Downtown Reno News

7/23/2008 - STAR BONDS: KEEP THEM DOWNTOWN AND ADJOINED - Recently, I spent a couple of days researching STAR bonds, and how the only other state in the nation that used them implemented them; Kansas.. There is a clear parallel between Kansas City's 3 STAR bond issuances, and the 3 STAR Bond requests downtown. I'm sure this post will upset some people, but it needs to be said in a time when council is considering 5 STAR Bond requests, combined with some drama that went down at last Wednesday's redevelopment meeting. I think it's important to look at how Kansas City used them (and used them successfully), and how they should be used downtown. I also question if STAR Bonds should be issued to one particular developer downtown who has already received so many perks. It's long, but important. Click here to read.

7/20/2008 - DOWNTOWN WALK FOR BUGSY - Alright Bugster, ask and ye shall recieve. Here is a downtown walk showcasing the Montage, the baseball stadium, West Street Market, and more. Click here to view.

7/18/2008 - NORTHEAST DOWNTOWN PROJECT TAKES ANOTHER STEP - Well it's probably about time I put up a permanent page for the NNUD project, because it seems to be advancing quickly. Northern Nevada Urban Development, LLC has named General Growth Properties (GGP), as the leasing and managing folks for the retail component of a new mixed-use multi-block project located in northeast downtown Reno.
GGP already has several local ties, including the 950,000 s.f. Meadows Mall, and several other large 1+ million square foot retail developments in Vegas. NNUD also recently selected world-renowned Callison as the architect.
"General Growth properties has all the qualities we were seeking to assist us in securing just the right mix of high-end, better to luxury tenants for this vital Reno project," said Nicholas Pavich, principal of Northern Nevada Urban Development Company, LLC. "General growth is known throughout the retail industry, here and internationally. They have strong relationships with retailers, experience in mixed-use developments and a successful history in Nevada. It's a win-win situation for us." It sounds like NNUD is pulling in all the right players to make this project one of the most exciting and realistic projects in Reno.
If you aren't familiar with this project, it's a mixed-use development (as yet to be named) which will span nearly six square blocks downtown between Virginia Street, Evans Avenue, 5th Street and 7th Street. It will include more than 446,500 square feet of retail. GGP and the project will focus on outlet divisions of luxury retailers and designers, with the goal of establishing the project as a high-end outlet shopping destination offering luxury merchandise at accessible prices. The project will cater to both locals and visitors alike and scheduled to open Fall of 2010. In addition to retail and a variety of restaurant concepts, the development will also cater to the University of Nevada, Reno, offering 230 housing units and a link between the two facilities over I-80 via a pedestrian bridge. The restaurant concepts will include several street-level cafes and natural gathering places for students and visitors alike. Complementing the retail will be office space, a non-gaming hotel, a luxury spa and live performance and entertainment venues, all on a multi-block pedestrian-oriented environment geared to link downtown and the University of Nevada Reno.

