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Various Tidbits

- From next Wednesday's city council meeting Agenda - It looks like we found out what business wants to go in just south of Lincoln Lounge and north of the ballpark ...a mini-mart! Well, I don't know if it's a mini-mart but I know they are applying for a packaged liquor license...Just what downtown needs is another store selling packaged liquor? The address of the proposed packaged liquor license is 330 Evans Avenue. According to Google Maps, there is already a Wrightway Food and Market located at 340 North Virginia Street. Maybe this will be a boutique grocery store selling packaged liquor yeah? I noticed this item was continued from the previous council meeting, so maybe it's already an issue.

- The City Council is getting serious about Hot August Nights coming clean. L.7 Update and discussion regarding Hot August Nights, Council invited Bruce Walter, Executive Director to make a presentation. J. Sferrazza, L.8 Discussion and potential direction to staff regarding the status of permits for Hot August Nights and requiring documents from Hot August Nights prior to issuing the permits. D. Aiazzi
and L.9 In accordance with Section 2.030 of the City Charter, order the attendance of the Executive Director and/or the Board of Directors of Hot August Nights to attend a Special Meeting of the City Council and produce all and any papers relating to Hot August Nights Events, and if failure to appear occurs to proceed with issuance of a Subpoena(s). KRNV is reporting that CEO Bruce Walters already refused to show up Wednesday to talk to the City Council.

- Construction seems to be happening at feverish pace at Silver Peak's Slice space across the street from Reno Aces Ballpark on 2nd Street.

- Construction seems to have stalled at the Truckee River Lane Building, haven't heard much lately about the German bar rumored to be going there. Anyone hear anything?

- Speaking of stalling, what's going on with the Woolworth's project? Anyone know when this is scheduled to begin? Anyone know the fate of Silver Peak's lease at city Parking Garage or the fate of American Box LUnch of the Grille's rumored second opening? So many questions!

- If you are interested in hearing a presentation regarding both the Downtown Events Center and Ballroom operations, scheduling, revenue, bookings and their potential futures, listen in on the Redevelopment Meeting Wednesday. Here's a link to the agenda.

 

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Posted by: CAK - 7/10/2010 12:39:38 PM
The new liquor store is about a block or 2 from the homeless shelters, so they have a built-in client base.

Posted by: Matt - 7/10/2010 11:39:25 PM
Ironic you mention the Woolworth's building Mike cuz there's an article in the RGJ talking about how it's moving forward and some work has already begun. Haha I guess you just have to mention it and news comes forward. Should be really nice when the renovations are done, it will add some much needed tenants to downtown and at this point in time, any tenant is a welcome tenant.

Posted by: Anakin-Marc - 7/11/2010 3:48:10 AM
Just having room for tenants isn't enough. If that were the case, we could just build the world's largest shopping mall or business park and our problem would be solved. There has to be demand for those available spaces, otherwise it'll end up being just like the New South China Mall: Most gross leasable space of any mall ever, and 99% vacant since its opening in 205.

Posted by: DowntownMakeoverDude - 7/11/2010 9:21:39 AM
Hmmm it sounds like from the article that they are actually done cleaning it up. I was hoping for the two floors of solid glass walls on the first and second floors like their previous renderings depicted. Oh well. I hope people fill the space soon, but if there's one thing the State Street project taught me, it's that people like to lease NEW space, not old antiquated space that requires a lot of initial investment to renovate.

Posted by: Blake Crosby - 7/13/2010 9:02:34 AM
First, wasn't there a moratorium on liquor store liquor licenses downtown? Second, do we really want to legislate lifestyles? Sure, why don't we get rid of all the pawn shops, strip joints, dive bars, casinos, tattoo parlors, fast food joints, homeless shelters, welfare services downtown, and boy, wouldn't downtown just be like Disneyland Mainstreet??? Here's the deal folks. Other people exist who aren't as rich or straightlaced as you. LEARN TO LIVE WITH THEM! If they want to live downtown because it's cheaper and they have no cars to get around, LET THEM! Quit being such a snob. We're nothing like downtown San Francisco, so we should be happy in relative terms downtown Reno IS Disneyland Main Street.

