The vacant building at 210 North Sierra St. could be getting new life. Alpha Project A1, a Bay Area developer, has plans to turn the casino turned nightclub into a place for people to live and work.

"You look at the building right now and you go walk through it, it's tough to see," Jeremy Cline, Manager of Alpha Project A1 said. "It's really tough to see. We've already cleaned out some, done some demo in there to clear out some walls and cleaned out a bunch of things."

Renovating the steal framed, concrete building will include 16 lofts, windows and balconies. The first floor covers 10,000-15,000 square feet. It will be set aside for a retailer or other tenant.

"A lot of this construction that we're hoping to get going with and everything is predicated on the fact that we can get a tenant on the ground floor," Cline said.

The plan also calls for a few units on the roof, along with an open-air bar.

"There's nothing quite like a cool rooftop bar with lights and a nice little band playing and just a cool place to visit and mingle and have meetings," Cline said.

Cline says the basement could be converted to a parking garage. It could use the latest technology, using an elevator to take the car downstairs, and having a robot park it to utilize the entire space.

The building is in an Opportunity Zone. Developers in those areas qualify for federal tax breaks and abatements to help improve blighted areas.

"It's a way to revitalize a place that you may have not thought of before and can jump right on it," Jon Humbert, City of Reno Spokesperson said.

That gives developers more flexibility in their financing. Cline says the building is perfect for mid-sized development companies and that Reno is a perfect market for this type of work.

"The market up there is undoubtedly, I think, the best growing market in the whole western U.S.," Cline said.

Other developers are moving forward with plans. There are 16 projects planned or under construction between downtown Reno and the University of Nevada, Reno. That does not include the Park Lane Project and the RTC's Rapid Transit Project. Several of the projects include student housing, including Canyon Flats, which is nearing completion. One block over is another large student housing project yet to break ground.

"You're taking an area and a part of town that needed more attention and needed some renovation and you're doing exactly what we need, bringing students, bringing more people into downtown," Humbert said.

Other large projects are planned. Reno's Neon Line is a $1 billion project on the west side of downtown. Jacobs Entertainment has already demolished and renovated many buildings and has started installing art sculptures. T3 North includes hundreds of residential units and office space across the street from Greater Nevada Field, extending south to the Truckee River.  The Harrah's hotel and casino is also set to be converted into 530 rental units, along with retail and office space. 

"They're all mixed-use and that's the key to where we go in the future," Humbert said. "We can't expand as much as we have in the past."

According to Downtown Makeover, the vacant property adjacent to the National Automobile Museum is the future site for the auto museum. A sports hotel is set to break ground at the former RTC CitiCenter, across from the National Bowling Stadium. The Kimpton Hotel is also in the works, just south of the Truckee River, along with many other condos, flats and other units.

"These developers see the potential of what the city council has already built and they're betting on the future to say 'We're going to keep that running because we know that it's going to pay off in the end," Humbert said.

City leaders and many residents agree that there are many areas of downtown that need some major improvements. Cline says he does not want to change downtown's character but he does want to build something that will bring more residents, business and foot traffic to the area.

"Reno is awesome already," Cline said. "It has opportunity to become that so I'm not looking to redefine it myself. I want to embrace what Reno is."

Developers have already invested billions of dollars in various downtown projects. Many are still down the pipeline.

 

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