7/18/2008 - VARIOUS TIDBITS -
- Looks like the Starbucks will be closing in the Palladio at 50 North Sierra Street, thanks to some on-top-of-it readers who noticed. The store is listed in Starbucks' store closure list.
- Where is all the other media out there? I have noticed, unless I missed it, no one seems to be reporting on the fact that the Baseball Folks are actively engaged in acquiring the GSR site and adding a new STAR Bond to the mix. And no one reported on the drama that went down at the RDA/City Council meeting on Wednesday (I'll be writing an opinion piece on this tonight), and no one has reported on the 5 STAR Bond requests on the table and how it could impact over half of downtown. Hello news people wake up! You missed one of the most exciting and dynamic weeks of redevelopment news thus far. Or, maybe I just have a different opinion on what is newsworthy.
- Montage is looking better and better.  Looks like they may be done with the exterior and able to remove the rest of the scaffolding in a couple weeks or so.  Adding the metal work around the top of the tri-level poolside residences to match what is at the top of the big towers REALLY dresses it up.
- They are busily working away over at the Urban Market, digging big holes in what used to be the paved area between the buildings- probably hooking up utilities of some sort.  It will be really cool when they get to the point of adding that new front facade, moving in the clock and finishing it all up.
- They are drilling a whole bunch of holes through the tops of the train trench walls where the plaza will be added.  Looks like they might be preparing to bolt on some kind of lifting attachments so that a crane can support and lift out each section as it is sawed away.
- They seem to be working everywhere at the stadium site.  What will eventually become the sloped seating concrete seating areas along the first and third base lines is starting to take shape and they are also preparing the pads for the future new buildings along Evans.  Along the river there is a crew installing what appears to be the beginning of a new very wide riverwalk path that is supported by a concrete base with rebar coming up and then three rows of landscaping style concrete retaining blocks - probably right at and just above anticipated high water levels in a flood situation.  Then they are putting in a lot of DG (decomposed granite) to complete the path and packing it down vibrating compacting equipment.  Looks like it will be a first rate job.
- I also noticed that Basin Street is now starting (on the river side) to begin to extend the primer - and eventually the new paint - around the sides toward the the front of the office building.

7/16/2008 - STAR BOND DISTRICTS GUIDE - Today there is a very important RDA meeting at 2:00 p.m. in City Hall chambers and the main items on the agenda everyone is talking about are the 5 STAR Bond districts proposed. So, I broke down the individual districts for you, complete with maps, renderings of each project if available, and more. It's quite impressive when laid out, and the three downtown STAR Bond districts end up comprising nearly half of downtown. Also, I have a great step-by-step process from the city explaining exactly how the STAR Bond process works. Click here to check it out. This is 'must-read' material.

7/15/2008 - SHOPPER'S SQUARE PROJECT ON TRACK - Northern Nevada Business Weekly is reporting that the new Shoppers Square expansion is 90% leased. Construction is currently underway on this massive project, which you can check out right next to Shopper's Square. On a side note, Shopper's Square is home to one of my most frequented stores; Kona Girl. She sells everything Hawaii, from drinks to food to clothes and books. MMMM lilikoi juice.

7/14/2008 - A SUNDAY DOWNTOWN - I had the chance to spend Sunday downtown with friends and relatives, and introduce the nieces, ages 4 and 5, to the Truckee River. Playing in the south channel on the east side of the park, the water is shallow enough and slow moving to wade all the way across. Also, the water seems a tad warmer in this area, or maybe I just imagined it was warmer so I could tolerate being in water that cold haha. The day included people giving away free hugs and a marionette show as well. Click here for the pics.

7/12/2008 - A PEEK AT WHAT MAY BE TO COME - NORTHEAST PROJECT
Here is a peek and more information about the architect chosen by NNUD, with some project-specific renderings and info. The project on their site seems to have the name 'Téssera', kind of exotic and cool so I'll call it that for now. Click here for some preliminary 'vision stage' information on the project.

7/11/2008 - ARCHITECT CHOSEN FOR LARGE NORTHEAST DOWNTOWN PROJECT
So check this out! Here's a major peek into what the developers Northern Nevada Urban Development Company LLC have in mind for their northeast downtown blocks of property. Callison has been selected by NNUD as lead designer of the new downtown mixed use development. The multi-block plan includes destination retail, entertainment, hospitality, residential and office components. Callison has extensive experience in downtown revitalization projects including City Creek Center (video fly-through below) in Salt Lake City and CityScape in Phoenix (picture below).

Northern Nevada Urban Development Company LLC owns property in downtown Reno proximate to Interstate 80, the University of Nevada and the city's event and entertainment core. The City of Reno's Redevelopment Agency recently entered into an agreement with the company to explore the feasibility of the city's assistance in the financing of the mixed use project.

