When Truckee Meadows Community College decided to move from the Reno Town Mall at the start of this year, owners of the shopping center at South Virginia and Peckham Lane were left with a big hole to fill more than 50,000 square feet of hole, in fact.
A major expansion by Burlington Coat Factory, which anchors the east side of the shopping center, along with some renovation and new leases elsewhere in the center are expected to bring Reno Town Mall back to the near 100 percent occupancy that's been common for more than a decade.
The mall totals some 250,000 square feet of space, including line shops along its western edge.
When the Burlington Coat Factory expansion is complete, the store will total about 90,000 square feet, said Rob Rothe, whose family-owned company owns the center.
"Burlington Coat Factory has done very, very well," Rothe said last week.
"The town has received them very well.
Their gross sales have been very nice."
The store opened in the Town Mall location in 1999.
The remodeled store will run from its current location to the center of the mall the corridor extending from its front door back to a branch of the county library.
Retailers on the front of the mall, including a Birkenstock store, will be unaffected.
Nevada Job Connect, which had subleased space on the mall's second floor from TMCC, has expanded its offices, Rothe said.
The Reno Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority also will be leasing office space in the mall, which is directly west of the RSCVA's convention center.
New Horizons Computer Learning Centers, meanwhile, has leased space on the first floor of the mall.
Raley's, the other retail anchor in the center, recently renewed its lease for another 10 years, Rothe said.
The company that's owned the mall since 1991 also plans some internal renovation, including new lighting and new landscaping.
A long-dry fountain in the center of the mall was restored to operation this year.
Reno Town Mall is managed by Rothe's Seattle-based City Management Corp.
as well as the Reno office of Colliers International.
