Goodbye To The Sundowner
I noticed coming back from lunch the other day that the "Sundowner" sign is coming down off the former casino of that name on Arlington Avenue. Obviously this is part of that building's gradual transformation into Belvedere Towers, one of at least a dozen major condo projects in various states of completion in downtown Reno right now. The essential website for information on downtown redevelopment, Downtown Makeover, has a great summary here. I remember this project being talked about approximately two years ago. D.M. says that while much work has been done, completion of the final phase is "estimated" at 2009. Of course, in Reno the phrase "estimated completion date" has a much looser definition than it does most other places when it comes to construction projects, so who knows.
Seeing the Sundowner sign coming down got me thinking. I don't live downtown anymore, and these days I'm sort of out of the loop on where development is heading. Obviously at least one major renovation--Riverwalk Tower, at the site of the former Comstock Casino--has been completed and several others--Palladio, Montage, etc.--are well underway. But there are definite signs that not everything is hunky-dory. Downtown Makeover has gone out on a limb and declared the massive Waterfront project "unofficially dead" until someone proves otherwise. A lot of people, like Myrna the Mynx (correct me if I'm wrong, Mynx), had hoped that this would be a sort of signature piece of architecture for Reno. Other large and small projects that are still in their developmental stages seem to be stuck in limbo, although hard hard facts are sometimes difficult to come by.
But beyond numbers, what I wonder is whether or not the momentum of a couple of years ago has been lost. In mid-2004, when I first bought the little condo that I nicknamed The Fortress of Solitude in (now it can be revealed) Arlington Tower, I could sense the energy and the general sense of optimism in and around downtown Reno. That's why I chose to live there, rather than in some stucco apartment complex. Downtown had at one time been the sort of place where decent people tended not to go, but I and a lot of other folks were convinced that it was about to be reborn as a hip urban center, a sort of miniature Soho in the Sierras. A lot of pieces, like the Wingfield Kayak Park, the Nevada Museum of Art and the refurbished Riverwalk, were already in place. And when derelict casino after derelict casino was bought up for conversion into condos, I felt even further vindicated in my belief, even though I wondered from the very start whether or not there was enough real demand to fill these thousands of proposed living spaces.
These days, I don't feel that same energy that I did two years ago. Maybe it's the fact that I'm out of touch since I no longer live there, but I suspect that a few factors may be leading to a loss of enthusiasm for downtown redevelopment. One factor is that most of the condo projects completed or underway downtown are shooting for a pretty high-end market, which would seem to me to price out a lot of the young single professionals or service industry workers who would be most interested in living downtown. Another factor is that while a lot of great local business have sprung up and in some cases begun to thrive in the redevelopment zone, larger retailers and restaurants have (with some notable exceptions) stayed away, probably for fear that the downtown area has neither the residential population nor the economic base to support them. And then there's the general Reno malaise that I run into so often whenever I talk enthusiastically about some project that I think is positive for the region: The response I tend to get most often is "it won't work--this is Reno."
I'm not the most informed person on the issue of downtown redevelopment, and if you can't tell I'm kind of fishing to be told that I'm wrong on this. Anyone who remembers what the river front was like just three or four years ago knows that the improvements have been tremendous. But I can't help but feel that if you'd asked me in May of 2004 where I thought we'd be by October 2006, I'd have thought that we'd be a lot further along. I would have assumed that by now there would be thousand more people living downtown. I would have thought for sure that we'd have a grocery store, a drug store, and many more thriving local and nationally-known retailers and service providers doing business with and hopefully providing good jobs for those new local residents. And I would have assumed that a great many more construction and redesign projects would be completed or near completion. Some of this has happened, but the process has been agonizingly slow and much remains to be done.
I so want downtown Reno to become the sort of place I still believe it has the potential to be. I just can't escape the sinking feeling that a lot of the momentum has been lost over the last few months. I hate sounding like such a pessimist. Somebody, anybody, please tell me I'm wrong on this.
Seeing the Sundowner sign coming down got me thinking. I don't live downtown anymore, and these days I'm sort of out of the loop on where development is heading. Obviously at least one major renovation--Riverwalk Tower, at the site of the former Comstock Casino--has been completed and several others--Palladio, Montage, etc.--are well underway. But there are definite signs that not everything is hunky-dory. Downtown Makeover has gone out on a limb and declared the massive Waterfront project "unofficially dead" until someone proves otherwise. A lot of people, like Myrna the Mynx (correct me if I'm wrong, Mynx), had hoped that this would be a sort of signature piece of architecture for Reno. Other large and small projects that are still in their developmental stages seem to be stuck in limbo, although hard hard facts are sometimes difficult to come by.
