Downtown Reno

6/13/2008 - BEEEER CRAWL! - Mark your pda/google/Outlook calendar for Saturday, June 28th for the inaugural Reno Beer Crawl.  This locally brewed event is being sponsored by 13 downtown Reno taverns. The Beer Crawl spans five blocks from California Avenue to the north end of the Riverwalk District.  Participants include Amendment 21 Grill & Sports Bar, 3rd Street Blues Bar, 5 Star Saloon, Ceol Irish Pub, the Chocolate Bar, Foxy Olive, Red Martini, Red Rock Studios, Satellite, Se7en, Sierra Tap House, Silver Peak and The Waterfall.  A free Reno Beer Crawl shuttle will circulate along the route providing rides and information. Participants can purchase glasses and maps for $5 on June 28 from 2– 5 p.m. at Amendment 21 (425 S. Virginia St.) and The Waterfall (134 W. Second St.).  Each bar will have 5 ounce glasses of specialty beer available for $1.  Beers featured in the first Crawl include international favorites and four quality local offerings by Great Basin Brewery, Silver Peak, and Buckbean.
Each month’s Crawl will highlight a different downtown retail establishment and a benefit a different local charity.  The featured business and beneficiary of the inaugural Crawl is Reno’s own roller derby sensations, the Battle Born Derby Demons (BBDD).  The Demons face off against the Silicon Valley Roller Girls on June 28 at 7 p.m. at the Rink on the River.  The team is offering a $10 special for game tickets and a glass and map to the Reno Beer Crawl.

The Reno Beer Crawl and BBDD are inviting 150 members of the Nevada Army National Guard to attend the Crawl and the game for free.

Free parking is available at the Amendment 21 surface lot located at 445 S. Virginia, the 50 West Liberty parking structure at 440 S. Sierra, the new Washoe County lot on Court and Virginia Streets, and the City of Reno lot at 2nd and Virginia Streets. I'll give you another reminder as the event date nears.  

6/13/2008 - DOWNTOWN RENO WALK
Townhouses at Holcomb Place, Baseball Site, Downtown, Montage, and more. Click here to view pics.

6/13/2008 - PLANNING COMMISSION STUFF - Things have been pretty quite on the Planning Commission front lately, for pretty obvious reasons. However a couple of tidbits are in the upcoming meeting. Not super interesting, but enough to post about:
1. RTC Transit Station - LDC08-00216 (RTC 4th Street Station) – This is a request for:
(1) a special use permit to reduce the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) below the required 3.0 for the Entertainment District of the Downtown Reno Regional Center Overlay Zoning District; and (2) variances to: a) reduce the required setbacks for the site; and b) to modify various lighting, landscaping and screening provisions in Sections 18.08.405(4)(a), (d) and (e) and 18.12.1201 through 1209. The ±2.62 site is located at 200 East Fourth Street at the southeast corner of the intersection of East Fourth (4th) Street and Lake Street in the MU/DRRC (Mixed Use/Downtown Reno Regional Center) overlay district. cdr [Ward 1]
2. LDC05-00547 (Grand Sierra Condominiums) - This is a request
for a one year time extension on the tentative map for the
Grand Sierra Condominiums. The ±144 acre site is located
along the east side of US 395, north of Mill Street and south of
Glendale Avenue in the MU/RLM (Mixed Use/River Landing at
Mill) zones. vak [Ward 3]
I'm not sure if the Grand Sierra item is for the current condos in the main tower, or referring to the Kobi Karp towers Grand Sierra envisioned on their property, but I guess an extension is better than canceling it totally.

6/11/2008 - RDA MEETING
Yay so the RDA meeting finally started, after a pretty intense discussion of Antique Dealers. Mark Lewis began with a general overview of the history of the priority projects. I'll skip that part since most of you that have read this site know the history of most of these projects. I was happy to hear this time around solid timelines have been applied to most of these projects. Review of priority projects:
Beautification art - City hall exterior enhancements are currently underway. On July 9th there will be a meeting with business owners along the remainder of Virginia Street from Mt. Rose to Liberty to discuss possibilities, concerns etc of extending the pilot lighting project.
Facade Improvement Program for South Virginia - Architect is finalizing design plans with the business owners involved, funding for this project has been identified through the same funding source as the Post Office project. It should be before the City Council for approval in final form within next couple of months.
10 North Virginia Retail - Architect has come back with some LEED concepts, better architectural concepts, and still has 'one of the larger restaurants in Tahoe' in tow. My guess is still Garwoods. Mark didn't mention, or I missed, when it would come before Council for approval, but odds are it will hit the Citizens Advisory Committee first sometime early summer. He mentioned the council will be very happy with his revisions. If you remember, the first design the developer submitted was less-than-well-received by the Council.
Post Office - Agreements have been restructuring for HUD compliancy, which is where funding for this project and the Facade Improvement Program have been identified for a loan. RDA and the Post Office are lining up final ducks in a row, and the final agreement should be before the City Council in September. The Post Office has found another location in the downtown area they are happy with.
Post Office Plaza - Scheduled for completion in December of 09. RDA is hoping to bring final design for plaza to council for approval Oct of this year.
Whitewater Extension - Originally started as ecochannel, then converted to whitewater park extension. Three well-qualified design firms turned in proposals. Funding has yet to be identified, and staff is working with the finance dept to identify this.
Two Downtown Parking Structures - One on west side of Virginia, and one on east side. Mark Lewis mentioned parking structures are hard to build, and the city has no funds to build them on their own, and they have to be built from projected revenues of the structure itself…cost of land has been a challenge. So to get around that they have been working with a large private business downtown. I am still guessing the Eldorado. They completed financial analysis in March, and a bond underwriter is reviewing the project. The project should be back before the council for approval by October. I believe this is only for the West-of-Virginia-Street structure. No word on east-of-Virginia structure.
Entertainment Core Retail - Merged with baseball project. Council's main goal was to use baseball as economic driver to bring more retail in town. Completed negotiations with RTC to acquire Citicenter property, funding sources are being finalized for Citcenter. An agreement is in negotiation stage for the proposed ground-floor retail National Bowling stadium retail and plans should be submitted to the council no later than September. Hyatt agreement has been completed.
Baseball - Utilities still being relocated including sewer and stuff associated with the power substation on-site. Fire Station demolition is scheduled this month, and asbestos is being removed right now. An environmental plan has been approved by the County. Concrete should start pouring in August.
RETRAC COVER - The railroad has requested some revisions construction should start first part of July. December 08 completion. New UP staff came on board, has a view different perspectives on the original MOU. Has not submitted to UP the final structure design. UP will provide an EIC to start work at the rainbow bridge to repair the wall. Toward the end of April, UP decided it would not treat it as design/build project, and would not let city start building the deck until the plans are approved.  Are in final changes of approval of structural design, first round of comments back from UP on ventilation system of design in a couple weeks.
Urban Market -  RDA is currently working with tenants for internal improvements, including plans and license applications. UNR Cooperative Extension will design and maintain the West Street Median, which will be a unique horticulture garden and a prime centerpiece of the market. From the renderings, it looks like the clock from Park Lane Mall is also a component. The Outdoor market will begin in July. First one is July 9th!
The Grand Opening for the full interior Market is being finalized for October. A commissioning of a unique bike rack for market has been commissioned from Youth Artworks (sorry if that name is wrong, Mark said it so fast I didn't catch it).
Should have complete presentation by month of July for October Market.

6/10/2008 - NEW POLL QUESTION
- Yes Yes I know I have been lagging big time in getting another poll question up, but I don't like to just ask trivial non important questions. So here's one for you; I had some relatives in town last weekend, and we were sitting around, trying to think of a new restaurant to go to. I've been to most of the restaurants downtown, with the exception of the casino restaurants, some of which are rated really nice. I suggested the steak house at Harrah's, however my relatives wanted nothing to do with a casino, no matter how good the restaurant was. I found that odd, since usually you just have to do a quick walk-through the casino to get to their restaurants. So I asked, 'If Harrah's was Harrah's without the casino, would you go?' They answered yes, which got me to thinking about how locals feel about the casinos downtown, and how they dictate their food/entertainment options. Most people I talk to avoid hotel casinos at all costs, and yet some of the highest rated restaurants in recent 'Best Of' lists are in casinos. So then I pondered for a second...what if a 16+ story hotel tower was built downtown WITHOUT a casino? Most cities, including Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, NYC, Chicago, Sacramento etc have large non-gaming hotel towers downtown. Of course, I doubt one will ever be built, but one can dream! Take my poll....

