SilverStar, Panattoni look for mixed-use in-fill developments

Bill Miller and Jason Quintel couldn't be more certain that mixed-use projects are the future of in-fill development in the Truckee Meadows.

Land costs simply demand that new buildings climb higher with retail and offices on ground floors and homes on higher floors, says Miller, the president of SilverStar Communities, and Quintel, a partner with Panattoni Development in Reno.

That puts more square feet of space for sale or lease on each square foot of expensive dirt.

And while they wait to learn if a partnership of their companies will be hired to oversee redevelopment in Victorian Square,Quintel and Miller are looking for other mixed-used projects they can handle together.

The companies' decision to team up on the Victorian Square proposal,Miller said,was a natural outgrowth of work they're doing together on Virginia Lake Crossing Town Center along South Virginia Street just south of Plumb Lane.

That project, developed by SilverStar, includes about 100,000 square feet of commercial, office and restaurant space along with housing.

SilverStar,which has worked mostly in housing projects such as Renaissance at Montreux and Sundance at ArrowCreek, decided to seek the help of Panattoni, which has worked mostly in commercial and industrial development.

Good chemistry, Quintel says, arose early.

"The relationship was easily formed,"he says."We felt good and trusted each other."

Learning that each of the companies was beginning to put together a proposal for Victorian Square,Miller and Quintel decided to join forces.

They were among four groups to make presentations to Sparks officials last week.Others include Trammell Crow Co., Tanamera and a partnership of two Los Angeles firms.

City officials expect to announce a decision in August.

No matter which way that decision turns, SilverStar and Panattoni think their experience on mixed-use projects in Reno and Sparks give them a head start on future projects.

They plan to hammer out individual deals on each project rather than creating a permanent umbrella partnership.