The housing shortage in the Truckee Meadows just got a little better, with the opening of a new apartment building Monday.
The first completed building in the Fountainhouse Victorian Square development is just the first of ten similar buildings, all going up just west of the movie theater, on what used to be an empty parking lot.
At the building's ribbon cutting Monday, Sparks Mayor Geno Martini said it's about time.
"It's not a big deal. It's huge," Martini said. "Ever since I've been on the council in 1999, we've been trying to get someone to build something down here, and it never happened. Now, we got this. This is a beautiful project here."
When the Fountainhouse complex is finished in spring 2017 it will house between 400 and 500 people. The apartments are considered mid-range in price, either one- or two-bedroom units, ranging in price from a low of $880 a month to $1,360.
Developers say the location will make the apartments appealing to a wide range of people.
"Folks that are maybe working out at TRIC or in Reno can get on the freeway very quickly," Silverwing Development Director of Operations Doug Hunter said. "They can get on the bus in less than a minute's walk. They can ride their bike to local businesses."
If you want to check out the Fountainhouse apartments for yourself, there is a public open house on Saturday. It runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the complex in Victorian Square. The public is invited to take tours of the model units, and even put down a deposit on available apartments, or those still under construction.
For more information on the Fountainhouse, click here.