6/10/2008 - VARIOUS TIDBITS
- You may have noticed, but the Waterfront Tower (I forgot the new name) on 2nd Street across from the site of the baseball stadium is getting a new coat of primer! Most of the western face of the building is covered in white primer. This building will be undergoing a multimillion dollar makeover, with retail being put in on the first floor.
- The River Festival this year drew a record crowd of over 37,000. Nice!
- A priority project update will be given to the City Council/RDA at 2:00 p.m. on June 11 (tomorrow), City Council Chambers, 1 East First Street. Priority projects include Community Assistance Center, Baseball, Entertainment Core Retail, Beautification, 10 North Virginia Street, Post Office, ReTRAC Cover, Urban Market and the Whitewater Park extension.
- The Historical Resources Commission has a couple upcoming items that mean a lot to me; The first one is discussion, location, and possible actions that may be taken to preserve and interpret the original V & T Railroad Abutments on the north and south sides of the Truckee River. If you aren't familiar with these, they are between where Lake Street crosses the river and 2nd Street crosses the river, right in front of the Grant's Landing property, and the are the old bridge supports for where the V & T used to cross the Truckee. The Around Carson dude has some amazing shots of the bridge that used to be there. The V & T also used to go right down Holcomb Avenue, past my house. You can spot the Freight House in the first photo below.


- In the HRC meeting on Thursday, they will also discuss adaptive reuse of the unused portion of the Amtrak Station, perhaps as an information kiosk.

6/6/2008 - MONTAGE WALK-THROUGH! - Alright DTM readers this is what many of you have been asking and waiting for, a full-fledged tour of the Montage! That's right, interior pics finally. Keep in mind, my mid-grade digital camera doesn't even come close to capturing the full essence and vibe of this project; you'll need to see it yourself, which you can soon when the 7th floor models open. I was blown away by the progress I saw on the interior. It's really coming together with over 300 construction workers on site, all in a synchronized dance to the finish line. The pool deck is out of control, it's insane, I just don't know how else to describe it; when completed it will have a large pool, 2 large hot tubs, trellises everywhere, an owners clubhouse, lush landscaping, on-deck fire pits, water sculptures, deck chairs, and more.  Speaking of landscaping, they will be planting 35 foot tall trees from Moana Nursery along Sierra and 2nd Street. I captured great pics of nearly everything; the models, the mega-tall lofts, the terrace townhomes, the 2 main decks, the 2 primary restaurant spaces, and more. Larry, a marketing guru co-worker of mine and who helps me on this site, went with me on the tour and he fell in love with the building as well. Fernando was awesome for taking us on a tour; the more I hang out with this guy, the more I 'get' his vision for downtown Reno. Check it out by clicking here!

5/30/2008 - VARIOUS TIDBITS
- The Dairy Queen downtown is history. This is part of a much larger story unfolding, stay tuned.
- The Baseball folks have a web cam up now. It actually has a pretty good refresh rate (tech talk, sorry). http://www.cityofreno.com/Index.aspx?page=1532
- Roots for Wells - We have some amazing people on the Ward 3 Advisory Board, particularly those that live on 'the island' as it has come to be known. Ward 3 Neighborhood Advisory Board provided a grant of $7500 to fund the first annual Roots for Wells street tree planting campaign for the spring of 2009! With a generous donation of 100 trees from the City of Reno Urban Forestry Department, and with the help of volunteers, we plan to plant 100 trees in a single day in the landscape strips (planting strip between the sidewalk and street) next spring in the neighborhoods surrounding Wells Avenue.  We want this to be an annual event, planting 100 or more trees each spring.
- Have you all noticed that along South Virginia Street from Liberty down to about Mt. Rose, and also on Wells Avenue, that retail spaces are filling in? A Money Tree is going where Kokopelli's used to be on South Virginia, and a hip clothing store has moved into where Resco Restaurant Equipment used to be. And on Wells Avenue, I am seeing less and less graffiti, and several remodeled storefronts. This neighborhood is really starting to turn around.

5/30/2008 - DOWNTOWN WALK 5-28-08
- New exterior features added to Montage is making it really look sharp now, plus pics of Townhouses at Holcomb Place, State Street Project ground work, and general pics of downtown. Click here to view!

5/28/2008 - GRANT'S LANDING NEVER LANDED
- So that's that for Grant's Landing, for now anyway. The land is for sale on Loopnet as id 15725396 (or just search for Grant's Landing). Thanks Mike for the tip! Oh well. Maybe someone else will come in and build something eventually. Also for sale on Loopnet is the Ponte Vecchio project. I'm not sure if it's a good sign or a bad sign when an entire project (land) is for sale. But they are for sale. Maybe Ken up at Urban Blog can buy the land and finally make his awesome Circle Square Plan come to fruition.

5/26/2008 - 2008 - YEAR OF THE BUSINESS HOTEL
- Blech it's a rainy not so warm day out. A good day to do a post! So let's talk about business travelers. I used to be one, I know the species well; decked out in mobile electronica and can pack for a plane in less than 10 minutes. It appears Reno has underserved this market, because as one of my favorite tipsters pointed out to me, there is suddenly a flurry of business-class non-gaming hotels being built. Let's review;
1. A new 96-room, four-story Staybridge Suites is being built in South Meadows next to Hampton Inn, designed for extended stays a week or more, each room will have full kitchen amenities.
2. The Hampton Inn, where #1 is going next to, was recently completed in South Meadows.
3. A new business-class hotel will break ground soon on I-80 and Robb Drive.
4. Site work is being done for a 127-room Hyatt Place hotel at the corner of Plumb Lane and Terminal Way.
5. Hyatt Summerfield will break ground in August downtown Reno on 2nd Street. Designed for extended stay business travelers, will have full kitchen amenities.
6. Others Include: Another one just opened by Costco on Plumb, one is being completed next to the Neal offramp, another just west of 395 and north of Plumb under construction, and one just finished by South Meadows and Double R.

5/18/2008 - DOWNTOWN WALK - PORT OF SUBS DOWNTOWN AND TRUCKEE RIVER EATS AND SWEETS
- It's 3:00 p.m., and there are so many people downtown it feels like downtown will burst at the seams at any moment lol. I am looking over at Wingfield Park, and there isn't even standing room. I see no special events going on, so this is pretty incredible. The city really needs to step up the pace on the extension of that whitewater park, and it wouldn't hurt to see an extension of Wingfield Park somehow...maybe northward up the Truckee a bit....people need more room! Anyway I headed out earlier today to take some pics, click here for my downtown walk pics. There are some great new shots of Montage, State Street Project, Townhouses at Holcomb Place, and First Street area. Go check out Truckee River Eats n Sweets, the store seemingly popped up out of nowhere next to Sierra Tap House on the Riverwalk near Arlington. They sell everything from ice cream to dog treats to salads and sandwiches.

5/17/2008 - LEED CERTIFIED OFFICE BUILDING TO BREAK GROUND SOON ON CENTER STREET
- Check this work of art out. Yes, I like these kinds of buildings, I guess I dig a wide range of architectural styles. Anyway, this is being built on Center Street, across the street from 8 On Center in that empty lot. They recently upgraded the utilities on that lot, and it's due to break ground this summer. It will be a 'green' building and LEED Certified, offering office space on two floors.

5/17/2008 - VARIOUS TIDBITS
First Street - There is serious activity going on where La Bassola used to be, on First Street between West Street and Arlington. I wonder what is going there? Anyone know? NNBW reports that Port of Subs is staking out a place on First Street, and a place called Truckee River Eats 'n Treats opened on the Riverwalk, yet I can't find a thing about it on Google, RGJ, or on Renoriver.org. Anyone have more info on that as well?
Ponte Vecchio - Well look what project popped back onto the radar! Ponte Vecchio recently had an item on the City Council agenda allowing them to proceed with the remodel of Lundsford Park. Also, Equipment and materials storage containers were on the Ponte Vecchio site today and some guys were there beginning to organize the construction site together -  looks like serious site work will probably start soon.
Shopper's Square Expansion - Ground work has started again here. Perhaps construction will begin soon. The Park Lane Mall property remains eerily silent, nothing in the Planning Commission pipeline either.
Ryder Homes Project on Mill - 2 of the houses on the Willow-facing side are now vacant with no for rent signs in front anymore. A tipster that lives close to the project was told demolition could happen within 90 days. If you aren't familiar with this project, it's on the corner of Mill and Holcomb and Willow and High Streets, a very large parcel with some really run down industrial buildings used by police for raiding drills etc, and then a few old brick 1920s-1930's homes. I am on Ryder's list to get the garage doors off one of the homes before it will be demo'd, and my neighbors are on the list for the old windows, and my other neighbor has dibs on the garage door. Lots of people in Wells Avenue neighborhood like to recycle house parts for our old homes. It's a great practice for restoring homes.
Dairy Queen Downtown - The gated-off Dairy Queen downtown might see the wrecking ball soon. A birdie told me the property owners are possibly seeking bids to demo it within this month.
Tahoe Reno Industrial Center - If you haven't had a chance to go out here, OMG! I tipster told me to drive out and take a look. It's amazing, huge 1 and 2 million s.f. buildings being built everywhere, and they all seemingly already have a company staking claim to each one...i.e. they aren't just being built to remain empty, there are actual companies building them to move operations here. I know its not downtown, but this seems like the correct way to localize and consolidate industrial operations.

