Reno Plaza Erectile Dysfunction

As a 2nd generation native Nevadan and someone who has lived in Reno his whole life, I must say, this is sadly typical. The city can’t even figure out how to properly time the stoplights or remove graffiti without slapping up a bunch of poorly matched paint. It’s really no wonder they botch the bigger things like road planning and constuction of public plazas. I think they should put the Ballroom on hold and build the Ice Rink Canopy (since it was the first project to be announced and has run into numerous delays). Then worry about the Train Trench and then do the Ballroom. What is a Ballroom going to do for downtown Reno? Doesn’t the Silver Legacy have a Ballroom already? Don’t get me wrong, we are improving, but sometimes it seems as if we take 2 steps forward and 1 step back.

After reading the staff links regarding the trench cover decision, I think the project is only getting half-way funded right now (if the staff recommendation is approved) because of the availability of “shrinking” federal matching funds that the city fears might disappear altogether if they don’t get moving.

As I posted earlier - when delay of the 10 North Plaza cover was being hotly debated - the city has an enormous number of balls in the air and is scrambling as hard it can to keep from dropping any of them. So, it ends up delaying the complete implementation of many of the most costly projects.

Events Center / Ballroom proposal became a 2 step project with second phase finally starting.

10 North was built without the cover which will be added sometime later.

Now, trench covers will apparently be split into multiple projects.

And - the beat goes on

On another issue. I read in this morning’s RGJ (Central Reno Community Section) that the county wants the city to approve variance so they can build a “temporary” (landscaping free) $500K asphalt covering for some portion (or all?) of the empty lot that is surrounded by Virginia, Court, Sierra and Liberty (with the exception of the southern part containing the bank building).

According to the article, the County will eventually build a $15 million (before cost overruns?) parking structure similar to the city parking structure that houses Silver Peak and other tenants in retail outlets at street level.

However current funding apparently doesn’t allow them to start at this time, so they want to pour an ugly asphalt slab instead.

If I recall correctly, the county already got the city to provide “interim” courthouse parking in the “Silver Peak” garage while their own garage was being built. But, now they want more permanent “interim” parking.

Delay, Delay, Delay.

I think it is high time that their vacant eyesore became a downtown asset with attractive ground level retail and not another ugly semi-permanent “temporary” asphalt parking lot.

If the Arterra Project goes forward Reno will finally lose one of those temporary permanent asphalt lots and it sure doesn’t need another new “temporary” replacement across the street

If they can only do one block they should do the “montage” block. Here is a developer who is investing heavily in Reno and actually seems to have his/her Sh** together..Its one of the few big projects in Downtown that is actually making some sort or progress.

I am dissapointed to hear/read of the recent setbacks to downtown redevelopment. It’s hard to argue when the money just isnt there but what puts my panties in a bunch is the amount of time that is wasted in planning, designing and approving these projects. Trench cover/Canopy/Cabellas/Legends/Mt Rose Station? Grand SIerra/BallPack?? What the heck happens??

Construction cost rise over time and with each month that goes by without actually builing these projects, the higher the cost become. Save this post, because I would be shocked out of my shoes if the Waterfront or Wingfield towers ever get built. I also be surprised in any of the GSRs plans come to fruition. I really dont know much but I first heard of the waterfront tower 3 years ago. Had they been able to go to construction sooner the costs would be much lower and they would be able to sell their condos for less resulting in more sales. I am far from an expert and I know nothing of the details, but I have lived in Reno long enough to see projects squashed by poor planning/design and way too much red tape.

IMO Reno (and Nevada) needs to streamline its planning and approval process.

An interchange for Meadowmall is seriously needed. The So Virginia/S McCarran interchange is a deadly accident waiting to happen. Instead of building the interchange now at a cost of 15 million, the brain surgens with NDOT are going to stall it for 10 years and then its going to cost 45 million. (see galena bridge)
Its unfortunate that it take a couple of those accidents to get things moving and sometimes not even that! How many deaths do you think occur in pleasant valley (the most dangerous stretch of highway in the state) before the new freeway is built.

Back to the Reno condos. I would be very intersted in purchasing one of these condos, but I have been waiting, waiting for the waterfront and wingfield towers to get off the ground. If I am going to invest half a mil Plus, then I want to know all my options…and the longer it takes for any “real” progress on these project, the more apt I am to invest elsewhere. Know way in heck am I going to tie up that kind of money on fancy drawings of a mythical skyline.

Okay first off, you can stop calling them the Montage developers already and just say “the Carano family”, okay? You know, Eldorado / halfa-Silver Legacy?

10 North Street was “doomed” as soon as they went with Sheehan Van Woert and not one of the two nationally recognized design teams that made superior proposals to the Reno City Council. After Sheehan Van Woert was picked they immediately started to squabble inhouse and it was derailed from there.

The Ballroom will probably be on par with the new Downtown Event Center which is sad because it’s a weak facility.