Posted by: DowntownMakeoverDude - 7/13/2010 9:28:56 AM
Blake I totally disagree. There's a difference between legislating lifestyle, and legislating development of a primary tourism district. We just spent $80 million dollars on a new ballpark which was supposed to be a catalyst project to spark redevelopment in this quadrant of downtown. And now a liquor store is going in as the first-non-baseball project in the Freight House District. History has shown, both in this city and others, that liquor stores are like tumorous cancers, no one will touch them or develop or redevelop near them. Here are my problems with liquor stores: 1. I live on the fringe of downtown, south of it, only a couple blocks from oh about 7 liquor stores. Very very rarely do I see people buying packaged food at these stores. 2. Most liquor stores downtown also sell crack pipes, whippets (easy way to get high off Nitrous Oxide), tubes for snorting crank, torches for smoking crack and more. What does this have to do with people living downtown cheaply and not having to drive? 3. Gangsters are now coming up from Oakland and other Bay Area cities on a regular basis, buying 40 ouncers from 24-hour liquor stores downtown at 3 a.m., and wreaking havoc downtown. Yet the bars are being blamed for this because police use them as points of call when something happens on the street. These guys certainly aren't buying Lemon Drops from Imperial all night. The police, in a recent meeting with stakeholders, verified this. 3. We currently have 13 liquor stores within a 4 block radius of downtown...is this really necessary? 4. Show me a primary tourism district in ANY city (not just SF) that has a proliferation of liquors stores planted where the majority of tourists hang out. 5. I can't tell you how much Wells Avenue has cleaned up since issuing a moratorium. It's nice having three or four liquor stores instead of 14. 6. You really think it's smart building a liquor store just yards from a homeless shelter? Unless you live in a neighborhood with a proliferation of stores, you have no idea how they can bring a neighborhood down. If you don't think they have an effect on surrounding businesses, and both tourists and local's perception of a neighborhood, then ask the people who have sunk money into this part of town Also, you are missing a larger point about liquor stores in general. In my opinion, this has nothing to do with social class, convenience for those living downtown, or the like. It has to do with keeping a district that was just officially labeled a TOURIST DISTRICT by the city council just that, a tourist district.

Posted by: michiganman - 7/13/2010 10:40:54 AM
Mike, at what point do the building owners need to step up and do their part by not renting their space to the liquor stores? I guess that is what confuses me the most. Yes, they are getting the short term gain of a rent check every month, but in the long run it depreciates the area, and the building they own. Let alone the moral issue of contributing to addicts. I just think at some point the people who own these buildings need to realize that if they hold out for a more upscale tenant, it will increase the value of their property. Other cities have done things like this where all the properties owners got together and collectivly put together some ground rules like only renting the lower levels to retail, not renting to dollar stores and liquor stores etc. Holland, MI is a great example of this, so it can be done, without government intervention.

Posted by: doofus - 7/13/2010 9:13:08 PM
The proposed packaged good store is an important issue, or I'd just let it go. DTM Dude is right asserting that the downtown property owners need to step up and weigh the impacts of their lease decisions against the overall good of downtown Reno (and not incidentally the financial performance of their other properties}. The owner of the building is John Iliescu, and his business phone number at Aesthetic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Center is 775.329.0671. I haven't found an email address, but maybe one of you soldiers can find it and post it? Tell him your thoughts about the proposed use of his building.

Posted by: Jake - 7/13/2010 10:55:12 PM
New article out! The mystery gets deeper and deeper. I find it noteworthy that according to their tax returns, expenses for the event dropped by over $1 million from the 2007 to 2008 event and hasn't increased sine then...yet Bruce complains about the expenses of the event.

Posted by: Jake - 7/13/2010 10:55:36 PM
Forgot link. http://www.rgj.com/article/20100713/NEWS/100713076