5/14/2008 - ADDITIONAL ITEM FROM CITY COUNCIL
- Fire Station #1 Demo - Right before the presentation of the West Street Market, a couple of firefighters addressed the council during the public comment phase of the RDA meeting. The first firefighter that got up and spoke was very visibly upset about relocating Fire Station #1's fire trucks to multiple fire stations until the temporary stations are built. See, one problem is that the firefighters have to vacate the current building before the temporary fire stations are completed in August. So, during that time frame, downtown Reno's response times would be 6+ minutes until the Valley Road and GSR temp stations are completed. He mentioned that Fire Station #1 had over 10,000 calls last year, 75% of them being medically oriented.
Then the second firefighter got up to speak, his name was Richard and he was the President of Reno Firefighters. He mentioned how downtown Reno was kind of blocked in, and that if a natural or large disaster like an earthquake ever happened, there is a high chance access to downtown Reno would be blocked. They were even willing to sleep in tents if necessary just to stay downtown. Something really has to be said about firefighters who feel that passionately about this, yeah? Kudos to them for dedication and protection of their district.
In a rare move, the City Council began to ask questions directly of the firefighters during Public Comment phase and began discussing this issue. City Council is going to look at possibly leasing a property downtown to keep some firefighters and a truck or two, until the temporary stations are completed. Sharon Zadra mentioned she would like to see a REMSA station downtown. Call me dramatic, but what the firefighters said was pretty moving, it got the council's attention for sure, and I just can't thank them enough for being so dedicated to the downtown area. Fire Station #1 you rock!

5/14/2008 2:45 p.m. - BREAKING NEWS - WEST STREET MARKET TENANTS - You saw it here first!

- Brickhouse bakery - Chris Tisdale will be running it, bakery in his hometown is dream come true.

La Marenda Italian Restaurant and Shop - Great Italian Cooking

Wine bar - Run by Rick Martinez, has traveled the world looking for great wines, and is happy to find a place downtown to share his passion.

Great Basin Community Coop - Will handle fresh produce. Started as buying club with few volunteers in 2006. Then operated storefront in 2006. Provide local organic and whole foods to well over 900 people. Fresh local stuff.

Mikanos Greek Restaurant - was born and raised in Greece, has run a restaurant the last 9 years. Simple authentic greek food.

Se7en Teahouse and bar – Great energy with teas and stuff.

Downtown Marketplace - Pioneers in downtown. Will handle groceries and deli downtown.

Great Basin Community Basket - Really interesting. Community Supported Agriculture. Subscription service to buy a basket a week from particular farmer with premium produce.

Sundance books and music - Second store downtown.

Jada's Jewelrry - handmade jewelry store downtown. Natural stone, sterling silver.

Silver Trends jewelry

Additional vendor booths will be available for rent by day or week. There will be outdoor stage, as well.

3 outdoor Markets will start in July, changing weekly -
Every Wednesday night at the market will feature an "Eco Market" produced by Nevada EcoNet. Topics include: Bike & Air; Trails & Land; Babies & Education; Beauty, Health, Clothes; Green Buildings; Pets & Wildlife; Cars, Biodiesel & Public Transportation; Art & Burning Man; Garden & Landscaping; Office; Energy & Sustainability; Waste & Recycling; Eco-Tourism; Truckee River & Water.

Friday nights will feature an "Artist Night" with the Holland Project providing programming with the following titles: "Ode to Crafternoon: Not Yer Granny's Craft Fair; Bazaar Bazaar; Word Up & Vertigo Pre-Party!; Old School Block Party; The Anatomy of Body; Bohemian Circus; All Things Bike!; Recycled Works; Spontaneous Solutions; Spoken Views.

Saturday mornings will feature a Farmer's & Chef's Market in cooperation with the Saturday morning Farmer's Market on California Street.
Jennifer Bushman - Market Consultant – will be charge of 'programming.'
More to come once the meeting is over!

5/11/2008 - DOWNTOWN WALK - RIVER FESTIVAL PICS
- I spent most of the day downtown on Saturday, and from the looks of it, the river festival was again a huge success. Also included in this gallery are update pics for Townhouses at Holcomb Place and the State Street Project. Click here to view the pics.

5/7/2008 - SOME WEST STREET MARKET TENANT SNEAK PEEKS
- A food angel whispered into food extraordinaire Jonathan Wright's ear that a Nick's Greek Deli is among the tenants scheduled for West Street Market downtown. The other new item not mentioned previously is Se7en Teahouse being part of the lineup. That's surprising given they have a location less than a block away. That should play out interestingly. I would have expected Reno restaurants that don't already have a downtown presence would be the ones interested in setting up shop at West Street Market. We'll see when the big lineup is announced May 14! Let's not forget that people overwhelmingly voted for ethnic-specific grocery stalls in my poll.

5/7/2008 - CAC MEETING 5-6-08
Lots of goodies packed into this meeting, including updates on 10 North Virginia, the urban market, the Truckee River Bridge Envisioning Project, Baseball Stadium, Entertainment District, and more. Click here to read.

5/5/2008 - VARIOUS TIDBITS -
1. Powerhouse Gym's stint in Reno seems to be short-lived. When I walked by today nearly half the gym equipment was gone from the building. Either they are doing improvements to the building to meet fire codes, or they bailed on the project.
2. At the Montage, they are beginning to install really large double-wide decking on the south-facing side of the building facing Sierra. A large crane on Sierra Street seems to be helping put these in place. I imagine this area really coming together in the next month.
3. Ballpark Construction - Activity is limited to a small crew doing some dirt work, but Devcon Construction trailers are there on site.
4. 100 North Sierra - Still no interior construction/renovation, however an 'office space for lease' snippet has joined the 'commercial space' for lease. Perhaps plans have changed?
5. If you haven't heard yet, District at Victorian Square has been scrapped in downtown Sparks. Ken at the Urban Blog has great commentary.
6. I heard rumors that the Belvedere project is/was in trouble, however construction was in full swing when I walked by today.
7. Granite Construction will begin the RETRAC cover on June 2. Phase 1 comprises of a concrete lid over 2.8 acres of train trench downtown.

5/5/2008 - DOWNTOWN WALK - Vertical construction begins on Townhomes at Holcomb Place, downtown shots, Montage construction. Click to view pictures.

5/3/2008 - NEVADA DISCOVERY MUSEUM TOUR - This is one of the most exciting projects downtown that isn't residential or retail-based. It's an excellent example of re-use of an existing building and central to the revitalization of south downtown. So here's a tour! If you are unfamiliar with the Nevada Discovery Museum, it's a children's museum being constructed in the former Reno City Hall building located at the corner Center Street and Stewart Street downtown, directly across from the Federal Courthouse. It's hard to tell anything has been done to the building looking from the outside in, but nothing is further from the truth. Click here to take a tour of the demo work completed thus far.

4/27/2008 - WINGFIELD? - I've received some odd emails regarding Wingfield Towers lately. One was from a person who 'would be happy to finance the project', another was from a person nearly scolding me for labeling the project as 'scrapped' on this site, and then from the people directly involved with the project itself, telling me that the project is still alive. Hmmmm, could it be one of the most talked about, anticipated project that emerged from the slew of proposed projects in 2004-2005 might see the light of day after all?

4/22/2008 - JUICY JUICE - So let's talk rumors and speculation! Remember, these are RUMORS so treat them as such.
1. One of my tipsters had a conversation with someone involved with the Masons, and he talked about pending sales of the Masonic buildings.  They plan to sell both buildings - the 1960's era annex housing Bruka as well as the older building to the west of it - and are very close to a sale, but apparently want a sizeable closing delay - til mid 2009 - in order to give them time to make relocation arrangements.
2. Could Legends at Sparks Marina be getting some competition across the pond? They don't affect downtown, but consider these two transactions...On March 18, the Mayor's Cashell Enterprises sold its Alamo Truck Stop / Casino to the entity that owns the TravelCenters of America string of truck stops.  The 42 Acre facility sold for $42.5 million.  It is located on Gregg St in Sparks, south of I-80 between the Sparks and Vista offramps. On March 31, Peppermill Casinos took full ownership of a couple of old motel structures that are part of the its Western Village Casino - located next to the Sparks Marina on the McCarran offramp from I-80.  The transaction was for $10.5 million to buy out a partnership (of which Peppermill was a part) that formerly owned the motel structures.  The motel structures and casino occupy about 9 acres.  The rest of the commercial acreage on that quadrant of the offramp is occupied by a TravelCenters of America truck stop that occupies almost 16 acres. I've heard various rumbles over the past year that Peppermill wanted to renovate and expand its Western Village Casino, which makes a lot of sense given what RED Development is doing with the Legends project on the east side of the Marina.  If they wanted to make changes, they would certainly want to get everything under the Peppermill ownership and get rid of the old partnership ownership of the motels - so that transaction makes a lot of sense. But, why did TravelCenters buy out Cashell, when they already have a truck stop on the other side of the freeway about a mile west of where Alamo is located?  Could Peppermill be in the process of buying their truck stop next to the Marina - perhaps to gain additional real estate for a casino expansion?  And, might TravelCenters be preparing to expand their operation by "trading up" to the much larger 42 acre Cashell operation - which has vacant and unused parts? Looks like a lot of changes "might" happen along that stretch of I-80 over the next few years :-)
3. Property Acquisition - The group that purchased the Woolworths building downtown a while back is snatching up multiple properties in a very strange location of downtown. I don't want to say where exactly, because they still have a few properties left to acquire and I don't want to jinx them. On March 4, the Atherton-based group that have been buying properties in this area bought one more property; an old house - price $230K. In Oct 2007 the Atherton group made three separate purchases and then backed off.  This time, with the ballpark and other stuff commencing, they may be preparing to buy the rest of the privately held properties.
4. To the readers that have been emailing me about RGJ's recent story on downtown, YES I am well aware of the activity going on there, I've been covering it for the past year. However at the request of one of the parties involved, I am not casting any extra attention on the project yet as land acquisition is not complete yet, and the developers don't even know what they are going to build there yet. Can you say 'premature story'? To me, it's important a project of this magnitude has every opportunity to happen, and far outweighs the satisfaction of getting 'the scoop.'

