County plans may keep vacancy tight

If the Washoe County government decides to buy the office building at 350 S.

Center, the decision would continue a trend in which government offices keep vacancy rates under control in the district.

The county is considering purchase of the 86,000-square-foot building directly north of the Reno City Hall for $9.7 million.

About 40 percent of the building already is leased for county departments including social services and the public defender.

If the remaining tenants in the building at 350 S.

Center decide to remain downtown, the upshot will be further tightening of the area's office market.

The downtown vacancy rate currently stands at about 11 percent.

Tim Ruffin, managing partner and vice president of the office properties group at Colliers International in Reno, bets the building's tenants would choose to stay in the area.

"They're downtown because they want to be downtown," Ruffin said.

Government offices already are playing a growing role in downtown Reno real estate and helping to fill space left vacant as law firms and other tenants head for suburban locations.

A key development came when the Reno city government decided to move to the former Cal Neva office tower at 1 E.

First St.

The city's redevelopment agency has been located in the building for about a year, and other offices will follow suit within the next few months.

The existing city hall will be renovated to as headquarters for the police department.

Among high-rise properties in the downtown region, the 245,000-squarefoot Bank of America Plaza has about 22,000 square feet of vacant space.

The 257,000-square-foot former Porsche Building at 100 W.

Liberty has about 10,000 square feet vacant.

Ruffin said increasing numbers of government offices downtown help create the critical mass of daytime workers who would support more retail, restaurant and residential development in the area.