First Look: Midtown Thoma Project

by Mike Van Houten / Mar 26, 2012

Hello downtowners, midtowners and readers from afar. Check out some rendering examples of one of the 17 buildings, and a site map of the Thoma project! Unless you've been to one of the Midtown mixers or know the Carter Bros., this is probably the first time you'll see how the buildings will be arranged in the project, and the contemporary architecture they will entail. These are preliminary renderings of course, and just architectural examples, and more often than not projects are tweaked and changed during the process.....but it does give us an idea of the modern approach they are taking with the buildings. These were initially released at the Midtown Mixer at Craft last week. Attendees were also treated to the same fly-through video that Bernie and Tim showed me last year.

The Carter Bros. have been very cautious to release their plans to the media and genera public because of what I'll call the 'Wingfield Towers Syndrome,' where lots of glitzy promises were made by developers that never came to fruition and basically made the developers look like idiots.

This project, however is actually happening, and building plans for the first building were submitted to the City last week and if all goes well, plans for the second building should be submitted this week. Vertical construction should begin soon.

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  • March 26, 2012 - 12:44:36 PM

    My friend has a shop moving into this development and from what I hear, there should be a nice mix of tenants once this gets built. Midtown is shaping up quite nicely and seems to be gaining momentum. If the economy improves further this could be the "it" neighborhood within a few short years.

  • March 26, 2012 - 3:26:16 PM

    Any chance of seeing the building plans that were submitted, versus the preliminary renderings? Also, it looks like there are limited parking spaces available in the middle of the project -- perhaps 20. Does it seem like it would have been more wise to eliminate those completely for more building and environment-based space? With 17 units in the project, one has to wonder if the tight space and limited availability will be an issue.

  • March 26, 2012 - 4:18:53 PM

    This city is not ready to accept walking even across the street to a business. Parking and lack thereof was one of the top issues mentioned in the initial Midtown Neighborhood Plan meeting, with most businesses saying their customers complain about parking, including Sheas, Sup, etc. One business owner told me their customers complain about having to park on Thoma/Cheney and cross the street to their business. I bet building this project with no additional parking would have met resistance from the City and other local business owners. While 20 spaces might not be sufficient, I think 20 spaces plus angle parking on Thoma Street if its made one-way could help significantly. What makes most sense is to develop out the Midtown area according to the original transit corridor plan, but apparently people arent quite ready to treat this as a transit corridor. And regarding the building renderings, Im lucky they gave me what I have!

  • March 26, 2012 - 8:35:24 PM

    Thanks for posting this Mike - very interesting, let's all hope it gets built. The parking issue will make or break Midtown IMHO if its popularity continues to grow.

  • March 28, 2012 - 8:19:04 AM

    This is an amazing project that should benefit other businesses in Midtown as well as all of Reno. If developers are willing to take a chance on the revitalization of Reno, others will take notice and consider Reno. Not enough is currently being done to promote Reno and that is too bad. It has a great climate, beautiful scenery, very nice people and has attracted many transplants from other states. Maybe this development will help the "whole" of Reno.

  • March 28, 2012 - 1:29:42 PM

    As a frequent visitor to Reno, Mid-town has become my new destination. Hate to say it, but one my last visit, the closest I came to downtown was the Granite Street Eatery. And I think they are considered Mid-town? The bars and restaurants are excellent and the locals couldn't be more inviting. Downtown should fallow their lead. This project will only make the area more appealing.

  • March 28, 2012 - 6:43:26 PM

    To Sara Leee, I found this http://www.greatfullgardens.com/home/cafes-eaterys/great-full-gardens-cafe-eatery-downtown/ It seems Great Full Gardens is going to be an actual place, and perhaps those building renderings are closer to the real thing than I realized.

  • April 11, 2012 - 10:17:01 AM

    This city is not ready to accept walking even across the street to a business. This project isn't designed for people living far away to drive in and park... that is what Mt Rose Mall and Meadowood Mall are for. Try riding your bike, or riding the BRT, or moving closer. I'm 25 - we need to start developing for the next 100 years, not as we did for the last 100 years.

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