4/20/2008 - NEW PALLADIO RESTAURANT? - This one slipped by me as I am not super into food and check Mr. Wright's blog on a weekly instead of daily basis, but it looks like Starbucks on the bottom floor on the Palladio may finally have a neighbor. Canadian based Firkin & Fox might be moving in. They already have a restaurant in Carson. This has not been confirmed by the Palladio yet, and thus far at least as of last week, 'Available' signs were still on all the retail spaces at the Palladio.

4/19/2008 - WELLS AVENUE WALK - Usually I take my dogs for a walk downtown, however this time I cruised around my own neighborhood, the Wells Avenue area. It's a beautiful neighborhood, and you will be hard pressed in Reno to find a higher concentration of old 1920's and 1930's homes in such a concentrated area. Click here to view the pics!

4/18/2008 - NEW CLUBS OPENING DOWNTOWN TONIGHT - Two new clubs/lounges open downtown tonight. The first is the Red Martini, dubbed as a 'super lounge', located on the 200 block of West Commercial Row across the street from the Montage project on Sierra St., and the second is a dance club (I think) called Club Carnival, located where Vino's Italian Restaurant and Lounge used to be at 240 N Sierra Street just north of 210 North.

4/17/08 - NEW POST OFFICE PLAZA RENDERINGS AND NAME! GIVE YOUR INPUT - City officials, CH2MHILL, and the reno-ites via a few public meetings have narrowed the new post office plaza design to two main concepts. The thought process on this project has come a long way, when comparing the first concepts with these. It's gone from a basic West Street-type plaza river access to 2 final concepts which involve some really cool design elements and landscaping. Many of the new features incorporated were a direct result of public input. I described these in great detail in my CAC Meeting Update. Here are brief descriptions of the two again:
Design 1: Geometric Classic Option - inspired by geometric patterns of the building.
Design 2: River Terrace Option: The distinction of this one than previous one is center portion of the design is more curvilinear, providing more flowing forms to the river.
So, check out the two concepts and tell me which you like better. I prefer the Classic Geometric option as it seems to break up the terraces more. CH2MHill prefers the River Terrace design. Folks in the 4/1 CAC Meeting where it was presented tended to lean toward the Geometric Concept.
ALSO, the post office plaza has yet to be named, so check out my new poll and pick what you like the best :)

Classic Geometric Design (click image to enlarge)


River Terrace Design (click image to enlarge)


Both designs side by side top view (click to enlarge)

4/17/2008 - NEW RENDERINGS AND NAME OF URBAN MARKET - The urban market I think finally has a permanent name; West Street Market. Here's some new renderings with the updated name. A partial-to-complete tenant list should be released any time now.

4/16/2008 - DOWNTOWN WALK - Wow what a walk! All kinds of stuff you must see, including an exposed Montage's lower floors, yoda, the demo of the Nevada Inn, and various shots of downtown. Click here to view.

4/14/2008 - WINDSTORM - Wow what a windstorm! That was nuts. I took a little drive-thru downtown and my Southeast neighborhood. There were quite a few little pockets of damage; I saw some trash dumpsters on Court Street that had smashed into the back of some parked cars, Sierra Street is closed right now due to the Montage mess, poor Windsor Motel's sign didn't make it, saw many newspapers racks, trees, flowers, signs that were damaged. In my neighborhood over by Holcomb, quite a few large branches and trees were uprooted, but thankfully and quite miraculously none of them I saw hit parked cars or homes. I lost my backyard fence, which required some creative emergency preparing using car jumper cables, clamps and some rope (don't ask lol).

4/12/2008 - ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RUMORS -
1. I heard a rumor, which was reinforced in the comments section of Diane Cohn's blog, that a non-gaming hotel might be in the works at the Sierra and Liberty corner where Arterra was to be built.
2. A new yoga studio/hang out place has opened called Vajra Yogic Lounge, located at 100 North Arlington in the heart of downtown Reno. Go check them out! They specialize in some pretty unique kinds of yoga including AcroYoga, Thai Yoga, and massage.
3. I have a few friends who live on the perimeter of the Ryder Homes project proposed for the lot on High St, Willow, Holcomb and Mill. They saw Ryder people mulling about the property the other day, and went over and talked to them. There are mumblings that the homes will stand at least for another 90 days, but after that....plans could be in the works. They still haven't submitted their maps to the Planning Commission yet.

4/11/2008 - DOWNTOWN WALK - Construction on Holcomb, river corridor pictures of downtown Reno, Riverside Market Construction, and the Montage. Click here to see

4/9/2008 - IN THE NEWS -
1. The City Council approve a pedestrian & bikeway plan for east Reno as described in a previous post of mine. One interesting note in the RGJ article is the Waterfront Condominium project 'to start by the end of the year.' That would be nice! Click here to read.
2. Stremmel Gallery fusses about the pilot lighting program on Virginia Street changing the color of LuLu's from red to terra cotta. Perish the thought.
3. The ReTRAC study is now complete. Let's start renovating.
4. Legends at Sparks Marina now has web site. Tenant list is enticing, particularly Dickenson Theaters.
5. I can't remember if I posted this or not, but Downtown Improvement Association now has a web site. They are a pretty influential organization that represents the majority of businesses downtown and issues that affect them, including crime, homelessness, development and more. Click here to check it out.

4/2/2008 - CAC MEETING REPORT - 10 UPDATES YOU MUST KNOW! - All kinds of goodies packed into this month's CAC Meeting Report, including new renderings of the Urban Market, details on the urban market, Baseball Stadium, RETRAC Cover schedule, 10 North Virginia (yes it's still a project!), detailed info on Post Office Plaza, and way more! Click here to read.

4/2/2008 - FLATLINERS SHOW TOMORROW - I rarely post actual events on here, mostly because I am a busy workaholic hermit who doesn't get out much. But a close friend of mine has been working hard on a very cool punk show that will be at the Underground tomorrow, which is Thursday. The band hails from Canada, are known to never put on a bad show, and is traveling a looong way to play for Reno. So if you like good punk music, come and check them out! Here's the flyer. I'll be there!

3/29/2008 - NEW POLL - The last poll results were very interesting. Combined, about 63% of you have been downtown the past week. To the 12% who haven't been downtown in years, get down there! I have a new poll. Given the hoopla over this Thunder Head resort expansions across the blogosphere, I figure I would put downtown casinos on the spot. In my opinion, the downtown casinos are a tad passe. The Atlantis, Peppermill, and Grand Sierra Resort have all undergone hundred-million-dollar+ expansions, and the Silver Legacy recently added an ultra-lounge. Ooooooh exciting. The exterior of Silver Legacy is architecturally pleasing, but it's interior leaves something to be desired. The Eldorado is a bit aged all-around, and the Circus Circus seriously needs some help. So take my poll! And tell me in the comments section some innovative ideas for renovations to the downtown casinos.

3/26/2008 - COUNCIL APPROVES WALKWAY PLAN - The City Council today approved a plan to link the baseball stadium, a planned transit Station, and a new Hyatt going in.
If you haven't noticed, the north side of the Truckee River starting from Lake Street up to Wells Avenue is a bit 'rough around the edges' to say the least, particularly along the proposed Waterfront District property where the edge of the embankment is crumbling slowly into the Truckee.
A walkway on the north side of the river would start at the proposed Waterfront condominium project at Lake Street and head east to the former Harrah’s office tower.
Basin Street Properties, owner of the former Harrah’s tower, would provide access along the west side of the building to Second Street. This will tie into Basin Street's plan to open back up the bottom floor of the West side of the building, where an Auto Garage used to be, and convert it to retail. So it makes perfect sense a walkway would go there. From there, a crosswalk across 2nd street will link over to the Stadium..
A new, wider sidewalk to handle crowds from the stadium would be east on Second Street and become a walkway along the river. Another walkway would head north, through the stadium plaza, and west on the north side of the railroad trench where SK Baseball owns land for retail. The walkway also would reach the to-be-built Fourth Street Transit Station.
According to the RGJ, "Reno Redevelopment Agency administrator Mark Lewis told the council Wednesday that SK Baseball is near finalizing purchase agreements for properties for its proposed entertainment and shopping district in the Baseball Park District." See my crude map below.