"This project is a wonderful opportunity to redefine Reno. The development will expand on the city's current hotel, gaming and entertainment core to create a dynamic mix of retail, dining, and residential uses that will appeal to both tourists and residents." - Steve Dwoskin, Principal at Callison

So this gives us the scale and style of what NNUD has in mind for the multi-block area. This could revitalize one of the more blighted areas of downtown. I am all for it.

7/10/2008 - REDEVELOPMENT AGENDA MEETING ITEMS:
B.1 Staff Report: Presentation, discussion, and potential direction to staff regarding the creation of Sales Tax Anticipation Revenue ("STAR") Bond Districts within the City of Reno. This is a continuation of the discussion at the previous meeting of the five STAR bond requests on the table.
B.2 Staff Report: Discussion, direction and potential approval of a Memorandum of Understanding by and between L3 Development Co., LLC, the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Reno, and the City of Reno to explore the financial feasibility of assisting in financing a portion of the costs of the project area bounded by Third Street, Second Street, West Street, Center Street. This company has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into downtown Reno. The City should help him in any way possible, in my opinion. This could be regarding any one or more of his three major projects downtown; the Montage, the Fitz remodel coming up soon, and the train trench cover Phase II retail.
B.3 Staff Report: Discussion, direction and potential approval of a Memorandum of Understanding between Nevada Land II LLC, the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Reno, and the City of
Reno to facilitate the issuance of Sales Tax Anticipatory Revenue ("STAR") bonds and/or other forms of financing for projects located within the Ball Park District, and/or within the general vicinity of the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino. This is regarding the two STAR Bond requests from the baseball folks, one for a large retail project going in the parking lot (presumably the Waterpark) and one for the retail component of the baseball stadium.
B.4 Staff Report: Discussion, direction and possible approval of amendments of certain agreements between the City of Reno Redevelopment Agency, SK Baseball, LLC, and Nevada Land, LLC,
regarding the development of a AAA Baseball Stadium, to allow the subdivision the Stadium site to support additional retail and commercial development. This is to allow the retail parts of the stadium to become their own components so its easier to secure financing for the retail projects going in around the baseball stadium
B.4.1 First Amendment to Stadium Lease Agreement.
B.4.2 Amendment to Disposition and Development Agreement (Baseball Stadium).
B.4.3 First Amendment to Ground Lease Agreement.
B.4.4 Memorandum of Amendment to Ground Lease.
B.4.5 Memorandum of Amendment to Disposition and Development Agreement (Baseball Stadium).
B.5 Staff Report: Discussion and potential direction to staff regarding Priority Projects for Redevelopment Area No. 2. This is a result of a debate that ensued at the last RDA Meeting where Councilwoman Jessica S. felt it wasn't right to take money from RDA2 (Redevelopment district which include South Virginia Street, Grand Sierra Resort, Cabella's and parts of 4th Street) and loan it to RDA1 to buy the Citicenter property and fund the extension of the waterpark. She requested a full list of redevelopment projects for RDA2.
B.6 Staff Report: Discussion, direction and potential approval of a Memorandum of Understanding Between the Redevelopment Agency of the City of Reno and the Fitzgerald Group to explore the feasibility of developing a project with the University of Nevada, Reno. This is an interesting request. The Fitzgerald Group owns land in the McCarran and Virginia area.

7/10/2008 - DOWNTOWN WALK: Ballpark, Park Center Tower, Townhouses at Holcomb Place, Montage scaffolding coming down, West Street Market, and more - Click here to view.

7/7/2008 - DOWNTOWN WALKS - So here are two downtown walks, because I actually escaped the death grip of my computer for a day on July 4th. Gallery One is of my quickly-improving Wells Avenue Neighborhood and downtown, and Gallery Two is of Art Town downtown, courtesy of my friends Juan and Kim.

