Mayor Hillary Schieve will present ideas to a panel of city design and planning experts, joining seven other cities at the Mayor's Institute of City Design. One of the main topics will be how to develop the former RTC bus station, known as the CitiCenter. Meanwhile, Schieve is looking for feedback from the community that includes the possibility of urban housing, arts and culture, and even music venues.
"The opportunities are endless," Schieve said. "So, we're really excited to be a part of the mayor's design challenge that will allow us to sort of brainstorm with nationally recognized planners, throughout the country."
Schieve says the panel could give important input on which direction the city should go, with downtown development.
"Many of them have been all over the country and all over the world, for that matter, working with mayors to be able to redesign their cities and economically revitalize them," Schieve said.
The mayor says finding a solution for the CitiCenter is important because of its location. The lot lies between the downtown casinos and the National Bowling Stadium.
"Certainly, there's a lot around it and there's a lot of energy that's starting to build around it," Schieve said. "So, we're really excited. I think it's going to be an incredible project."
The bus station moved about a block east, in 2010. Since then, the CitiCenter has not changed much. Two buildings remain, including a police substation. The other has had small businesses come and go.
"There's some challenging areas, right there, but there's also some really positive areas right there," Schieve said.
The City bought the parcel for $6.6 million in 2008, but its value has dropped to $2 million. The Reno Aces were originally going to develop the property, but the recession brought that to a halt. Now, Schieve says momentum is growing in the downtown area, and says finding a local developer could serve as a springboard for other revitalization.
"People are ready to see downtown turned around and this is really a start to it," Schieve said.
Schieve says more people want to live downtown, and college students want to migrate south of Interstate 80. While she says improving that parcel is a priority, it is not urgent.
"It's such a special parcel," Schieve said. "We want to make sure that we do it right. We want to make sure that it can really benefit downtown."
The mayor says a new development would benefit the city, both aesthetically and economically.
