The developers of the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center have their eyes set on Fernley for their next project. Their plan calls for a 20,000 acre industrial center just west of town, stretching south near the Fernley 95A Raceway. It is being dubbed "TRI II".
"If we can bring this 20,000 acres in here, it's going to put Fernley on the world map," Lance Gilman, Principal of the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center said. "Fernley is poised for a great deal of financial reward and opportunity if we pull this off."
Gilman says he is in contract for 6,000 acres of the property. He will have to buy the rest from the Bureau of Land Management and private land owners. Fernley Mayor Roy Edgington says the plan is very preliminary, and the city still has to discuss development plans including water, utilities and zoning. He says the BLM has some surplus property that it wants to sell, so that could help the developers.
Gilman says his plan would reduce the amount of truck traffic through downtown Fernley because his plan calls for a bypass from the the Wadsworth exit, over the Truckee River and railroad tracks to Highway 95, south of town.
"I believe we're going to have the opportunity to tie into that and we'll do a circumvent road for all the truck traffic and take it out of the middle of downtown," Gilman said. "We would increase truck traffic 100 fold, so we need to have a bypass road in order to make this whole project viable."
Gilman says he wants to get started on the project as soon as possible. He says Blockchains bought about 70,000 acres of TRI's 104,000 acres, and there's only about 1,000 acres left to sell. He says the demand is there so he needs more land to accommodate new businesses for manufacturing, distribution centers and fulfillment centers.
"There's been six major companies that have visited our market just in the last six months, major large buyers," Gilman said. "We couldn't locate them, don't have the land for it."
Gilman says his company is still in the early planning phase, but he wants to get started as soon as possible. He wants to acquire land as development comes in, which he says is more efficient.
"The child is just being born and so we're right at the start," Gilman said. "You're at the threshold of something and let's hope that the vision works and we're out here in about a year saying 'My gosh, look how this has grown.'"
Meanwhile, construction continues to happen throughout TRI. Gilman says Tesla has plans to begin construction on its next phase, and Google is building its facility on more than 1,000 acres.
"It's dramatic what they're doing," Gilman said. "Nobody knows for sure, by the way. It's kind of the best kept secret in the world but they are underway with a lot of grading and a brand new building."
TRI used to have only a couple of services, including a gas station and a Port of Subs. Today, there is a Motel 6, which includes a bar and grill. A sushi (place) recently opened, there is a Subway restaurant, Bank of America and a Burger King is set to open in the near future.
"When you start laying out the fast foods in the market, yes, you've arrived," Gilman said. "So we're seeing a lot of that."
Plans are still in place for the construction of the TRI Town Center, which includes hotels, shops and restaurants.
"We'll be starting all of that reservoir and of course that will accommodate the import water that's coming from the Reno-Sparks treatment centers," Gilman said.
The amount of available land might be running out, but the expansion and future construction is expected to continue in the coming years.
"There's a plan afoot for a casino-type hotel option, there are two truck stops that are looking in the park, so we're just going to continue to see the growth," Gilman said.