7/5/2008 - CITIZEN REPORT - CAC MEETING UPDATE -
1. Pioneer Site - A project management committee has been created with 4 City staff members and four County employees. Lewis again mentioned he wanted to minimize the parking aspect of the project, mentioning that this property wasn't the right site for a parking garage. Lewis is pretty stoked about this project. When pinned down for some kind of timeframe, Lewis relented and said MAYBE an RFP will go out in six months after agreements are finalized. Dick Scott complimented Lewis on forging such a close working relationship with the County. Dan Gustin who sat in at the meeting, said 'the project is absolutely tremendous' and applauds county commissioners for coming forward for the help of RDA, and to RDA for pouncing on the opportunity. Gustin went on to say in the four years he has been on the council, this was the most impressive collaboration of government he had seen, or something to that affect.
2. STAR BONDS - This was the more interesting topic of the meeting. STAR Bonds fascinate me, mainly because they sound so exotic. All kidding aside, the omni-present RDA staff member Jessica Jones reported that five STAR Bond 'requests' are in the pipeline. I say 'requests' because they aren't really requests for the Bonds themselves, it's a request for the City to put in serious amounts of staff hours (usually months worth of work) to determine the feasibility of issuing a STAR bond. Remember, there have only been two issued in this state, one for Cabella's and one for Scheel's, so in one way, they ARE pretty exotic. Anyway, the STAR bond requests are as follows: (1) Northern Nevada Urban Development, for their mega-block of land in Northeast downtown, (2) L3 Development (which would include/explore retail portion of montage and rebranding/renovation of the Fitz and possibly Phase 2 of the retrac cover), (3 and 4) Nevada Lands (the Baseball Folks as Lewis calls them) and (5) The Fitzgerald Group, for property North of McCarren and East of Virginia St. It will be interesting to see which contenders make it through the qualification process, since I can't really see the City issuing all five. All politics aside, it should be the project(s) that will actually return the highest retail tax yield to repay the Bond. In understandable terms, a Six Flags theme park would yield a higher sales tax return and be less of a risk than a Museum of Bloggers downtown, honoring Reno's best bloggers with alters. If you were a visitor which would you go to and spend money at? That's the key question to ask in issuing a STAR Bond. Another question would be do the developers have their act together? What feasibility studies have they done on their own projects? etc etc. So on a final note, the CAC and very astute citizens attending the meeting noticed only four businesses were mentioned for five STAR Bonds, so why two for the Baseball Folks? Well, Lewis stated that the Baseball Folks are in negotiation to acquire/buy GSR. Whoah! After the ooh's and aah's settled in the room, he went on to mention the Baseball Folks have a vision of a higher intensity of usage of the GSR property, or envision making it denser, I can't recall exactly how he phrased it, but this is definitely big news. Maybe he meant they are buying part of the gigantic GSR lot..or maybe they are buying the whole thing. He didn't elaborate. Either way it's big. The two STAR Bond feasibility requests for the Baseball folks 'I think' go to Council on the 16th of July, but don't quote me on that I could be wrong.  Lewis mentioned he would like to keep all these feasibility requests on the same track, for optimum usage of his staff. STAR Bonds are cumbersome, and take at least 6 to 9 months to process.
3. Triple AAA Ballpark - An army of dirt-related construction rigs are starting to dig the hole the field will go in. The Baseball Folks are beginning to focus more attention on the retail aspects of the project (which should please the Council) and should go before them on the 16th to separate out the retail portions of the project from the baseball part, which includes separating out the parcels. Planning includes a large office building where fire station used to be, plus the commercial pieces on other side of Evans. No major hiccups with the project thus far. Lewis mentioned they are selling ticket reservations 'like crazy'.
4. 10 North Virginia Street - Lewis mentioned Mr. Papas' new designs are really interesting architecturally, calling them 'Dog-gone interesting'. They are in the process of setting up meeting with 10 North Virginia Canopy Design Subcommittee, which I believe is headed up by Sharon Zadra, to evaluate the designs.
5. ReTRAC Cover - Moving along slower than RDA would like, but nonetheless moving along. Lewis mentioned the railroad is a bit of a pest sometimes…The project is delayed a bit because they had to assign flagman to the project to manage/run/direct the trains etc. As soon as the flag man gets here from wherever he is coming from, they can start to lay foundations for cover. This has held up the project by a couple of weeks, however it should still be completed by the end of December. RDA is gearing up for proposals in Phase 2.
6. Beautification - July9th is a meeting with businesses on Virginia Street to discuss extending the special lighting on the Mt. Rose-to-Pueblo block all the way up to Liberty Street. The facade improvement program is moving forward, should be back to council shortly.
7. Post Office - Lots of good news here. RDA has a tentative agreement with property owner of replacement site, after much negotiation over price. They are also restructuring the post office agreement to be in conformance of HUD which is source of funding, the deal should be council agenda in August. At the same time in August the post office plaza and whitewater park will also be on the agenda to get funding.  Hoping plaza will start construction next year, and whitewater park after that.  There is a 2 year time span between title acquisition and the time the new postal facility is done and the post office can relocate delivery operations..plenty of time for public process and input.