As for starting projects as soon as possible, construction costs have actually gone down SLIGHTLY lately as a result of the build slowdown being felt throughout the country. That being said Dubai and China are still eating up major resources and keeping raw material costs high.

The Waterfront tried to build a condo complex in Reno that even large cities like Seattle and San Diego would have trouble supporting — let alone Reno. World class architect + progressive design and materials = no go in Reno.

The Wingfield Towers were a scam from the get-go and anyone who actually works in the development “industry” here in town knew it. All they wanted to do was get the piece of land and put some plans together, then to flip it on some other developer so they could make some quick cash. They have neither the cash nor the experience to actually pull off the actual project.

As for the Grand Sierra, good luck. I don’t even know where to start on that project…

I’d add more but I worry that dropping some knowledge around these parts is a waste of time.. blind gossip (as put out there by downtownmakeover) is what we all really desire.

Geez I dont even know where to begin.

First, to Sara Lee, I consider my site very factual. I was one of the first people who had the guts to declare the Waterfront project dead, and spent quite a while probing council members, developers I know, and other contacts to find out what was going on. That’s hardly gossip. I kind of take offense to you saying my site is blind gossip, when I take a lot of time to research what I post. I know exactly what Wingfield Towers is, I was the person that exposed their ‘accidental’ post in Loopnet selling the entire project off. That not gossip that’s damn good reporting. Especially for not being paid a dime for it. MANY projects are announced that don’t get built..it’s the nature of the industry. Look at Vegas, NYC or Chicago as an example. So maybe you can be a bit kinder to my cause, since all I want is a nice downtown Reno?
That being said, if they are only going to do one block of the train trench, it should go on the Montage block, because it would do that building better than Fitgerald’s valet parking area. I can understand it being cut down to one block, it makes sense the federal money was diverted, and money doesnt grow on trees.
As for 10 North Virginia, the city got what it deserved for a poor choice. I made an interactive presentation for one of the other proposals, one that would have put a Famous Murphys restaurant in the retail building and the cover AND retail center would have been built by now, but the city choose a firm because they had a cooler ‘cover’ which now definitely isnt being built as presented.
But if everything goes as planned, we’ll have SOMETHING built by the end of this year.
It’s good to be critical but I always try to see the positive side of things as well. I have lived in the downtown area for over 8 years, and it’s far more pleasant now.

I think the problem getting the plazas built is lack of political will at city hall more than it is with the money. They keep looking for some magic funding source to come from outside as if it’s the federal government’s job to beautify downtown. If Reno wants nice things she will have to cough up for them, and it would be far better to get it all done at once than to drag it out and challenge people’s confidence on redevelopment. Money doesn’t grow on trees — to wit, if I want a patio in my back yard where the sagebrush and rusted out car is, I either dip into my savings or I go to the bank and get a loan.

BTW Mike I remember your presentation with the famous murphy’s folks and the city definitely lost a great opportunity on that one!

Mike,

A quick note, sorry about flubbing off your website and efforts so easily. I appreciate what you’re trying to do, it’s just that in the past six months two separate clients I work with very closely have both had their projects “commented” on by yourself website and the information was news to them — as in, “what is this guy talking about?”

Of course when you start off posts with things like, “A reliable source informed me…” readers should realize that whatever follows should be taken with a grain of salt.

Best of wishes and keep up the good work.

I’m bored at work waiting for a file to upload so I’ll post some examples of how to see the positives.
1. Wingfield Towers/Waterfront - Sure, our two biggest and most impressive projects didnt get built, but they sure spurred excitement about development downtown. Belvedere Towers, Palladio, Montage, Denovo, Thoma St. Lofts, 8 On Center, Village at Idlewild, Grant’s Landing etc ARE currently in progress, which in itself is impressive for a city of 200,000. And would it be so bad if a diferent developer came back with a more logical proposal for the Waterfront Towers land, such as townhomes or a smaller tower? Heck no, which is probably what will happen.
2. Ice Rink Cover - Yes there have been delays, but every day I walk my dogs by the rink it’s packed, unless its snowing or 10 degrees outside. More packed than previous years. And it truly does cause trickle traffic onto Virginia, First and the Riverwalk.
3. Train Trench Cover - We all know the covers were a perk from the beginning. If you read historical articles about the project, it was always phrased ‘COULD be covered in the future’. It was only until Reid ’secured’ the money was it an actual reality. The fact we HAVE a train trench is a success story in itself. It was built on time, under budget and with little problems. That almost NEVER happens in Reno (see Spaghetti Bowl nightmare, Galena Bridge etc).
4. Ballroom - Sure it looks exactly like the Events Center, which compared to say the Disney Hall in downtown L.A. is pretty weak, I agree with Sara…BUT its better than the tin-can Pavillion thats’ there now. As for why it’s being built before the canopy…the big ‘3′ casinos downtown are behind the Ballroom.

