
rent. Since then, Mr. Assemi has completed one project after another.
  In the ten years since moving back to Fresno, Mr. Assemi has brought 
nearly two hundred residential units to downtown Fresno. His most 
recent project, the Iron Bird Lofts, was completed December 1, 2009. He 
has already began looking to his next project, restoring a historic 
downtown Fresno building to create twenty-three residential lofts. His 
vision for establishing a viable, economically stable neighborhood and 
thriving arts community has made Mr. Assemi a pioneer in the downtown 
development of Fresno.
  Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend and congratulate Reza Assemi 
for his tremendous contributions to the revitalization of downtown 
Fresno and upon being awarded the ``You Get It Award.'' Invite my 
colleagues to join me in wishing Mr. Assemi many years of continued 
success.

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