6/30/2008 - BRIGHTON MANOR - Brighton Manor, located on the corner of Plumas and Moana, is looking to fill in some of their lot with single family attached residences. This isn't too much of a change from their original plans, other than being slightly more dense. The Tentative Map shows the attached family units looking virtually identical to the detached units already built. They are cute. Now, if they would just relocate the entire thing to the Grant's Landing property, I would be super happy. All of the information for Grant's Landing has been removed from Silverstar Communities web site, except for the renderings. Grant's Landing was one of the projects I was more excited about. Oh well, you win some you lose some. Click here to view the very detailed Staff Report for Brighton Manor's attached-family concept, including renderings, site maps, etc. It's 33 megabytes, so dial-up users beware.

6/30/2008 - STAFF REPORTS: REDEVELOPMENT MEETING - Very interesting indeed. In the upcoming Redevelopment Meeting on Wednesday, L3 Development looks to be opening the door for a private/public partnership with the Redevelopment Agency. Let's take a look at the exact wording:

Summary: Staff requests direction and authorization from the Council/Agency Board to negotiate and pursue the development of a public/private partnership on a mixed use development specializing in residential, retail, and entertainment venues within the City of Reno Redevelopment boundary generally located in the downtown Reno area bounded by Third Street, Second Street, West Street, and Center Street.
Background: L3 Development Co., LLC (“L3”) has acquired more than 11 acres of real property in downtown Reno, encompassing more than 75,000 square feet of commercial space.
L3 also has the opportunity to respond to the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the ReTRAC Train Trench enhancements project which covers two full blocks and could have up to 30,000 square feet of potential retail. L3 is requesting that the Agency seek and be granted authority from the Council to engage in the negotiation of a Memoranda of Understanding and other agreements to enhance the development of the 380 residential unit project known as the Montage, which will also include approximately 16,000 square feet of new retail in the same building. The project area will also include the renovation and re-branding of the current Fitzgerald Hotel and Casino and associated properties which has 351 hotel rooms and over 600 gaming positions. All of these are on properties that are owned or controlled by L3 or its affiliates through long term leases.
Discussion: L3 and its affiliates have invested over $200,000,000 for feasibility studies, acquisition, renovation, and construction activities for the former Golden Phoenix/Flamingo Hilton property, now known as the Montage and the Fitzgerald Hotel and Casino. This redevelopment is located generally between Third Avenue to the north; Second Street to the south; West Street to the west; Center Street to the east.
The development team includes both nationally recognized and prominent local companies. This team has been assembled for the purpose of developing unique concepts that brings new innovative offerings together with local elements of Reno’s architecture, feel, and culture. These projects will further compliment other efforts already underway driving the revitalization of downtown Reno, while also achieving the highest and best use for these properties in the project area.