If you guys want to be critical of the City, be critical where they have REALLY messed up; in promoting the properties they own for development. They own a LOT of property, and doing little except for lengthy duh-I-could-have-told-you-that-myself studies on what to do with the land. It takes them months to update information on their web site. I’ve never seen any ‘Develop downtown!’ slogans, or ads, or any marketing promoting development down here. There’s no ‘Live Downtown’ or any help enticing developers downtown. You know who does a better job of that? Blogs like Myrna, and Around Carson, and myself. IMO the City and Redvelopment Agency done a miserable job compared to cities like Portland, Austin, and Los Angeles (who actively engages in expensive marketing campaigns to lure development and retail downtown.
The truth is over 30 businesses opened up shop downtown in 2006 alone, and they need our help promoting them and promoting downtown as a whole, to RESIDENTS, and not just tourists, because we truly have some of the most unique retail and dining in Reno.
Dont you think, people? Canopy or no canopy, don’t we have one of the coolest neighborhoods in town? I think so.

My sources:
80% City of Reno document postings, which I always post links to.
10% City staff themselves, ask them, so unless they lie to me, I consider them a reliable source.
5% Developers themselves, which admittedly may not always be reliable but they ARE the developers after all.
5% from tipsters, which I always post as coming from tipsters.
I talk to nearly all the developers personally except for the Montage, so I’m not sure what ‘projects’ you represent, but I’ve never had a developer come back to me and say ‘what are you talking about?’ except for when Wingfield Towers came to me about the post about their Loopnet posting.
So again, please don’t demean my site or the reliability of it

Sara Lee,

Since you seem to be connected to what is going on around town, can you add any insghts into any of these recent casino-related announcements? Is there meat on any of these bones? Which gaming entity might lie behind the various manueverings.

In no particular order…

1) Item 7 on the next Planning Commission agenda concerns an amendment to permit a second unrestricted downtown gaming zone in a multi-block portion of the Keystone district. This rather dramatic amendment to the newly enacted DRRC plan would seem to be directed primiarily at allowing a new hotel-casino to be approved on the “block” bounded by I-80, Keystone, 5th and Vine on the southeast corner of the Keystone-I80 interchange where the vast majority of the properties are owned by “Keystone Square”. What is behind this proposed amendment?

2) M&H Realty Partners, as mentioned in a recent RGJ article, is seeking retention of rights to construct a hotel-casino on their redevelopment of the Park Lane Mall property but is otherwise mute about what is going on. Is a new hotel-casino likely?

3) Somersett principals sought to retain unrestricted gaming rights for a long-closed casino parcel south of the 4th street offramp from I-80 that they were negotiating to purchase. Anything happening here?

4) Red Development has mentioned a possible hotel-casino being a part of their increasingly large (145 or so acres at last count) mixed use development to the east of the Sparks Marina. Will it happen?

5) Station Casinos has announced two future projects (Redfield and Convention Center) plus they purchased an additional hotel-free unrestricted gaming right. Three possible casinos? How serious are they?

5) Lazy 8 - all fight and no casino. Or, will it be built?

6) Farahi has apparently been spurned three times in expansion attempts for Monarch - South Meadows, Fitzgeralds and the most recent spat where his brothers “seem” to be thwarting Atlantis expansion by exerting independent control of the adjoining Sierra Marketplace parcel. What other expansion attempts might Monarch have simmering in the background? Might they be involved in any of the above items?

6) Now that the Herbst/Sands deal has closed - what, if any, major changes might be forthcoming at their three primary area casinos (Sands, Rail City and Gold Ranch)?

7) Who - if anyone - will finally buy (and hopefully renovate) Fitzgeralds and their adjacent parcels?

What is the L3/Carano linkage to which you refer? Does it exist at Montage? Or are the groups connected via another as yet unannounced project?

You know how we love rumors. Any good ones?

Duh, looks like I have a 5a, 5b and 6a and 6b. Oops.

Sara Lee,

Here is one more interesting tidbit out of many we could discuss.

Why did the city push the construction of a “pedestrian walkway” across the train trench connecting the old train station and the walkway along the south edge of the uncompleted southern end of the bowling stadium into Granite Construction’s expedited contract to quickly rebuild the portion of Virginia Street between 2nd and 4th?

This new “pedestrian walkway” will connect two basically unused entities. Last time I looked, the old station did have some old railroad pictures and some ReTrac timeline stuff. But it, like the unfinished end of the bowling stadium that lies just to its north, CERTAINLY does not need a new pedestrian crossing in order to continue being “basically unused”.

So, the question. Is there an all-important “secret plan” to promptly use the two spaces in a more constructive way that required the the pedestrian bridge’s inclusion in Granite’s current street contract? Or, is their another explanation?

My first reaction is that perhaps the two pedestrian plazas between Virginia and West should have been given a higher priority than what appears to be a pedestrian bridge to nowhere.

Steve,
Previously there was a door to nowhere — if you would duck into the railroad right-of-way in fitz parking garage there was a door that opened out onto the sidewalk. This walkway to nowhere restores cosmic balance.

ROTFLOL