There is a good article in this months Nevada Magazine about development in Reno/Sparks. (too bad the web article doesn't include all the pics/renderings).
Here's the text for those too lazy to click on the link
R E N O
RENAISSANCE
Dramatic Changes Planned For Reno
and Neighboring Sparks.
BY MATTHEW B. BROWN
PRETEND IT'S 2010. RENO AND SPARKS ARE?
A peek into the region's crystal ball will entice your inner child like a slippery water slide. In three years, or less, Northern Nevada should claim the largest indoor waterpark in the nation, the world's biggest all-sports superstore, and a minor-league baseball stadium.
At the same time, two downtowns less than five miles apart will bustle with new condominium developments. Add to the mix hip entertainment establishments, top-of-the-line restaurants, and posh clubs, and you've got an urban plastic surgery that would make even Dr. 90210 blush.
That is, if everything goes as planned.
Grand Sierra Shines
Grand Sierra Resort and Casino President Michael Carsch believes the stage is set for a Reno renaissance, and his 145-acre facility will be front and center during the transformation. Some of the most ambitious renovation and building projects in Washoe County are complete, underway, or projected at the former Reno Hilton property, where eight of the hotel's floors have been converted into more than 600 lavish condos. This fall construction on a 150,000-square-foot indoor waterpark, the nation's largest, should break ground.
Grand Sierra Resort Corporation bought the Hilton in 2006 with plans to forge Northern Nevada's first luxury destination. "We have the basics of a fabulous hotel, what I call a tired grande dame that we need to dust off and put the sparkle back into," Carsch says. "In line with the changing face of Reno it just makes sense."
With an estimated completion date of 2009, the waterpark tops an impressive Grand Sierra to-do list. Also proposed are a 200-room hotel next to the waterpark, two 48-story Kobi Karp-designed twin condo towers, a waterfront retail esplanade, an 80,000-square-foot day spa, and a $45-million water show, similar to the Las Vegas Bellagio fountain display. Celebrity chef Charlie Palmer plans to open two restaurants on the property, a steakhouse and a seafood restaurant.
Carsch says the changes speak to the community-locals looking for an upscale facility, better dining, and an environment that isn't gaming-specific-and the traveling public. It's an enormous undertaking, but Carsch is realistic. "We need people to understand this doesn't happen overnight. We're talking a five- to seven-year build out," he says. "People say, 'We're skeptical.' All understandable, but at the end of the day, watch us do something spectacular that Reno hasn't seen."
In February, Grand Sierra announced a partnership with elegant lifestyle and entertainment brand Nikki Beach. Plans call for a Nikki Beach Hotel-about 165 rooms-to occupy Grand Sierra's top three floors, a poolside Nikki Beach Club, and multiple nightclubs inside the resort. Nikki Beach could build another 200-room hotel next to the waterpark.
Change at Grand Sierra started almost the moment new ownership took control. One of three in the United States, Dolce Enoteca e Ristorante-actor Ashton Kutcher is an investor in the Dolce Group-opened inside Grand Sierra late last year and was Los Angeles designer Dodd Mitchell's initial stamp on the premises. In the same vein as the restaurant's dark, sleek décor, Mitchell designed The Summit at Grand Sierra, the name of the condo conversion of floors 17-24. The condos-ranging in price and size from $280,000 to $1.9 million and 420 to 2,100 square feet-were completed in April.
For those uninterested in an upscale condo investment, $3 will buy a ticket to the Grand Sierra Cinema. The movie theater, formerly the Keystone II Cinema, opened late last year after a $120,000 upgrade in digital sound equipment. Construction on a new lounge and wine bar, tentatively titled Reserve, began in March. Grand Sierra didn't forget the gamers, either. The revamped casino floor includes new slot and table games, new carpet, and fresh paint.
Downtown Reno's Critical Mass
When Charles McNeely took his seat as Reno City Manager in March 1996, he recognized a disconnect in the heart of the city. "The prevailing view was that nobody came downtown," he says after speaking at the Directions 2007 forum in Reno in February. "So what [the city government] wanted to do was make a concentrated effort to put in place amenities that would attract people."