But beyond numbers, what I wonder is whether or not the momentum of a couple of years ago has been lost. In mid-2004, when I first bought the little condo that I nicknamed The Fortress of Solitude in (now it can be revealed) Arlington Tower, I could sense the energy and the general sense of optimism in and around downtown Reno. That's why I chose to live there, rather than in some stucco apartment complex. Downtown had at one time been the sort of place where decent people tended not to go, but I and a lot of other folks were convinced that it was about to be reborn as a hip urban center, a sort of miniature Soho in the Sierras. A lot of pieces, like the Wingfield Kayak Park, the Nevada Museum of Art and the refurbished Riverwalk, were already in place. And when derelict casino after derelict casino was bought up for conversion into condos, I felt even further vindicated in my belief, even though I wondered from the very start whether or not there was enough real demand to fill these thousands of proposed living spaces.
These days, I don't feel that same energy that I did two years ago. Maybe it's the fact that I'm out of touch since I no longer live there, but I suspect that a few factors may be leading to a loss of enthusiasm for downtown redevelopment. One factor is that most of the condo projects completed or underway downtown are shooting for a pretty high-end market, which would seem to me to price out a lot of the young single professionals or service industry workers who would be most interested in living downtown. Another factor is that while a lot of great local business have sprung up and in some cases begun to thrive in the redevelopment zone, larger retailers and restaurants have (with some notable exceptions) stayed away, probably for fear that the downtown area has neither the residential population nor the economic base to support them. And then there's the general Reno malaise that I run into so often whenever I talk enthusiastically about some project that I think is positive for the region: The response I tend to get most often is "it won't work--this is Reno."
I'm not the most informed person on the issue of downtown redevelopment, and if you can't tell I'm kind of fishing to be told that I'm wrong on this. Anyone who remembers what the river front was like just three or four years ago knows that the improvements have been tremendous. But I can't help but feel that if you'd asked me in May of 2004 where I thought we'd be by October 2006, I'd have thought that we'd be a lot further along. I would have assumed that by now there would be thousand more people living downtown. I would have thought for sure that we'd have a grocery store, a drug store, and many more thriving local and nationally-known retailers and service providers doing business with and hopefully providing good jobs for those new local residents. And I would have assumed that a great many more construction and redesign projects would be completed or near completion. Some of this has happened, but the process has been agonizingly slow and much remains to be done.
I so want downtown Reno to become the sort of place I still believe it has the potential to be. I just can't escape the sinking feeling that a lot of the momentum has been lost over the last few months. I hate sounding like such a pessimist. Somebody, anybody, please tell me I'm wrong on this.
posted by Yukon Sully | 11:03 AM
3 Comments:
I totally have faith it will--things are just stabalizing along with the rest of the national economy. In fact, I think the slowdown is a good thing because it will help ensure that we dont develope too quickly. The other side of this is not just the condos--its the retail bars, restauarants etc. that are popping up everywhere. For instance, a skate board shop is moving into that great space in Arlington towers and another restaurant is going to open soon on the other side of Se7en tea house. I think we are on pace for healthy, measured growth.
I agree with Myrna. I think much of the delay and loss of momentum has to do with the market adjustment the entire U.S. is going through. I still believe that within 5 years downtown will be MUCH better and quite different than what it is today. Although things happen slower than we would like and some of the proposed projects will likely fall through as with any other city, I think in the near future (2-5 years) we will see the completion of at least 2 new major condo projects (most likely Arterra and/or Wingfield Towers) as well as a couple small ones (Grant's Landing, Freight House). The train trench cover/plaza should also be done by then, as will the new RTC Transit Center, the Nevada Discovery Museum, the Virginia Street Re-do and *hopefully* the Ice Rink Canopy. The city really needs to get the canopy issue resolved once and for all. Personally, they should have never blown up the Mapes, just think how cool it would have been if they converted it into condos. Anyway, that's another issue.
On a side note, I know exactly what Yukon Sully is talking about when he says he often hears "that won't work, this is Reno". I HATE THAT! Some people in this city are seriously negative. While we aren't a mega-metropolis, why can't we have decent retail or high-end restaurants downtown? Salt Lake City & Boise both seem to pull it off. That kind of defeatist attitude is what has held this city back for too long. There is a lot to be optomistic about IMHO. I haven't heard of this much activity and interest in downtown Reno in decades (I'm a 2nd generation Native Nevadan).
I am a little late commenting on this, but I agree with Myrna as well, it's just a slow-down in the economy. It comes down to which condo projects will be AFFORDABLE. Supposedly, the Montage is 60% sold, and I read an article in the Journal that said Riverwalk Towers was 90% sold out as in real sales, not just deposits on units people can renig on later.
So I think while things have slowed down, the momentum has not stopped by any means. With the train trench cover, ice rink canopy hopefully soon, the narrowing of South Virginia St, the bridge lighting project and the myriad of other improvement projects, I think downtown is doing just fine.
I am perfectly content if both Wingfield Towers and Waterfront project fall through, i'd be happier with more successful smaller scale projects like the Kings Inn, and Arterra.
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