Aha!
Now I see why Reno Revival (formerly Harrah's and Reno City Center) is obtaining a tentative map that splits up the parcel(s) the project sits on.
It appears the residential towers are being offered up to be bought "as is" separate from the retail and office portions of the project.
The Fine Group has a lease agreement that will encompass of 88.6% of the available retail SF to be utilized as gaming, entertainment, and food and beverage space on the ground floor. Perhaps structuring the project this way will allow each section/parcel to submit separate permits so different portions can be on different timelines. Again that's just a wild guess.
It also appears the hotel tower might be sold separately as an independent project as well, as this ad for the multi-family states "The hotel portion consists of 390 keys, offered for sale to be repositioned to a dual-brand concept or an extended-stay product."
According to the developers, they are by no means is the project throwing in the towel, and the project might actually get developed faster with different developers in their own silos. Alquist Development wants to focus on the commercial and retail, which is their specialty. The developer for Reno Revival in a phone interview with me, insisted that this in no way means the project is stalled.
There is still a world where everything might be developed under one house, but, they are trying out a new method of mixed-use development, and they've already had a ton of interest in the resdiential portion from local developers.