The Village Center, at Keystone and California avenues, purchased in November by a Portland, Ore.
investment group, will soon replace its outdated fa ade with an updated, pedestrian-friendly design.
The Village Center investors specialize in retail center renovations, and they plan to begin work on the renovation in April, says Linda Lucas, asset manager for Coldstream I LLC, the firm managing the group's investments.
The same core group purchased Moana West Annex on Moana Lane just east of Lakeside Drive and renovated it two years ago, Lucas adds.
Their acquisition of the Village Center brings the investors to two Reno properties and counting.
They have their sights on a couple more undisclosed Reno locations, as well.
The group also owns Oregon commercial real estate.
"They look for established neighborhoods," says Lucas.
And they are big on Reno.
They like size of the market: It's not a sprawling metropolis.
It's an area that an outside investor can get a handle on, put money on, and track.
"And it's under-served from a retail perspective," she adds.
Then there are the big guns coming to town national chains.
Their interest serves as a beacon for smaller investment groups.
Add to that northern Nevada's well-publicized growth in business and housing, and the area beckons brightly.
"A lot of growth is targeted for the area by people outside of the area," says Lucas.
The Portland group is working with Renobased architect Carlin Williams on the center's redesign.
The center hasn't changed much since the 1970s, says Chuck Kelley, an architect with the Carlin Williams firm.He knows because he went to Reno High and stopped in for candy bars at the supermarket that once anchored the center.
The facelift will bring the center up to the times, he adds.
The new design is contemporary and a big component of the facelift is a redesign of the parking area.
"Haphazard," is how Kelley describes the current lot.
To modernize it is going to take some landscaping, new curbs, a new monument sign, and redirection of traffic flow, he says.Add some outdoor restaurant seating and a new look and feel, and the old will be new again.
The investors are also working with Longs Drugs Stores, which owns its building and parcel at the center.
The 45,260-square-foot center wraps around the drug store property, says Lucas.
The pharmacy chain is talking about renovating its store interior, and Lucas hopes to work with them for a drive-through pharmacy window.
"We have some other national tenants showing early interest, too" says Lucas.
Broker Roxanne Stevenson, of Grubb & Ellis, the agent on both sides of the center's sale, is targeting about $1.30 per square foot lease rate before renovation.
That number is projected to go up once work is completed.
The leasable range of sizes varies from small office spaces (to a few larger spaces (3,000 square feet to 7,000 square feet), with the average ranging from 1,500 square feet to 3,000 square feet.