So what does this mean for downtown? Well it means pretty soon, Fernando's swath of downtown is going to get some major attention. Sierra Street with a revitalized Fitz on one side, and the Montage on the other side, and a huge two-block long public plaza fronting both properties with little mini-retail buildings. That's what Mr. Leal is envisioning. It's time some of the pedestrian-friendly energy of the Riverwalk extend north into the casino zone. What are your thoughts?

6/26/2008 - UPCOMING AGENDA ITEMS -
CAC Meeting July 1, 3:00 p.m. , Reno City Hall, Caucus Room, 1 East First Street, 7th Floor, Reno, Nevada 89501 - Items of Interest: Update on Star Bond Proposals, Update on Pioneer Site, Update on priority projects including baseball, entertainment core, downtown parking, 10 North Virginia Street, Post Office, RETRAC Phase 1, Community Assistance Center and Urban Market.
Planning Commission Meeting, July 1, 6:00 p.m., City Council Chambers, Reno City Hall, 1 East First Street - Items of Interest: It looks like Brighton Manor may be altering their master plan to include an 'attached single family residential product' of 23 units somewhere in the development. I could be interpreting all that official jargon incorrectly but thats what it seems like. If so, that's great news for that development.
City Council Meeting, July 2, 10:00 a.m., City Council Chambers, Reno City Hall, 1 East First Street - Item of Interest: Looks like the Riverwalk and water fountains may get a reconditioning.' Nice! Staff Report: Approval of bid award for Riverwalk and Water Fountain Recondition Project to Anchor Concrete for a not to exceed amount of $79,580.
Joint Reno City Council and Redevelopment Agency Board Meeting, July 2, 2:00 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers, 1 East First Street - Items of Interest: Staff Report: Discussion, direction and potential authorization of staff to negotiate agreements with L3 Development Co., LLC, and other parties as necessary to develop a Mixed Use project for the area bounded by Third Street, Second Street, West Street, Center Street. Whoah! Hmmm what could it be? Also, Discussion and possible approval of a Purchase and Sale Agreement in the amount of $6,600,000 for certain real property located at 40 East 4th Street, Reno, NV (APN 007-296- 22) known as the RTC CitiCenter Transfer Center.Nice! That's a big component to the core retail project downtown.

6/26/2008 - NOTE TO PROPERTY OWNER: CLEAN UP YOUR PROPERTY! - Hello, Mr. Waterfront Tower developer. I have received several complaints about the appearance of your property located on the corner of 2nd Street and Lake Streets. So I decided to go take a look for myself. I think the pics below pretty much tell the whole story;



Your property is in pretty poor condition right now; weeds and plants growing up through the street, nearly all the fence coverings torn town, etc. How about you go in and clean it up a bit? Everyone around you is improving their properties, including the Park Center Tower and Baseball Stadium project. Since you don't plan on breaking ground on your project until at least 2009, we residents really don't want to look at this mess for 8 more months. So how about it?

