In recent weeks, two significant new projects have begun construction.  Nightingale Manor is east of downtown near the river. Truckee River Townhomes is west of downtown on the river.  While I don't yet have access to any nice artist's renderings to visually showcase either project, I think these projects are worth highlighting because access to affordable housing is so important to the successful revitalization of the greater downtown area.  Both projects are being constructed in what has long been undervalued industrial locations that are now starting to transition into housing that normal working folks can still afford.  Soon, 272 new residences will add vitality to not only these peripheral downtown areas but also to the heart of the downtown commercial district that lies directly between them.  

North of Renown Hospital and south of a small riverside park along the Truckee River walking path, Silverstar is commencing work on Nightingale Manor.  From "Builder News": The main goal of the project is to provide an incentive for prospective nurses, therapists and technicians to work at the hospital. According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, Nevada has the lowest nurse-to-hospital-bed ratio in the nation, because soaring home prices have made out-of-state recruitment difficult. Employees who make less than $80,000 a year are eligible to buy the homes, but if they leave [Renown] Medical Center within five years of purchase, the home must be presented back to the hospital at the original price. The development will include 164 two- and three-bedroom townhomes and is projected to cost in the mid $200,000 range for an average 1,400-square-foot unit.

West of downtown after 2nd Street becomes Dickerson Road, work has also begun on Truckee River Townhomes, a new riverfront project just steps away from the Oxbow Nature Study Area.  Excerpts from a KOLO article when the project was first proposed in late 2005: TCI Group of Reno and San Jose, Calif., plans to build 108 single-family townhomes on an eight-acre site at the southwest corner of Dickerson Road and Rissone Lane… [following] a successful run of developing Rancho San Rafael Townhomes on Madison Marie Lane…  “The setting there is just fabulous when you get down right on the river. It’s a beautiful setting,” says Walt Oxley [managing member of TCI].  The two-story units will range from 1,208 square feet to 1,635 square feet. Units will share only roofs and foundations and won’t have common walls... And each unit will also have a rear deck off the living area. The units will be priced between from the low $200,000s to the mid-$300,000s.  “Our goal is to bring good, nice looking housing for entry-level buyers,” Oxley says.