3/26/2008 - LIVING THE HIGH LIFE - Jonathan Wright has a great piece on a couple that has decided to embrace downtown living, on the penthouse level of the Palladio. Click here to read.

3/24/2008 - NEW POLL - I was talking with a City employee the other day about the phenomenon where some Reno residents haven't been to their own downtown in years. So, take my new poll; tell me the last time you were downtown (excluding just driving through). We're talking lunch, business, pleasure, dinner, a movie, the riverwalk, a bar, dog walk, theater, etc. AND/OR tell me in the comments section WHY or WHERE you were downtown last.

3/24/2008 - DOWNTOWN WALK - It was a beautiful day on Sunday, and warm weather is all it took for Reno-ites to venture downtown to soak in the sun and warmth. Click here for pictures.

3/21/2008 - DOWNTOWN WALK - Townhouses at Holcomb Place, Montage, Future site of Hyatt, and more. Click here to view.

3/19/2008 - URBAN MARKET POLL RESULTS - Wow with 231 unique votes (I track by IP) I have a viable amount to represent people's opinions. Let's take a look. The question was what would people like to see in the new Urban Market going downtown? The results as of this writing are:
Bakery - Fresh baked goodies like breads, pastries, etc - 16.45%
Produce - Local farmers selling fresh seasonal produce, carrots, onions, fruits etc - 24.24%
Local Arts and Crafts - Art, flowers, trinkets etc - 3.9%
Meats and Poultry - i.e. Butcher Boy type stand - fresh meat - 19.05%
Ethnic - Ethnic-specific stalls, like an Italian pasta/sauce stand, Oriental foods stand, Latino stand, etc. You'll find these at places like Pikes Place in Seattle. - 29.44%
Creamery - Local dairy, specialty cheeses, frozen yogurt, anything dairy. - 6.93%
First, it's pretty clear from the results above that downtowners don't want the Urban Market to be a glorified swap meet. Sorry, Arts and Crafters! Also, the cows didn't do so well with an idea of a creamery selling ice cream, specialty cheeses etc. Darn, because that was my favorite option. What's surprising is the Ethnic Stalls narrowly beating out the traditional farm stalls. So what is an Ethnic stall? Let's take a look at some that exist in two of my other favorite urban markets, Pike's Place and LA Farmers market.
Pikes Place: If you haven't been there, it's a must when visiting the Seattle area. It's a bit touristy, meaning you'll find most locals frequenting smaller-scale farmer's markets scattered throughout the area; but there are some amazing shops there to check out. Their ethnic/specialty stores include: Bottega Italiana for the best Italian ingredients, Chukar Cherry Company, for everything cherry, La Buona Tavola Truffle Cafe and Specialties Foods, Pappardelle's Pasta (self explanatory), El Merchado Latino (Latino and Spanish foods), Mick's Peppouri Pepper Jellies, Sotto Voce flavored olive oils and balsamic vinegars, and Uli's Famous Sausage.
L.A. Farmer's Market - What can I say? I spent so much time here as a kid and teen it's ridiculous. It was a family staple. The 3rd and Fairfax Farmer's Market isn't so much a farmer's market anymore as it is an urban market. It's in downtown L.A. proper, and has been open since 1934, so one has to give props for that. Their specialty/ethnic stalls include: Light my Fire, the most amazing condiments store anywhere with thousands of hot sauces from around the world, Littjohn's English Toffee House, where they make every last morsel from scratch (this guy is AMAZING to watch work through the window), and Magee's House of Nuts, and Puritan Poultry.

There are a lot of possibilities to fit the ethnic foods/specialty shops category, and hopefully the City folks and any local vendors that fit this bill are listening. What types of specialty shops would you like to see at our urban market? Click the comment button below and let them know!
The Meats and Poultry stalls and standard farmer's market produce stalls were close runner-ups, so it's definitely important to make the market diversified.

3/19/2008 - BRIDGE VISIONING MEETING MARCH 20 - Don't forget! Tomorrow is the Bridge Visioning meeting for replacing all of the Truckee River bridges in downtown Reno. This will be the second in a series of three public workshops being conducted to establish design guidelines for future engineers and planners to follow when considering replacement of the bridge structures across the Truckee River in Reno. The goal of this second workshop is to present refined concepts for replacing the downtown bridge structures and discuss the varying levels of flood protection that differing structures would provide the downtown area. This work is a result of public input collected in workshops in October 2007. It's super important the City gets your input on this, so four or five years later when the City actually breaks ground on the first bridge replacement, we won't be shell-shocked at what is going on. Are you interested in what the new bridges for Booth, Arlington, Sierra, Virginia, Center, and Lake Streets will look like? Come and check out the revised concepts!
When: March 20, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Where: McKinley Arts & Culture Center, 925 Riverside Drive

3/19/08 - UPCOMING AGENDA ITEMS FOR CITY COUNCIL - The upcoming City Council Meeting and Redevelopment Agency Board Meeting are full of little goodies regarding downtown. The Meeting is March 26, City Hall downtown 1 East First Street, or if you are like me and have a job, check back here for updates or TRY to watch the City Council meeting online or on Charter Cable.
1. New bar - A new bar is applying for a new liquor license, Strega Bar, at 310 Arlington Avenue.
2. An Environmental Consultant is being brought on board for the Bridge Replacement project, as well as continuing services for the ReTRAC Cover Phase 1.
3. Reno Film Festival may get a Community Pride Grant from the City
4. Conveyance of certain City owned Real Properties to the Redevelopment Agency to serve as collateral for the Fire Station No. 1 Relocation Loan in furtherance of the Disposition and Development Agreement by and between the Redevelopment Agency and Nevada Land,
LLC for the development of a AAA Baseball Stadium. The properties include: 001-190-15; West Wash Dam parcel (3.73 acres), 006-223-04; Vacant - old Burger King site (1.00 acre), 006-223-08; Vacant - old Precision Auto site (.25 acre), 006-223-12 & 21; 265 Keystone (building) & vacant land (1.79 acres), 006-223-unparceled; vacant land between Gardner & Chism (2.80 acres), 006-223-22; vacant land between Chism & Dickerson (4.15 acres), 007-214-26; vacant - old Savoy Motel site (.17 acres), 007-292-14; old Reno Sparks Gospel Mission (.09 acres), 007-303-12; 4th & Valley - Fire Station site (.77 acres), 008-360-07; Western Sealing & Striping (1.27 acres), 011-026-03; 2nd & Stevenson - UNR parking lot (.90 acre), 011-350-01; 3rd & Keystone - vacant (1.10 acres), 011-380-05,04,03; Men's Club Parking Lot (.49 acres).
5. Staff Report: Presentation, discussion and potential direction to staff on the Second Street/River Connection Plan, the Transit Station/Stadium Concept and the Truckee River setback requirements and to use these as guidelines for obtaining easements and making pedestrian and bicycle improvements.
6. Presentation, discussion and potential direction to staff regarding Police Efforts in the Downtown Areas.
7. Staff Report: Discussion and potential direction to staff regarding a +/- 6700 square foot portion of property owned by the Union Pacific Railroad Company, in the which the City of Reno retains an interest, which lies adjacent to APN 07-030-02, formerly a portion of East Street, Reno, Nevada on certain maps identified Record Street.
8. Discussion and potential direction to staff regarding the closure of the Voila Cafe, Parking Issues and consideration of Code Changes.
9. The Redevelopment Agency meeting, which begins at 2:00 p.m., is ALL about the Urban Market and setting up Lease Agreements etc. Also, expect an update on all Priority Projects, including the Community Assistance Center, Baseball Stadium, Entertainment Core Retail, Beautification, 10 North Virginia Street, Post Office, ReTRAC Cover and the Urban Market.

3/16/2008 - VARIOUS DOWNTOWN PROJECTS GET SOME RGJ HOMMAGE - Reno Gazette rehashed the improvement projects in the pipeline for downtown. These include the Facade Improvement Program, Post Office Project and 4th Street Transit Station. Click here for article.

3/15/2008 - THE EXTENT OF THE SHOPPER'S SQUARE DEMO AND EXPANSION - For those of you who don't frequent the Shopper's Square/Kirman area, I made this graphic showing the extent of what was demo'd for the expansion of Shopper's Square to draw in more big box retailers. The Casazza family owns the block(s), and the demo included 20+ homes, a used car lot, and an old run down retailer strip. The folks who own the Park Lane property better hustle, or Shopper's Square will beat them to the punch with a huge expansion. In fact groundbreaking is next month. Owner Ralph Casazza is tight-lipped right now on the details of the expansion. You can see an older pic of the Annex being demo'd here.

