Condo developers upbeat on downtown Reno market
STEVE TIMKO
RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 4/28/2007
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The real estate market may be softening in Nevada, as well as the rest of the nation, but the effort to add new condominiums to downtown Reno is still going strong.
Officials at Riverwalk Towers, which used to be the Comstock Casino, report they have sold about 90 percent of their units. There still are about 13 units left, including a penthouse, said Tasheena Weishaar, director of marketing.
"Everything has slowed down, but I don't think that the condo market is in the same category as the housing market," Weishaar said. "We have not slowed down as much as they have."
Most of the people who bought units at the Riverwalk live there as opposed to owning them for investments, she said. While a significant amount of people moved from the Bay Area, even more are from the Reno area, she said.
"We have a ton of locals who wanted to live downtown and did not want to deal with the responsibilities of a house," Weishaar said.
One is Norm Robins, 70, who moved in after living in a home on Clear Acre Drive. Robins moved to the Reno area from San Francisco two years ago.
Before living in the condo, Robins said he had a yard.
"I can't tell you how much I do not miss it," Robins said.
The yard was nice until there was a maintenance problem such as a leaking water pipe, which had to be repaired as soon as possible.
"Life without that sort of thing is much more carefree," Robins said.
Living downtown, Robins said he and his wife go to events at the Pioneer Theater, and they've seen just about every Bruka Theater production not meant for children. They walk along the river, and they enjoy restaurants like Lexie's at the Siena Hotel Spa & Casino or Beaujolais Bistro across the street from their condominium.
The Palladio has sold 74 of 92 units and people will start moving in there in about a month, said Dave Clark, who is the court-appointed receiver for the development.
The market is not as hot as it was in 2006, but a large part of that is a lack of speculators, Clark said.
"I've been on the project for six months now, and we have not had any speculators buy in that period of time," Clark said. "It's been all people who intend to live here."
People still are buying the condos, he said.
"We're still satisfied that the market is out there for our product," Clark said. "People are driving harder bargains, but we're still meeting our sales goals."
Chris Nelson, a principal with Capstone Partners that is building Arterra at Sierra and Liberty streets, said groundbreaking has been postponed from this fall to spring. Nelson has also noticed the speculators have left the market.
"There's not the hype in the market that there was a year or two ago," Nelson said. "The market is more real."
Arterra so far has not attracted as many young urban professionals as he expected, Nelson said, but it's attracted more empty nesters than they expected. They expect about two-thirds of the buyers to be local.
The city of Reno in November approved the 499 units of the Wingfield Towers on Court Street near Arlington Avenue and spokesman Chris Barrett said it is on schedule with groundbreaking still set for this fall.
The Belvedere Towers, a conversion of the former Sundowner Casino, is proceeding at full speed, said sales manager Anita Perez. Half of the first tower is under contract for occupancy and workers have installed cabinets to the fourth floor and sheet rock to the eighth floor, Perez said.
A spokesman for the Montage, the conversion of what used to be the Flamingo Hilton and most recently the Golden Phoenix, could not be reached for comment.
Two other projects, The Waterfront Towers on First Street near Second Street and deNovo, the conversion of the long-closed Kings Inn Casino, were reported to be on hold. Representatives for those two properties could not be reached on Friday for comment.
Downtown condos
The Palladio: Total units completed: 92.Sold: 74 of 92 Open for occupation: June
The Belvedere Towers: A conversion of the former Sundowner Casino. Total units: 377. Sold: 98. Open for occupation: July
Riverwalk Towers: A conversion of the Comstock Casino. 2nd and West streets: total units: 127. Sold: 114. Residence already occupied.
Wingfield Towers: Court Street near Arlington Avenue. Approved for 499 units. Construction scheduled for fall.
Arterra: Sierra and Liberty streets. Total units: 191. Construction postponed until spring.
Montage: A conversion of the Golden Phoenix Hotel-Casino. Second and Sierra streets. Total Units: 380. Sold: unknown.
SOURCE: Reno Gazette-Journal research.