6/26/2008 - WELLS AVENUE NEWS - Congratulations to all of us Wells Avenuvians! The overlay zoning and design standards portion of the Wells Avenue Plan passed city council with no opposition yesterday. Barrie Schuster, our fearless neighborhood leader as I like to refer to her (she's also on our NAB), was on-hand at the council meeting to endorse the proposal. She also, with the help of a slew of complaints from residents in this area, got a special meeting scheduled to discuss our not-so-red-hot sidewalks in what us Wells Avenue residents call 'the island', the group of old homes bordered by Holcomb, Wells, Vassar and Ryland.
Barry Schuster said "Our Vision for the future is of a Wells Avenue Neighborhood where pride in the neighborhood's history and character is clear-evidenced by the area's well maintained homes and yards and ongoing property owner investment in the restoration and adaptive re use of historic homes and structures.  The diversity of the neighborhood is further enhanced through the integration of infill and redevelopment that is in keeping with the established character of the neighborhood." I second that motion!
The best part of the Overlay plan are the mass zoning changes it institutes. Some of the highlights include; re-zoning all of the properties on the east side of Holcomb to Mixed Use Residential, allowing adaptive re-use of the old homes along this street as small offices, something many people have been doing anyway, also rezoning the properties on Vassar between Wells and Holcomb as Mixed Use Residential as well. Some of the Action Plan highlights include enhancing Wells Avenue's treescape (something already in process with the Roots for Wells plan of 100 trees being planted along Wells Avenue this fall), historic walking tours, getting 'historic bungalow district' signs for our neighborhood, promoting homeownership in the neighborhood to reduce absentee landlords and home turnover, architectural standards for new buildings, a facade improvement program for Wells Ave, a neighborhood watch program already in effect, and so much more! I can't emphasize this enough; I love this neighborhood, I have some amazing neighbors who were all as committed to developing this plan as I was, and of course Barrie, who has become an essential beacon of communication between us and city officials. Everyone, from our councilwoman Jessica Sferrazza to the Planning Commission to Jessica Jones, the main community development manager involved, was impressed with the continuous high level of resident participation in this process.
The next issue to tackle are the streets; We have a meeting July 1, 5:30 pm, HAWC Clinic, outdoors: meeting with J. Sferrazza and Charla Honey to discuss streets/sidewalks and curbs. Also of interest to Wells Avenuvians; July 9, 6 p.m., Neighborhood Watch Meeting. Meet outside at the HAWC Clinic This will be a 'strolling meeting' where we identify locations for installation of neighborhood watch signs. This 'stroll' will also be a brief, informal historic walk of some of the homes in the neighborhood not covered in the previous historic walking tour. July 15, 6 pm HAWC Clinic, Wells Avenue Merchants and Property Owners meeting, and July 16, City Council Meeting to approve $7500.00 in funds for Roots for Wells Street Tree Project.

6/26/08 - REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY GOODIES
Sorry for the delay in reporting on this one, but I had a deadline on a major project last night to complete.
So let's review; If you remember in the post below, I referred to the large swath of Northeast downtown being owned by those two entities. And just like I had speculated, the RDA would like to trade some land with one entity, in order to work with the other entity on a large scale project in this area. We're talking about 8 square blocks, from Virginia to Evans, and from 5th to 7th Streets roughly.
One of the few powers RDA has in its development arsenal is the power of public/private land exchange, because it requires little investment and is much easier to scrambling to find millions of dollars to purchase property. Let's point out a few facts about this;

• This will be the most complex project RDA has undertaken thus far.
• Never before in RDA's history have they had this kind of opportunity to acquire so many connecting parcels.
• Lewis mentioned he would like any project going on this land to be dense, high rises, and to 'pull the University' over I-80.
• This could be a major high-density gateway into our downtown.
• Comprises of some of the most valuable land downtown.
• Northern Nevada Urban Development, fronted by Nick Pavich, has agreed to pay $150,000 to begin working with the city on it.
• The two entities involved have poured tens of millions of dollars the past few years acquiring these properties.
• The deal with the two entities only opens the doors with both of them to 'deepen' the discussion. So don't get too excited yet. I would imagine any kind of groundbreaking for this project is at least 2 years away, given the complexity and size.

Courthouse lot -

This was the other VERY exciting development. This is regarding the courthouse parking lot that is bounded by Sierra, Court Street, and Virginia Street. It used to be the Pioneer Casino, the a dirt lot for a few years, then recently turned into a parking lot. If you remember, there was a lot of squabble about turning it into a parking lot, from arguing over landscaping standards to the fact the Council did not want such a valuable piece of property sitting as a surface lot.
Both RDA and Washoe County have similar visions for the property, which is awesome and possibly what has made this progress so smoothly. They envision mixed use develop which also includes offices, restaurants and courthouse offices so the property uses its strategic location in the most effective way possible. The MOU between the County and the City creates a Development Committee, with members from both RDA and Washoe, to work together on land uses etc. The property would temporarily be transferred to RDA, so they can use their expertise for redevelopment. Dan Gustin commented he thinks its terrific two government entities can work so well together. Virginia Street would be maximized in any development on the property. And the best news? It doesn't sound like it will be a major parking garage at all, and really focus on the reatil/office aspect. Nice!