3/15/2008 - NEW RENDERINGS OF LEGENDS AT SPARKS MARINA - With scores of new stores lined up for its 2009 opening, Legends at Sparks Marina is set to become a major eastern shopping mecca for the Reno/Sparks valley. I think the project, coupled with the Legends Casino will benefit the Reno Sparks region as a whole.

3/15/2008 - RENDERING OF HYATT GOIN IN ON 2ND, PLUS INFO ON OFFICE TOWER REMODEL - RGJ has a great article on the Office Tower being remodeled downtown. It's located right next to where hopefully the future Waterfront District project will be built, and across the street from the proposed Baseball District. Basin Street mentioned in the article that most of the first floor will be remodeled into retail. Nice, this building will finally get some TLC. As one of the taller buildings downtown it's silly it's in such a state of disrepair. Interesting also that some of the parking spaces may to go the ballpark. Below is a rendering of the Hyatt going in. The Hyatt will be breaking ground in August.

3/7/2008 - NNBW DOES BASIN STREET - Northern Nevada Business Weekly has a great article on Basin Street Properties' upcoming plans for the Hyatt Summerfield. Also, according to the article, the currently named 'Waterfront Tower' will be named 'Park Center Tower' and Basin will pump about $6-8 million into its renovation, including first floor retail catering to Hyatt guests, which would presumably include a restaurant of some kind. Basin Street Properties owns the Park Center Tower, the two properties just east of it where the Hyatt will be going, the BofA Building, the Wells Fargo building at 200 South Virginia and a shopping center down by Kietzke, and that's just their Reno portfolio. Click for article.

3/6/2008 - UPCOMING ITEMS IN THE PIPELINE - At the upcoming Ward One Neighborhood Advisory Board meeting (pdf agenda), the 4th Street Transit Center Station is on the agenda. The 4th Street Transit station is going in the vacant lot next to the National Bowling Stadium between Evans and Lake. You can see what the station will look like, and the wild rotating bus art by clicking here (wmv movie).
Also, some interesting items coming up on the next Historical Resource Commission meeting (pdf agenda) will make it a worthwhile meeting to attend. First, the post office plaza will be discussed, and it seems to be a revised concept. Second, there will be a presentation of the Facade Improvement Program, particularly discussion of the 7 properties on the west side of Virginia St. from 2nd Street to Douglas Alley. I briefly saw a first draft mock-up from the architect, and it's a substantial improvement over what's currently there. I am trying to get a rendering from Gillian to post here.

3/6/2008 - NEW LOUNGES COMING DOWNTOWN - This week's RNR has a great bars, pubs and lounge guide, pick one up and check it out. Jonathan over at the Dining Blog outlined some great new bars coming to downtown. This includes The Waterfall, at 134 West Second Street. This space was formerly Electronic Espresso, and I am happy they are keeping the wifi. Features include 'two water features (hence the name), flair bartenders, a lounge/VIP area with bottle service (a gas fireplace with carved wooden surround is already installed), live music, free wifi and, eventually, 50 beers on tap, espresso, wines by the glass and gourmet nibbles'. Lincoln Lounge will be opening very soon, at 302 E. Fourth St where the Reno Jazz club used to be. This spot is only a hop skip and a jump from the new planned Ballpark District. I love the brick building this space occupies.

3/5/2008 - DOWNTOWN WALK - Another nice spring day. Check out pics of what's going on with Townhouses at Holcomb Place, Montage, and the Baseball Site. Click here to view.

2/26/2008 - EVEN MORE VARIOUS TIDBITS -
1. Hyatt Summerfield Across from Baseball Stadium - A couple of months back you may remember me guessing that the Hyatt brand going across the street from the Baseball Stadium would be a Summerfield. I was right! Click for article. Also, click here for more info on the Hyatt Summerfield all-suites brand.
2. Ballroom - Article on Ballroom opening soon. Click for article.
3. Baseball Stadium - Groundbreaking was chocked full of people ,and the new rendering of the stadium is schweeeeet. Click for larger image below. Ken from Urban Blog was able to attend and has great commentary.

2/26/2008 - LEGENDS, URBAN MARKET CLUES AND MORE -
1. Legends at Sparks Marina - Announced new tenants and new rendering (see below post); new tenants include Saks Off Fifth, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Ann Taylor, AT&T, Banana Republic, Gap, Patsy Grimaldi’s Coal Brick-Oven Pizzeria, Dickinson Theatres + IMAX, The Big Bang Dueling Piano Bar, Strasburg Children, Tucanos Brazilian Grill, Blowfish Sushi, Hofbräuhaus, Olive Garden, Best Buy, Deegie’s Carma, Jones New York, Anne Klein, Easy Spirit, Nine West and Mountain Family RV. The Dickinson Theaters addition intrigues me the most...becaue it's not often an entirely new theater outfit steps into the Reno market. Looks like Cinemark will have some competition.
2. Urban Market - A tipster brought up an interesting blurb in the upcoming Redevelopment Agency Agenda. Looks like Cathexis may be the ones designing and building out the Urban Market. Awesome! Should look really nice. I hope they restore the brick buildings back to their original luster.
3. Giddyup - Reno has been named on the top 20 places in the West to live by American Cowboy Magazine. The magazine notes 'The Reno has preserved its unique western flair; if you aim to wet a line in a wild river, enjoy a unique annual event, or explore living history in a place where it's never been forgotten, you can't go wrong.'
4. Hyatt Summerfield - This is on the fast track, as it is already in the next Redevelopment Agency meeting agenda.

2/26/2008 - EVEN MORE VARIOUS TIDBITS -
1. Hyatt Summerfield Across from Baseball Stadium - A couple of months back you may remember me guessing that the Hyatt brand going across the street from the Baseball Stadium would be a Summerfield. I was right! Click for article. Also, click here for more info on the Hyatt Summerfield all-suites brand.
2. Ballroom - Article on Ballroom opening soon. Click for article.
3. Baseball Stadium - Groundbreaking was chocked full of people ,and the new rendering of the stadium is schweeeeet. Click for larger image below. Ken from Urban Blog was able to attend and has great commentary.

2/24/2008 - MORE VARIOUS TIDBITS -
1. Townhouses at Holcomb Place - Townhouses at Holcomb Place gets press at NNBW. Click for article.
2. Parasols Boutique is opening a second location where Bantu Spirit used to be in the Riverwalk Artists Lofts.
3. Things are a little rocky for Legends at Sparks Marina. The last thing Sparks needs is a half complete mall. I'm a little surprised this wasn't thought through a little better to begin with. One would think financing for a $1 billion project would be secured before ground was even broken.
4. Shopper's Square Expansion - Now that the 20+ homes are gone along Cazazza street to the east of Shopper's Square, they are now starting to demo the old retail center directly east of McDonalds. This is going to be quite the expansion!

2/20/2008 - VARIOUS TIDBITS -
1. Baseball Stadium - Land pieces continue to be assembled in preparation for breaking ground. According to the Washoe County Assessor there is just one piece of property left; on which stands a Sierra Pacific substation. Also, abatement work has started on the warehouse/dock portion of the Freight House. Significant interior demolition is happening with the old motel on the baseball property as well.
2. Fencing is up around the Nevada Inn on 2nd street across from the future stadium, and looks to be demo'd any day now. Basin Street Properties owns this property, the same people who own the BofA Building and Wells Fargo Bulding downtown, as well as the Waterfront Tower parking/office tower across from Fire Station #1. There is talk of a Hyatt type hotel going in here, geared for business travelers, ala Hilton Garden Inn or Marriott Suites style. Basin Street owns several franchised hotel properties already, so it wouldn't be out of their norm to do something like that, AND judging from the main opening picture on their web site, they do like riverfront development...hmmm....
3. Demo is virtually complete at Shoppers Square on Plumb Lane. It looks very different with 20+ homes, a used car lot, and other buildings wiped clean off the map. Shopper's Square is planning a major expansion of the mall.
4. Townhouses @ Holcomb Place is still on track to break ground tomorrow at 10 a.m.
5. Back and forth they go...all day long on the street in front of my office ...large construction trucks going back and forth between the Grant's Landing site. I have come to the conclusion that they are simply using the Grant's Landing site as a mini dirt processing site for other projects. I watch the trucks dump regular dirt off, get processed and separated, and then the separated dirt gets hauled away. It doesn't really seem to have anything to do with the Grant's Landing project itself. It's quite the little setup they have, I see 2 to 3 trucks every 5 minutes either coming or going.
6. Work continues on SoDo4, the quadlet of brick homes next to 8 On Center on Center Street. It's tough work restoring old brick homes ...I know because I have one!
7. A little off the beaten path for downtown, more in my neighborhood, a suite of projects being built just off Cheney Street on the east side of Wells is coming along nicely. Two of the buildings are part of the Modern on Cheney Project (sold out), and then another two are three-story Victorian/Craftsman style hybrids, but they really are turning out nice, with partial brick facades and architectural detail. These two projects are a stone's throw from each other, and together will add some real pop to this area.
8. Nevada Discovery Museum - The building purchase from Panattoni Development has been finalized, and all major abatement has been completed. It's pretty amazing when you peek in this old City Hall building...you can see right through it from one end to another. Demolition efforts are expected to conclude by the end of this month, and the Board of Directors anticipates receiving a building permit this spring so that renovations can begin. If the project continues to progress at this rate, the Museum will open mid-2009.

