Reno, NV - 2, 48-story towers at Hilton/GSR site
 

Well I hope this isn't a repost, but there was a new 'front page' article in the paper this morning talking about the plans for the massive and under-used Hilton site (now under new ownership and called the Grand Sierra Resort).

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...20396/1071/BIZ

And the last paragraph:

"The magazines include an article about two 48-story residential towers planned for the Grand Sierra property designed by architect Kobi Karp. Carsch said Grand Sierra still is negotiating partners for the project, and its financing is not tied to hotel-condominium sales at the existing tower."

Uhhhh, wow. So I go over to the architects site and am greeted with some pics:

http://www.pbase.com/canonken/image/...7/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/canonken/image/...8/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/canonken/image/...9/original.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/canonken/image/...0/original.jpg

If you have been to the area, the county mental health facility is across the street (to the north), this is the 'industrial' part of town, and is one of the older parts of the city. To say the least, any project of this scope would be unbelievable.

They have had renderings in the past showing over a dozen large towers, but this looks to be a little more serious of a proposal.

:banana: Reno 911 :banana:

Great looking project. Is that triangle of land bounded by 395, the river, and that road going to be developed later?

These towers are beautiful, the only thing i don't like about them is the location. Reno needs more gentrification downtown, and some more towers as well, but then I don't live there. Would someone please correct me if i'm wrong?

For our size, we have a nice little downtown - however, there are a few large (stalled at the moment) serious projects happening, few being built, and a few on the table.

They are throwing up a 17 story building at the Peppermill (very nice facility happening), there is going to possibly be up to 3, 200+' buildings at the FAR south end of town (almost a rural area), etc.

I agree a bigger downtown would be desirable, but I still think the city is maturing towards that (lots of talk about it, the interest is building) goal. Just a matter of time.

The era of plentiful, cheap housing in Reno is basically wrapping up (the last land in the valley is being developed, no large tracts of land left) and now the phase of densification (both urban and suburban) is opening up (in-fill, redevelopment, etc.)

Lots of new, large, and exciting projects either on the table or under way. Needless to say, the city is growing up, and is doing it well.

Oh, and about the location - that is one unique thing about the city is many of the biggest buildings are by themselves, miles apart - very funny to look at. You will often find cheap strip malls across from a tall building. Its not good or bad, its just the way things are and I don't mind rolling with it!

Currently a parking lot and empty field:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Reno,+...13561&t=k&om=1

It won't be much trouble to get the land! Best thing is the land is already owned by the...owner for the project, and the city will certainly green light it (only thing would be the airports flight path, flood issues, etc. - but those should not be an issue).

As long as the money becomes available, there is no reason for it not to happen.

awesome
thanks kenrat ;)

No problem. I will keep my eyes open on the news and keep this thread updated if need be.

:D

Ken you forgot to show the whole project which to me is A- freaking-mazing.:righton:

http://www.kobikarp.com/site/

http://www.kobikarp.com/images/grandsierranew007.jpg
Now this is still kobi's vision, but last sunday i went into the GSR and explored a bit and found a picture on the wall displaying the waterpark, here is the deal its is designed differently then kobi's version.(I'll try and dig up a render) I have seen at least 3 designs for this project. do you know if there is collective of designers working this project?And do you know when we will see a final design? Also has the Council approved any of this? i have not found any mention of this on the city's website. I hope this is not smoke screen. this town needs to see this project go thru.

how many feet tall is this proposal?

Nice, wrong location. That's all.

This will improve things on the east side of Reno. Congrats!

Looks very impressive. I too wish it was more integrated with the current downtown area. Looking at the rendering, seems fairly close to the airport. The tall buildings won't be a problem with the FAA? Just wondering.

Biggest little city in the world! ;)

Wow, my post came back to life!!!

No real news - but just to give you an idea of how things are going from someone who lives here:

They just put up a $2,000,000 billboard along the freeway, very nice. The interior is being redone (Vegas style with nice marble floors, dark wood, all that stuff). They have had radio commercials on and off and keep saying stuff like, "Good things are coming to the Grand Sierra Resort" and such.

I have been worried that instead of actually doing anything, they were just going to sit on this old (and to be honest, dated, ugly pile of dog sh!t that if it was in Vegas, would have been gone 20 years ago) property - but I think there is some hope that they will actually do something.

This is a large site by American standards (vs. Dubai or parts of China where they have square miles to work with), so I hope they make use of it.

Today, I posted a project in Sparks:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=128935

So even if stuff is stalling out, at least new stuff is coming on line, which means at least some people think its a good idea to build some major stuff.

Hmm, I was in Reno a few weeks ago on my way to visit some relatives in Fernley, but I dont recall seeing any posters like that, perhaps they put it up afterwards. Looks like a great project, not sure of the location though, is it close to the I-80 freeway?

The existing tower to the left near the water, is the Hilton Grand Sierra Resort & Casino. That building is 353 feet tall with 27 floors. That's actually the city's 2nd tallest building currently. So I'd estimate that these two new towers about 450 feet for the shorter one, and around 500 feet for the taller one. Currently the tallest in Reno is the Silver Legacy Resort & Casino at 410 feet.

http://www.pbase.com/canonken/image/...8/original.jpg



By the way, could this possibly be the Wingfield Towers project? Emporis has a two tower project listed at their site. The east tower would be 492 feet tall with 40 floors, while the west tower would be 374 feet tall with 28 floors.

wingfield towers
 

To answer your question about the Wingfield Towers i don't think they're supposed to be located in the GSR complex. I saw a rendering of the project and it was in downtown Reno right on the Truckee river. I think the closest crossstreets would around Arlington and 1st.

http://www.renodiscontent.com/2006/0...towers-update/

http://www.renodiscontent.com/wp-con...ieldtowers.jpg


http://theurban.blogs.com/photos/unc...d_towers_1.png

yeah GSR and the Wingfield towers are different projects. GSR is on the eastern fringe of town while Wingfield is located on the river in downtown.
These are powerfully progressive projects for this town. But at this point there is alot of speculation about Wingfield being built. Fingers Crossed. (the council has approved this!!) As a local resident i have seen however construction at GSR progress. They are currently demolishing the pool area and working on the casino space.
The ground breaking for the waterpark is supposed to begin in the summer. I belive the whole project from start to finish is something like 6 years, and I suspect many changes from the current design.