6/23/08 - VARIOUS NOT-SO-TIDBITS
Train Trench Cover - Some preliminary work has started with putting up some barriers and fences to the North of the trench where they need to remove the old Rainbow Bridge foundation.
Palladio - Slowly but surely, the Palladio continues to sell its remaining units, closing on three units in May, and some in April as well. That may not sound like much, but in this real estate market that's golden. Also, I heard one resident is combining two units to make a mega-unit.
West Street Market - Interesting items in the upcoming Redevelopment Agency Agenda. RDA is seeking an additional $300,000 to cover the cost of the Phase 2 of construction of the West Street Market. Phase 1 includes installation of the grease interceptor and all water, power, sewer and electric conduit through the courtyard to service the three buildings, renovation of the outdoor elements of all three buildings, paving of the court yard and replacements of a portion of the sidewalk on West street adjacent to the market that is in bad disrepair. Phase II construction includes renovation of the roofs and interiors of all three buildings,
excluding tenant improvements. Phase II is estimated at $300,000 including contingencies and unforeseen conditions due to the age of the buildings. Unfortunately due to some existing conditions in the court yard, the $80,000+ donated in time and materials to install pavers can't be used, so it looks like we get concrete or asphalt instead. Boo hiss. But I understand, it's not like they would willingly turn down $80,000 in pavers. I hope they at least use decorative etched concrete or something. The source for the funding has been identified from internal admin funds.
WHOPPER: This involves the new parking lot between Sierra, Virginia, Island Ave and Liberty Streets. Did you know us residents can park there after certain hours and on the weekend for free? I don't know the exact hours so check the signs. Before it was a parking lot it was a dirt field for years, and I believe the Pioneer Inn before that? A long-term local may need to correct me on that. Anyway, the City Council wasn't happy with it being just a parking lot, but really had no choice as they had to provide the parking to Washoe County as part of the new courthouse. Well Mark Lewis mentioned recently in a Citizens Advisory Committee meeting that Washoe County was very interested in utilizing the desirable lot for something besides asphalt. So read this:
B.6  Subject: Staff Report: Discussion and potential approval of Memorandum of Understanding between the Redevelopment Agency and Washoe County to redevelop certain real property owned by Washoe County located within the city block defined by Island Ave to the north, S. Virginia St. to the east, W. Liberty St. to the south, and S. Sierra St. to the west; [Pioneer Site]  ... The County wants to develop the subject property to expand the existing District and Justice Court facilities and ancillary governmental uses on its property. Furthermore, the County seeks to develop the subject property site with expansive land uses, and specifically envisions a mixed-use redevelopment that includes compatible retail, commercial, office, parking and/or ancillary uses.
Now remember, MOU's in reality-check-world simply mean they are agreeing to talk about stuff, and no one is bound to obligated to do anything other than put forth some effort to develop a plan. But majorly exciting nonetheless!
Baseball Stadium - The Baseball Folks have begun closing on some additional properties in the Baseball District.
Northeast - hmmm. I debated about mentioning this or not, but the last time I didnt say anything, every major paper in town reported on it anyway and I got harassed by my faithful readers for keeping quiet. So I'll just say look at Items B4 and B5 here, and then when you see 'further help with the University vision of a gateway', look here on pages 6, 7, and 12 to see the University's vision of a gateway. This could be a VERY significant step. Coincidentally, it was June 23, 2007 when I first posted actvity going on there.

6/20/2008 - DOWNTOWN WALK - EAST - Pics of the fire station being demo'd, major progress on Townhomes at Holcomb Place, and the paint mystery on the Waterfront Tower deepens. Click to view pics!

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