Infill projects growing as land becomes tight

The one-acre vacant lot along Warren Way just south of Moana Lane once may have been overlooked as development spread across the Truckee Meadows.

No more.

As land for development becomes scarce inside the bowl that is the Truckee Meadows, developers increasingly look at infill projects on parcels that have stood vacant for years.

And in some cases, rising prices for raw land mean projects make sense even if developers need to knock down existing structures and redevelop a parcel.

"I have received a significant increase in the number of developer inquiries about infill and reuse of land," says John Hester, Reno's community development director.

"The perception of some developers is that lands that have been easy to develop are becoming scare, and they are looking for new sources of land."

That one-acre lot along Warren Way is but one example of the trend.

Huckabay Properties Inc.

is developing about 10,000 square feet of office space on the parcel, says Marshall Brodeur, the company's general manager.

That's not a big project, but Huckabay and its builder,Triple Crown Construction and Development, think they can get an edge with a project that's highly energy efficient and designed with easy access to telephone, data, water and other services under floors.

The project is typical of in-fill development, too, in the care that Huckabay needed to take with nearby residents before it won approval of its plans.

Construction hours are limited, says Broudeur.

Once the building is completed, noisy operations such as snow removal also face limitations.

Those limitations may be a modest hassle, but developers are willing to put up with them if they can't find land elsewhere.

In-fill projects are attractive, too, because utility service particularly Truckee Meadows Water Authority service usually is nearby, says Ted Stoever, a land specialist with the Reno office of Colliers International.

Another sales point: In-fill projects often are closer to the homes of office workers or retail customers than projects built on outlying parcels, Stoever says.

That's led to some creative thinking among developers who historically scouted the region's outskirts for land.

"Almost everything is getting a closer look," says Scott Sweeney of the Reno office of CB Richard Ellis, who adds that the most attractive vacant parcels for in-fill projects have been snapped up by investors.

"There's not much left," Sweeney says.

"It's going fast."

Out-of-state investors have fueled much of the demand for in-fill properties in the region, Sweeney says, but they're not blindly buying anything that's on the market.

"Even guys with a lot of cash are being pretty choosy," he says.

Mark Krueger, a senior advisor in land and investments for Grubb & Ellis in Reno, says developers increasingly are willing to take on projects that involve buying parcels from several owners and combining them into one.

That land assembly also may require removal of existing buildings.

Because in-fill parcels typically are smaller than properties on the outskirts of town and because they can be costly to develop, higher density projects often are required to make projects pencil out, says the city's Hester.

At the same time, he says there's plenty of opportunity for in-fill projects and redevelopment.

A study by the Truckee Meadows Regional Planning Agency found the potential for more than 7,800 housing units on under-utilized land and found almost 6,900 more could be built on lands that could be redeveloped.

That total of nearly 15,000 homes could handle approximately 30,000 people.

Krueger says, however, that political challenges often await developers who envision in-fill projects.

"Any time you come back into established areas, you find residents with stronger opinions," he says.

"You've got significantly more neighborhood pressure."