Building Nevada - September 2000

Filling in the Blanks

Infill Development Projects in Nevada

by Michael Henderson

Infill development is becoming more and more important in Nevada as open-space amenities are lost to sprawling commercial and residential developments. Chuck Alvey of the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada says, "I think [infill] is a good idea." Alvey and city officials from Reno and Sparks see it as a way to combat urban sprawl and maintain the surrounding open spaces.

Reno, Sparks and Las Vegas are working to encourage infill development primarily in their downtown areas. In their view, the economic health of downtown areas strongly influences the prosperity of the city as a whole. Proponents of downtown redevelopment challenge their opposition to "show [them] a great city that has a dead downtown." Supporters of infill development also argue that vacant lots within the city do not provide open-space amenities or natural aesthetic values for the community. According to Chuck Alvey, people driving around the city are put off when they see an undeveloped lot populated by weeds.

RENO

Downtown Reno, particularly the Virginia Street and Fourth Street corridors, is the focus of infill development efforts by the city of Reno. Plans include development of the currently under-utilized length of Virginia Street between Shoppers Square and downtown. "We're looking at intensifying the land use along there," says John Hester, Community Development Manager with the city of Reno. To do this they've changed codes to create a demonstration development district where projects will be considered individually. "A lot of the standards aren't there and you come in and bring a project to us," Hester says.

Just south of Shoppers Square, the Park Lane Mall and Mark Twain Hotel (owned by Macerich) are also under consideration for infill development projects. Macerich may propose a transition from the current retail business base to an entertainment business base in this area. In addition, the city officials would like them to connect the mall, Virginia Lake and Mark Twain Hotel site together. "If it was done right [it] could be a real focal center, with a regional park facility like Virginia Lake that a lot of people use," says Hester.

An issue with the City's plan is the history of the County approving outlying, urban-sprawl type developments on the edges of the city. Damonte Ranch and the 395-Mount Rose Highway area are examples of recently approved developments on county land. "If we want to have a healthy downtown," Hester says, "then we can't continue to spend all our money on extending sewer and water and streets out on the edge. If the County keeps extending water and sewer and making cheap land available, it just makes it doubly hard to get infill."

A new regional plan will propose to discourage new developments that would extend city growth beyond the current "edge" of projects approved by both city and county. Hester says, "let's draw a line around that and say, 'let's don't go any further out.'" Even with this proposed restriction the city has more than enough existing land parcels for growth¾enough to keep developers busy for the next 35 years. The idea is to limit the available inexpensive new land to create incentives for infill development projects. Hester says, "in a perfect world we'd go back and say, 'you know what, we shouldn't have this one out here¾we should have some more infill,' but we can't do that."

Some potential infill spaces in Reno, such as the corner of Moana and Lakeside, are more difficult to develop. The community advisory committee is opposing development in this area and argues that six homes will lose views of the open space. Ted Stoever, president of RPL Group, remains optimistic, and is working with this committee to gain approval for development. "That's the system," he says. "They want citizen input and that's probably good."

"Sometimes, it's so difficult to get infill approved that it's easier to keep going out," says Tim Ruffin of Colliers International. In order to decrease urban sprawl and encourage infill development, Reno city officials are advocating adaptive re-use wherever possible. On California Avenue, old houses are now being used for restaurants and small offices, and there is even a US Bank now located in what used to be a church on Wells and Vassar. Atmosphere and location bring these businesses in despite the fact that the incentives from the City are minimal.

The Ribeiro Corporation is currently developing the South McCarran area with Quail Corners South office and retail facilities scheduled for lease in early 2001. This area was once open ranch land but since development of South Meadows and Damonte Ranch it has become an area for infill development. Ribeiro is also constructing professional office space on a former home site at the corner of Plumas Street and Plumb Lane that will be completed this summer. Another project, Quail Vista at Mira Loma and Longley Lane, was recently completed on a vacant lot and now offers warehouse/office space for lease, filling in a previously developed area of similar buildings.

Further south on Longley Lane is the Capurro Ranch property being developed by Armada Nevada along with Traynor and Associates. This project will continue the trend of office/warehouse space seen in this area around McCarran Boulevard, and will also include mixed retail and even light industrial facilities.

The most impressive infill project in Reno now is Corporate Point at the corner of South McCarran and South Virginia Street, represented by John Pinjuv of Grubb & Ellis/Nevada Commercial Group and developed by Armada Nevada. Originally, this site was owned by Blue Cross of California and Blue Cross of Nevada, and the existing facility was built for their use in 1988. "They never really had the expertise or the initiative to develop out the balance of the site," says Pinjuv. Despite numerous offers to buy the property, they retained the unused land for twelve years, only recently deciding to sell. "It's just about the best spot in northern Nevada," says Pinjuv, excited about the Corporate Point project.

Armada Nevada Broke Ground August 1^st on two new four-story Class A buildings. They will have fourteen foot clear-height ceilings and heavy load floors to accommodate internet and fiber-optic users. There will also be underground parking and a Starbucks type café in a joint courtyard. The two new buildings will have 195,000 square feet, bringing the site total up to 275,000 square feet.

SPARKS

The City of Sparks has been working with Washoe County to approve, zone and control new urban development. The city is most noted for Victorian Square and planned communities like Spanish Springs. "Some people might call [Spanish Springs] sprawl," says Randy Mellinger, Community Development Manager for the City of Sparks. "Actually it's within a designated joint planning area that we developed with the county about ten years ago." That planning area allows about twenty years of new development and growth.

Sparks is also focusing on two redevelopment areas. The first area is Victorian Square, which runs from Sparks Marina Park up to Reno along I-80. They will use the Nugget Casino, Century Theater and The Silver Club Casino as the anchors for Victorian Square and have plans to add more retail. "That'll be a great economic engine for the area," says Mellinger. Redevelopment area #2 is actually three non-contiguous areas including the Sparks Marina Park, the Southwest industrial area south of I-80 west of Rock, and the Oddie commercial area.

Plans include re-zoning commercial areas for transit-oriented residential, adding office and residential to downtown, and the Sparks Neighborhood Action Plan, which will raise funds to help residents improve their homes. According to Mellinger, the city wants to convert some of the low income and sub-standard housing in the area to more suitable residential facilities, creating more population downtown and a stable market for downtown businesses. "We're very optimistic and very excited about downtown Sparks," he says.

LAS VEGAS

The idea of revitalizing downtown Las Vegas is being promoted by Mayor Oscar Goodman. "His main goal," according to Ellie Shattuck of Martin-Harris Construction, "is to make downtown Las Vegas a very positive place to do business, to live, and to work." Martin-Harris is working on a project called City Centre Place at Fourth and Lewis near the Clark County Detention center, on a site that was demolished and cleared. "Essentially the Fourth and Lewis Project is one of the first redevelopments to hit the downtown Las Vegas area in 25 years," says Walt Watson, senior Project Manager at Martin-Harris. Shattuck says, "this is the first step forward as far as infusion of the downtown area"

The Fourth and Lewis Project will also be the first class A building downtown in 25 years. It will be six stories high, with over 100,000 square feet of space. The site will include a 575-space parking structure that will be owned and operated by the city. This development "is on the cutting edge of construction contracting," says Watson, "because this is the first project in the United States that's allowed a private developer to control a public works project." City Centre Place is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2001.