There can’t be an urban redevelopment buzz kill worse than the 100 block of North Virginia Street. This connection between the tourist casino core to the river walk district has become an abandoned waste land. But sometimes an area gets so bad that it gets good again. Let’s do a tour.
101 NVA is the old Woolworth’s building. Flooded out in 1997, it has been closed ever since. Jeff Frame has produced a really compelling design to re-skin the building for office use. I have personally reviewed an ongoing proposal to convert the building into urban hipster apartments over retail.
Next door is 119 NVA, owned by the same folks who own 101. Good Luck, Macbeth rented this space, but has recently relocated to Midtown and Carterville. The building is historic, so is off the redevelopment platter.
133 is the Nevadan Hotel tower owned by the Cal Neva. It is so dated that the Cal Neva books their high rollers into the Siena. But I hear that the Cal Neva is gifting the building to UNR, and it will be used for the Small Business Development and Entrepreneurship programs. Maybe some grad housing. Microsoft is heavily involved with these programs at UNR, so I don’t think the recent PR blitz hyping the contributions of Microsoft Licensing to Reno is a coincidence. Maybe an incubator and Windows 8 training facility thrown into the mix?
141 is the Arch of Reno Wedding Chapel, a smoke shop and tattoo parlor. The property is ironically owned by the California Chapter of the American Cancer Society.
165 is a vacant building owned by the good doctor John Iliescu, who technically owns the adjacent building at 195 NVA at the corner of 2nd. There was activity at 195 a couple of years ago to preserve a bar license on the second floor and beat the downtown moratorium, but I don’t recall how that turned out.
On the East side of the street, we have City Hall, officially 1 1st Street. What a beauty.
140 is the Virginian Hotel and Casino. The Cal Neva used to rent this building (owned by Best Gaming as agent for the French gaming conglomerate Partouche), but the rental and option to purchase agreement terminated in October 2004, and the hotel has been closed ever since. But if the Cal Neva is giving up the Virginian, would they be interested in reopening the Virginian?
The rest of the block is the Cal Neva, who needs to get rid of their 1970′s Bonanza Sirloin Pit red ceramic tile facade, but that’s another discussion. Think huge LED displays for $4.99 steak and eggs! There is actually a pretty cool looking historic building under all that froo-froo.
Bracketing this block are the proposed renovations to the Historic Post Office, and now permitted renovations to the Property Formerly Known As CommRow.
I’m not a Pollyanna and take a pretty realistic view of downtown. But the dominoes are all set up for the 100 block of North Virginia to become totally transformed from the wasteland it is today into a vibrant business center. And it will happen rapidly.
BanteringBear said:
“I’m not a Pollyanna and take a pretty realistic view of downtown. But the dominoes are all set up for the 100 block of North Virginia to become totally transformed from the wasteland it is today into a vibrant business center. And it will happen rapidly.”
Bath salts are bad for you.
Walter said:
“…the dominoes are all set up for the 100 block of North Virginia to become totally transformed from the wasteland it is today into a vibrant business center. And it will happen rapidly.”
Now we know. This blog is really the Makeover Dude in disguise. I’m sure this blog will be the first to break the news that Fernando Leal is back and that he has fabulous plans to covert the old Woolworths into the world’s first training facility to teach dogs how to parachute.
One question, Mike. Just how rapid is “rapidly”? Help me understand. Will the 100 block of North Virginia become a “vibrant business center” before, or after, Reno’s economy is “totally transformed” by tech production.? The kool-aid starting to pour out of this blog is starting to come fast and furious and I need a little help with the time lines. So what happens first, Mike?
Rory said:
Looks like the Reno Real Estate Blog trolls have found a new target.
dirtbagger said:
“I’m not a Pollyanna and take a pretty realistic view of downtown. But the dominoes are all set up for the 100 block of North Virginia to become totally transformed from the wasteland it is today into a vibrant business center. And it will happen rapidly.”
Most of downtown Reno is just plain nasty. You feel like you need a shower after visiting. The people promoting downtown are just talking their book. I think most businesses are going to want their offices is a better location.
Mike Van Houten said:
John Iliescu has never done anything with any of the properties he owns since I started reporting on downtown since 2005, so for him to suddenly jump out of the woodwork and rehab his deteriorated properties would be a miracle.
If the rumor about the Nevadan being gifted to UNR is true, then that could bring a lot of foot traffic to the area.
And a sidenote, if downtown is so unappealing to businesses, perhaps you can explain why Reno Collective is moving into Arlington Tower’s main retail space fronting First Street, and why two new game developer start-ups moved into the Jones Vargas Tower, or why 3G Studios is expanding their space in that building, and why two new major accounting firms moved into both the BofA Building and the Museum Tower? Or why all of Basin Street Properties’ office towers downtown are at least 85% leased? Or why Reno’s largest digital design firms and PR/marketing firms are located downtown now? Or why there is sudden interest and tenant improvements being made to Palladio’s second floor office space? Or why office vacancy rates in downtown are less than South Reno and have improved year-over-year for the past three years? Oh that’s right because no one’s interested in being located downtown. Just like how no one wants to live downtown even though residency is now at an all-time high since I’ve been covering downtown in 2005.
Rory said:
Well said. Hit em with unimpeachable facts.
idebenone said:
i love the history of the rat pack and always hoped that one day i could visit the cal neva i hope somehow they re open it. There is an interesting youtube video about the history during the Sinatra years although its not great quality.