2/14/2008 - BASEBALL GROUNDBREAKING - Looks like SK Baseball will stick to their ground-breaking date of February 25 on the baseball stadium east of downtown Reno. There is a media event that day.

2/9/2008 - AMENDMENT 21 GRILL - Wow this place is nice. I mentioned they had opened up in a previous post, but I finally got a chance to stop by. The whole space is open, airy and inviting. It's like they gutted the previous space and completely opened it up. The food is great, and they have free wifi. Another free wifi spot! If you didn't know, the Siena also recently installed free wifi as well in Contrada Cafe. Downtown is quickly becoming a geek's dream come true. Combine this with Amendment 21's networked Xbox 360's and it's heaven. Their turkey wraps and burgers rule. There was a cool assortment of downtowners when I went. They did a good job revamping this space...come check it out! Here is their web site and blog.

2/7/2008 - CAC MEETING UPDATE - These CAC meetings are filling up with more and more people each month. Pretty soon they will need to graduate from the Caucus Room. Anyway let's cut to the chase! How about a series of good news, especially after the last post!

VI. PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF THE INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT WITH WASHOE COUNTY FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE PIONEER SITE WITH POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION TO THE AGENCY BOARD:
This was interesting. James Graham gave the presentation, and a lot of what he was talking about was substantially different than the previous plan. This is basically an agreement to work together. The two entities involved are the County and the City. The details were kind of sketchy, but it was mentioned several times in one form or another that the City felt the land was much too valuable from a redevelopment standpoint to just let it be a parking lot. So the County and City want to work together on something. While it was mentioned there was still a parking component involved with the new plans, it wasn't the main emphasis. Parking may or may not be a component now, and parking  'could' go elsewhere. A definitive agreement will be announced shortly.

VII. VIDEO PRESENTATION FEATURING LOCAL CITIZENS “RENO IN OUR WORDS” (Terri Hendry)
This was a cool little video. It basically was to emphasize that the City does have plans and guides as they develop downtown. It's not just haphazard. It was kind of to show the CAC Board that what they do is not in vain. I thought that was nice. Then a downtown resident brought up the idea of promoting the video to Reno-ites who haven't been downtown. He brought up the really good point that there are Reno residents who haven't been downtown in 5 years and have no idea how much it has changed. Another resident brought up the frustrating fact that downtown in real estate terms is broken up into 4 or 5 different areas. There is Northwest, Southeast, Southwest, Northeast, and different condo projects show up in different districts, when really all of downtown should show up in one area called metro. I agree wholeheartedly, and in fact was complaining about that to my real estate agent 4 years ago when I was looking for places downtown. I get quite a few complaints from readers looking for places as well, that Arlington Towers shows up in a different district than the Palladio. So one of my new missions is to make this happen. I've aready put in calls. :)

VIII. PRIORITY PROJECT UPDATE
- The Community assistance center on Record St. is coming along nicely. Walls are starting to be put in.
- Baseball Stadium - Groundbreaking in February 20. Working on environmental insurance, land deal with Sierra Pacific, fire station relocation loan, rscva sublease in process.Temp fire station structures will have 20 year life…they won't just be haphazard tents or trailers.
- Entertainment Core Retail - Not much news here, other than Herb Simon continues to line up some big names for downtown.
- Parking Garage(s) - No new news here, the RDA is still working on partnering with a major downtown vendor (I am guessing the El Dorado, just a guess) for a parking garage on the West side of Virginia, and significant progress has been made on an additional parking structure 'somewhere East of Virginia, a bock or two up from the river.'
- Beautification - Mark Lewis is very happy the Savoy Motel downtown is gone. Another motel bites the dust! The Façade improvement program for the block of Virginia St between roughly 2nd and Commercial Row received initial drawings back from architect. I saw them during the presentation, but trying to get a hold of them for all of you. It looks good! All of the buildings match, both in paint and texture, and it looks like a quaint little downtown street. It was tough to tell but I think the majority of the buildings have brick facades added to them or restored. Gone on that block is everything that makes Virginia St. annoying (i.e. Horseshoe club sign etc).
10 North Virginia St - This project is still alive, and the developer is still interested in building there, canopy or no canopy. The developer has requested a 90-day extension to further refine the design and speak to individual council members etc. If you remember, the Council wasn't entirely happy with the new blocky design of the retail component. Mark Lewis said the developer STILL has a very recognizable restaurant in tow with him (I think Gardwoods from up in Tahoe but that's pure speculation based on previous discussions).
Post Office Plaza - This is becoming interesting as well. They showed refined renderings of the plaza, and it's very cool. The way it steps down to the river really accentuates the post office building itself...it almost makes it an icon; a very prominent building, much like the steps up to the Supreme Court; kind of props it up. It makes the post office building look very important, especially when viewing it from across the river or Virginia or Lake Streets. Construction is slated to begin on this in April/May.
Eco-Channel - This project has taken a slight turn as well. An eco-channel was originally proposed to go from the end of the whitewater park down to about Lake St. However, Mark mentioned the River/Eco Channel Sub Committee had a change of heart after conversing with each other and the public. NOW, they really want to extend the whitewater park itself, making more drop pools etc. It would look much more like the concepts on this page. I remember Jim Litchfield or someone equally relevant saying that part of the river didn't have a steep enough flow pattern for additional drop pools,so we'll see what happens. I would be happy with either solution. Not sure when construction on this begins.
Urban Market - Mark is happy with the progress here, with over half the tenants already reserved they haven't even broke ground on it yet. While he didn't name specific tenants, he did say there would be 'a bakery, local farmers, some arts and crafts, a market, and more.' A soft opening is slated for June, with an announced opening in July corresponding with Art Town.

2/3/2008 - TOUGH YEAR FOR RENO PROJECTS - From the hundreds (yes hundreds!) of emails I have received over the past year from readers, I get many compliments on the honesty of this site. So here's some tough love for Reno. It's no secret that as the real estate market stalls, the City and most developers have shifted their focus from residential to retail, or have postponed their projects. So let's see where everyone is at;
Projects that have stalled out, cancelled or behind schedule: Grant's Landing, Thoma Lofts, Arterra, Waterfront, Wingfield Towers, DeNovo, Brighton Manor's phases, Ryder Homes' two planned downtown townhome projects, Townhomes at Holcomb Place, Long's Drugs downtown.
Now that we have that out of the way. Let's look at what is selling or not.
Grand Sierra has not closed a single sale since 11/21 of last year.  On that date a multiple sale occurred where one entity bought quite a few units.  Since then nothing.
Closings continue to increase at Belvedere.  Now up to 50 total.  49 are on the first three floors and the latest sale was the first unit to close on the 4th floor.  Pricing is about the same as the initial sales and buyers continue to be almost exclusively from CA.  I suspect all these sales were booked some time ago, but are just now closing as the units are completed. Sales continue to trickle in on Palladio.  A total of 60 units out of the 92 are now sold.  Interestingly, the last couple of sales were made AFTER the big real estate burst as opposed to being pre-construction sales. Sales are slow but steady at the Montage, with a slight uptick as the project comes closer to completion.
On the plus side though, if everything goes according to plan, no less than 5 public projects will be under construction simultaneously downtown in 2008, along with several retail projects, so there will not be a lack of things to report on in 2008 that's for sure. Slated for 2008 is the urban market, baseball stadium and retail complex, the post office plaza, Phase II of the Retrac cover, a whitewater park extension, groundbreaking on the Transit Station, renovation of 100 North Sierra, completion of the Montage, the Facade improvement program, a possible public parking garage, remodeling of the Fitz, completion of the Community Assistance Center, a HUGE expansion of Shopper's Square, and more. And perhaps all these public projects will inspire more people to move downtown. After all, it's a great urban neighborhood!

2/3/2008 - TRAIN TRENCH PLAN GETS RGJ PRESS - I've covered the ReTRAC Master Plan throughout it's journey from its first draft to the final public review. Reno Gazette Journal did an article on the plan in Sunday's edition. You can view the final public review draft by clicking here. Keep in mind it's a 45 megabyte pdf...but that's more environmentally friendly than requesting a cd of it. It's an amazing plan and blueprint for an undeveloped strip of land through downtown.