According to McNeely, whose Directions presentation focused on the continuing enhancement of downtown, the City of Reno is fulfilling its mission. At the core are more than a dozen condo developments centered around the lifeblood of the city, the Truckee River. More than a decade ago, McNeely and the Reno City Council realized a vital resource was being ignored, similar to how Grand Sierra Resort Corporation President Thomas Schrade and other visionaries saw the former Reno Hilton. So the City of Reno took action. "Part of the first step was to get control of the river and those properties that were boarded up and vacant and a source of vagrants and panhandlers," McNeely says.
Little by little, downtown began to transform. In 1999, an old parking garage became Century Riverside 12 Theater, a nice complement to the Truckee River Walk. Shortly after, Riverside Artist Lofts and Residences at Riverwalk paved the way for the mixed-use (live, work, and shop) trend, and, in late 2005, Rink on the River breathed life into a space once occupied by the historic Mapes Hotel. The ice rink is part of a public plaza under construction on North Virginia Street. The winds of change also blew on the old Grenada Theater. In its place is Palladio, a 12-story, 92-unit, mixed-use condo complex scheduled to open this spring.
With construction underway and a projected March 2008 completion date, the old Golden Phoenix Hotel Casino will become Montage, a $150-million luxury condo tower with units ranging in size from 500 to 3,200 square feet. At the site of the former Sundowner Hotel Casino, the Belvedere should open its north tower some time this year and offer close to 370 upscale condos by 2009. Grant's Landing, also set to open this year, will feature 137 townhouses next to the National Automobile Museum. The existing Kings Inn will be renovated into 130 condos and retail space and renamed Denovo.
The residential flow doesn't stop there. Arterra (16 stories, 185 units), Freight House District (50 lofts and townhomes), The Waterfront (35 stories, mixed-use), and Wingfield Towers (499 condos, mixed-use) are in downtown Reno's future plans. The city is working on a master plan for the ReTRAC corridor-a two-plus-mile train trench through downtown completed in 2005-that will open up more real estate opportunities like plazas and mixed-use developments. Not only is Reno "giving people a reason to come back downtown," as McNeely says, but it's also giving people a reason to live downtown, which in turn promotes business and builds what McNeely calls a critical mass.
Too much, too fast? Not in Reno Mayor Bob Cashell's estimation. "I'm excited about all the different projects we have working here," says the fifth-year mayor. "I'm just tickled to death about the condos that are being built. Over the next five years you're going to see some dramatic changes in this region."
Putting Sparks on the Map
Like Siamese twins, it's difficult to separate Sparks from Reno or Reno from Sparks. The difference is so subtle, a matter of seconds on I-80 East is all it takes to pass through the Reno-Sparks continuum. One mammoth development, the estimated 1.35-million-square-foot Legends at Sparks Marina, will finally distinguish the city from Reno on a national level. "It's definitely going to put us on the map," says Sparks Mayor Geno Martini. "It's almost a billion-dollar project. No other development in Truckee Meadows is going to be close to Legends."
With a projected two- to three-year build out, the 100-acre Legends is being tagged as a destination development. In contrast to a typical Northern Nevada retail center, it's projected that most visitors will come from more than 100 miles away, with more than 10,000 visitors expected daily. The Red Development project will be anchored by the largest Scheels outdoor superstore in the world. There will be golf, bike, ski, whitewater, and fishing shops and special attractions such as giant aquariums, an indoor Ferris Wheel, shooting galleries, and interactive simulators where customers can test their athletic skills.
Move over Jurassic Park, because Rainforest Café founder and creator Steven Schussler is bringing T-Rex: A Prehistoric Family Adventure to Legends. Enormous animatronic dinosaurs will greet diners and shoppers. Just the third T-Rex planned for the U.S., it will offer interactive activities such as dinosaur digs with actual fossils and artifacts. If sporty superstores and prehistoric playgrounds don't do it for you, you'll be able to ride the mechanical bull at Saddle Ranch Chop House, but make sure you do it before you indulge in a savory steak and a one-liter specialty drink.
