The development of Stead as yet another major distribution center will get another boost as work begins on the Lear Industrial Center.
Panattoni Investments in recent days completed its purchase of the first parcel of land in the center, and Colliers International in Reno began brokering space in the planned first building.
The industrial center ultimately is expected to involve about 100 acres just west of the new General Motors distribution center near Echo Avenue and Moya Boulevard.
The property is just south of the Reno-Stead Airport.
When the project is completed, perhaps in five years or so, it's expected to include 1.8 million to 2 million square feet of distribution space.
Doug Roberts, a Panattoni partner based in Reno, said the first building will be a 400,000-square-foot structure that can be divided into spaces as small as 50,000 square feet.
A second structure in the project's first phase is planned to be a 200,000-squarefoot building that could be divided into spaces as small as 25,000 square feet.
Paul Perkins, senior vice president in the industrial properties group at Colliers International, said timing of the project appears right as the number of inquiries from industrial users is rising.
"Most indications would suggest we're about to turn a corner," Perkins said.
He said a particularly intriguing sign is this: Companies that took a look at Reno months ago are beginning to come back for a second look at potential sites for new and expanded operations.
Because the Lear Industrial Center is ready for quick construction, Perkins said industrial users could be in completed space in the center in about six months.
Roberts said the area appears to be particularly short of large spaces those of 300,000 square feet or more.
In the competition with other potential sites, the Stead project brings some urban amenities a nearby labor force, for instance with prices that probably will run about 10 percent to 15 percent below comparable projects in south Reno, Perkins said.
The center also will include on-site parking of truck trailers.
Roberts said that's an attraction for companies that work with just-in-time inventory systems.