2/3/2008 - SOUTH CASINOS - Interesting Planning Commission item regarding Atlantis.  Back in 1996, they got approval for a bunch of expansion plans - some of which were completed at the time with other changes planned for later phases.  There was a 10-year limit.  A year ago they got a one year extension and they are now requesting a further 6 month "FINAL" extension. In the extension request, they are committing to obtain BUILDING PERMITS by this August for:

An additional 529 hotel rooms (a new tower).
A multi level parking facility to house over 1800 cars
About 52,000 square feet of new restaurant space.

It was a long time ago, but I "think" the restaurant space - enough for several stand alone restaurants - is planned for the west side of South Virginia, while the other additions are supposed to be east of the existing casino where the east side parking lot is now located. This is in addition to their planned sky-bridge over to the convention center across Peckham Lane. Also, Peppermill recently completed their $400 million expansion, including the Tuscany Tower, Terrace Lounge, Biscotti's, and more.

2/3/2008 - HOME PAGE REDESIGN! - Well, it was time. There were some issues with some people not being able to see the previous home page correctly, and overall the information was very cramped, particularly my breaking news area which was a ridiculously small column to read some of the longer posts in. So ...I moved the breaking news to the left, since that is the most-read area on the home page, and people tend to notice things on the left-hand side of a web page first. I also widened it for much easier reading, and increased the line height a bit. I switched the home page to a variable-column format. With a little css-mastery, depending on your screen size/resolution, you will see 2, 3, or 4 columns. Regardless of how many columns you see, the information is still on the page, just bumped over to the left-most column. The interior pages will be redesigned soon enough. But first there's some news to report!.

1/28/2008 - NOTE TO COUNCIL REGARDING WELLS AVENUE PLAN - Hey no plan is without a little controversy right? There are quite a few Wells Ave area residents who feel the northern boundary of the proposed district shouldn't split Stewart Street in half, making the homes on the north side have dense residential and homes on the south side have single-family density. Some residents of this block wish to be part of the Wells Avenue plan. However the big problem is moving the boundary up one block would 'de-zone' those properties with dense residential, and there are some huge legal implications with down-zoning a property. You basically can't do it without the property owner's approval. If you live on the northern block of Stewart and want to be in the Wells Ave Plan, this is your LAST CHANCE to voice your concerns to the council. Get to the 10:00 meeting at 1 East First Street in the council chambers. This plan will be active for 20 years.

1/28/2008 - A BIG DAY FOR WELLS AVENUE - Today is the big day for Wells Avenue. After nearly 7 months of hard work, 7 public and working group meetings, and a little controversy, the Wells Avenue Neighborhood Master Plan goes before the City Council today. I was deeply involved in this process, as were 40+ other history addicts that live in my neighborhood, like Barrie Schuster, and Eric, Walking Tour Mark, and Tom from the Wells Avenue Merchant's Association. 3 years ago, when I moved to this neighborhood from old Southwest, I had a vision of it eventually becoming like the Bungalow District in Pasadena, Ca. I set up a meeting with Jessica Sferrazza, and it turned out she had the same vision, and was already in the beginning process of requesting funds to create a Master Plan that would both protect and enhance the neighborhood. The plan, which includes zoning changes, architectural standards and guidelines for new infill development, historic signs, owner-occupancy and home ownership incentives and more can be read by clicking here. Special thanks to Jessica Jones, Jessica Sferrazza, Barrie Schuster, and the people who actually wrote the plan (sorry, can't remember your company's name!).

1/28/2008 - DETAILS ON URBAN MARKET - The more I learn about this project the more I like it. Click here to find out the latest for the plans, including opening date, layout, and theming ideas.

1/28/2008 - RUTH'S CHRIS - Wow did I ever get a lot of flack from readers for not posting the official announcement for Ruth Chris steakhouse going in Montage. One reader actually called me a slacker loser for not posting it. Let me point out a few things to those who wrote me, perhaps falling under the definition of 'slacker' yourselves. On 12/30/07 I had a reader-post announcing Ruth Chris of which I referred to in a news post (see Montage page and the 1/1/08 post in Older News page). So, when RGJ came out with their announcement, I felt it would be a little anti-climatic to announce it again since I announced it 4 weeks ago. So I DID cover it, just a month earlier than anyone else. I was kind of surprised other blogs didn't pick up on it until RGJ published it. Anyway, here is your 'official announcement! Ruth Chris Steakhouse is going in.

1/22/2008 - REWORKED WATERFRONT PROJECT - Vero Development has been silently adding more details, as few as they are, to their specialtyfi.com web site. They added a 2009 ground breaking date, the project has now officially been renamed to 'Waterfront District' and as you can tell by viewing the pics on their page, the project has been reworked, the buildings downsized a bit, and a beautiful Stremmel-like structure in front of the Truckee River. The good news is, at least these people are still actively working on this project. The project has a new description, dubbed as 'A master planned micro-neighborhood on the banks of the Truckee River in Reno, Nevada by Carrier Johnson of San Diego. The project is expected to include restaurants, retail shopping, a boutique hotel and high-rise condominiums.' Click here for the pics.

1/21/2008 - URBAN MARKET PUBLIC WORKSHOP - Sorry for the short notice, this one slipped through my email. Consequently, this meeting is happening at the exact same time as the Post Office meeting, so you get your choice. From a resident's standpoint, and in my personal opinion, I think downtowners could be more influential and needed at the Urban Market meeting ...mainly because the urban market will need downtowners as part of or most, or even all of their customer base during off-season times, so this is really for you. Tell these planners what it will take for this urban market to be your new favorite place to frequent year-round. The meeting is at 6 p.m. at City Hall Council Chambers at 1 East First Street.

1/20/2008 - TAHOE ROASTING COMPANY - I finally got a chance to stop by Tahoe Roasting Company, and added a new page for them under my Coffee Houses guide. Great coffee, (even 100% Kona Coffee beans) and free wi-fi!

1/20/2008 - DOWNTOWN WALK IN PICTURES - Lots of stuff in this gallery, including Amendment 21's exterior, a rendering of the new Bibo's going in, stretchy stuff all over the Montage, and mysterious going-ons at the site of Grant's Landing. Click here to view!

1/14/2008 - NEW GYM GOING IN UNDER 210 NORTH - There is a new tenant moving into the street level space under the 210 North Club. It is a fitness outfit called Powerhouse Fitness or something like that. The equipment is in the space, temporary signage is all over the exterior and folks were in the place this morning trying to clean up the space.

1/13/2008 - URBAN MARKET INFO AND RENDERING, RGJ DOWNTOWN ARTICLE - Click here for a rendering of the Urban Market going in on West Street between 1st and 2nd. Click here for accompanying article on West Street and Click here for a great article on downtown for 2008, both courtesy RGJ.

1/13/2008 - BASEBALL STADIUM UPDATE - Time to introduce a new blog. It's so great to see more and more Reno-ites getting into downtown. Here's a blog devoted totally to the construction of the baseball stadium. His latest post includes Mark Lewis' CAC Meeting Update. Highlights include the fact that the Fire Station will now be demo'd for something new rather than be incorporated into the design. Click here to read the other updates for the ballpark.

1/13/2008 - MORE CAC MEETING DETAILS -
1. Parking Structure - The redevelopment agency is in the initial plans to partner with an existing downtown business to build one large parking garage rather than two smaller parking garages. Parking Structures are expensive to build averaging around 20K per parking space not including the land price and probably will be six or seven stories high.
2. ReTRAC COVER - Retrac cover is moving forward. The agency is in the process of buying three parcels which are owned by two different owners. There are tentative agreements in place with both owners. Phase one of the ReTRAC cover is set to start in 60 days pending commission approval. The expected timeline to finish phase one is nine months.
3. Post office construction timeline is supposed to start in August and an optimistic opening of Fall, 2009. All work should be independent of any future Bridge work.
4. Longs Drugs - My CAC attendee writes, 'Another somewhat surprising conversation was regarding longs drug store and the redevelopment director seemed to think that there was a strong chance that Longs might even pull out of the downtown location. Gaming Permits the original pro forma done by longs didn't match up with some new numbers. This and a few other reasons he didn't elaborate about were the reasons why he felt discouraged.'

1/12/2008 - URBAN MARKET DETAILS - One of my readers heeded my call, and was able to attend the last CAC Meeting. Here are some of the details on the market: The Urban Market initial investment is 450K and they are confident they can break even in the first year off of revenues from renting the 19 spaces. The Market plans a soft opening in the first quarter in order to get the wrinkles out and hopes to be in full swing by June in order to be ready for Artown and downtown events. The Friday Farmers Market was a good trial run for the agency and will merge with the Urban Market once it is in full swing.

1/12/2008 - INTERESTING DEVELOPMENT WITH THOMA LOFTS -
Thoma Lofts as a project may not totally be written off yet. At the 1/17/2008 6:00 PM Planning Commission meeting, Siena Communities will request a new set of tentative maps that allow them to split their project up into phases to accommodate for the slow market, rather than build it all at one. click image below, or