Other tenants announced by Red are Brooks Brothers, Camping World/FreedomRoads, Corona Cantina, Pin-Up Bowl, and Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse. Plans for Legends also include a $500-million resort and casino to be built by Southern Nevada developer Olympia Gaming and a minor-league baseball stadium. "The project itself is a home run," Martini says. "If we get baseball, it's a grand slam." As of February, Red was negotiating with a Triple-A Pacific Coast League team. If Red is unable to attract a baseball team, the stadium land will be used for additional retail, Martini says.
Corresponding with the massive Legends project, Trammell Crow Development will unveil The District at Victorian Square, a community of 171 condos, townhomes, and live-and-work residences. To be located in the Victorian Square Plaza, The District will consist of one four-story and two three-story buildings. The condos and townhomes will offer 20 different floor plans, ranging in size from 760 to more than 2,000 square feet. The project follows the condo trend in neighboring Reno and will result in what developers call an urban village.
"Communities like The District give folks the opportunity to enjoy a city life where nearly everything they need is within walking distance," says Par Tolles, Trammell Crow area director. To break ground later this year with a projected completion date of 2008 or 2009, the project will be the city's first mixed-use development and will front other construction meant to spruce up downtown Sparks. City Hall will relocate to the downtown square, and roadway improvements, landscaping, additional lighting, and decorative paving will add appeal and charm to an existing tourism area. New Victorian Square construction began in early February.
If you think of Sparks as a big house, as city redevelopment manager Armando Ornelas does, then the new-look Victorian Square will be central to downtown’s revitalization. “We want it to play the role of the city’s living room,” he says. “What we’re looking for is a sense of street theater. You can come down and see and be seen.”
Adventure Means Advantage
Las Vegas might be the king of Nevada when it comes to drawing tourists, but its little sister from the north has an irresistible wild side, which happens to be Northern Nevada's marketing advantage. The Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority thought so when it introduced the slogan "America's Adventure Place" in 2002. And the world is taking notice.
National Geographic Adventure featured Reno as its "Adventure Town" in the February 2007 issue. Titled "Rapid Transition," the article reads, "Over the past three years, Reno has begun a transformation from Nevada's runner-up gaming town to an adventure hub on par with Salt Lake City and Seattle." Of course the article doesn't ignore nearby Lake Tahoe's year-round attractions-not counting the back country, there are 22,000 skiable acres and 583 miles of hiking trails. Now Sparks, Reno's close neighbor, has caught the adventure bug.
Riding-or is it kayaking?-the success of Reno's Truckee River Whitewater Park at Wingfield, Sparks city officials want to join the party. If the project is permitted, plans are to turn Rock Park, located 3.5 miles downstream of Wingfield, into an easy-access, easygoing whitewater facility.
"It's going to be on a lesser scale of what's in Reno," says Sparks Mayor Geno Martini. "This will be more for amateurs." The city hopes to complete the 1,400-foot segment of the river by October 1. The National Geographic article mentions the possibility of a 15-mile continuous stretch of recreational whitewater in Reno-Sparks. "That's what's planned for a few years down the road," Martini says, "[but] the process to do anything in the river is difficult."
If you're wondering where you're going to buy your favorite outdoor apparel, Reno-Sparks has you covered. Two of the nation's most recognizable outdoor superstores, Scheels and Cabela's, are to become permanent residents of the region. Scheduled to open this fall, Cabela's will encompass 125,000 square feet of hunting, fishing, and outdoor paradise across from Boomtown Hotel and Casino, seven miles west of downtown Reno off I-80. Not to be outdone, Scheels, a 240,000-square-foot portion of the Legends at Sparks Marina project, is scheduled to open in fall 2008. If you're not yet ready to take the bait, a Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World superstore could accompany Station Casinos' proposed resort at Mount Rose Highway and U.S. 395.
Outdoor enthusiasts will soon be falling for Reno, hook, line, and sinker.
Source:
http://www.nevadamagazine.com/Reno.Renaissance.html
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