In a sign that the slumbering market for
new industrial building in Reno is about
the awaken, Panattoni Development Co.
will begin work this spring on the 100-acre
Lear Industrial Park.
The industrial park will be on Echo
Avenue adjacent to the new General
Motors distribution facility in north Reno.
When it's complete, the Lear Industrial
Park is expected to include about 1.6 million
square feet of space in six buildings.
Build-out is expected in 2006 or 2007.
Doug Roberts, a partner in Panattoni
Development, said last week his company
doesn't expect a fast rebound in the demand
for industrial property during the first half
of this year but wants to be ready when the
market recovers.
"If a big user comes around, we want to
be in a position to submit a proposal,"
Roberts said.
Already, he said, some potential users of
big industrial space have begun taking a
close look at the Reno area.
The first building at Lear Industrial
Park a 400,000-square-foot structure
will be built as a speculative project if a
build-to-suit customer hasn't signed on,
Roberts said. Construction of the building
is expected to begin this spring. Early work
on the project also will include street
improvements and drainage work.
Lear Industrial Park is one of the few
remaining tracts available within Reno for
large-scale industrial development.
Roberts said a key selling point will be
the availability of a good labor force living
in Stead and other northern parts of the city.
The development company also will
seek to position Lear Industrial Park on
the basis of prices that it expects to be
about 15 percent lower than other new
industrial projects in the market.
Panattoni Development's plans come
after almost two years of very slow activity
in industrial development in the region.
Although developers had a number of
projects ready to go a year ago, most of
them were cancelled or delayed as casualties
of the national economic recession.
Paul Perkins, senior vice president of
the industrial properties group at the Reno
office of Colliers International, said the
market appears ready to revive.
"All indications are that we're poised for
a rebound," he said. "Their (Panattoni's)
timing is going to be perfect."
Colliers is the broker for Lear Industrial
Park.
Among other factors that will aid the
Reno-area market, Perkins said, are the
effects of California's budget shortfall and
power woes. Companies in the Golden
State already are pressured by higher taxes
and power bills, and both may be ready to
rise again.
"I think we're going to see some manufacturers
who say enough is enough,"
Perkins said.
