SilverStar, Washoe Medical strike deal for row homes

SilverStar Communities LLC last week signed an agreement with Washoe Medical Center to build 164 row-home units on a 5.2- acre Second Street site immediately north of the center's parking structure.

Numerous existing concrete buildings on the land owned by Washoe Med will be demolished prior to the commencement of the construction.

While SilverStar will develop the property,Washoe Med will guarantee the purchase of the units once the construction is completed, said Bill Miller Jr., president of SilverStar Communities.

Washoe Medical Center is partnering with SilverStar in a collaborative effort to provide affordable housing for its employees, said Andy Pearl, vice president of system development at Washoe Medical center.

"The project is designed to assist Washoe Med in retaining and attracting clinical professionals.

The entire project is projected to take approximately two years,with the first units available to Washoe Med employees near the end of 2006," Pearl said.

The project is valued at $48 million, according to Miller, and the proposed units will come in two floor plans.

The 1,317- square-foot units will have two bedrooms and two baths, and the 1,457-square-foot units will have three bedrooms and three baths.

"Our goal is to start in the less than $300,000 range,"Miller said.

The housing will be located only steps from Washoe Med's Mill Street Campus and will be another significant enhancement for the downtown corridor, Pearl said.

Even before the Washoe Med project gets under way, SilverStar Communities, plans to commence earlyspring construction on its Village on the River project, a 137-unit townhouse subdivision at the northeast corner of Mill Street and Museum Drive.

That's just east of the National Automobile Museum.

City of Reno planners are reviewing the application for the 5.37 acre-project, and the Planning Commission is scheduled to take it up for vote March 1.

SilverStar Communities doesn't anticipate any objections as it is not seeking any variances or conditional use permits, Miller said, and the plan submitted is in compliance with the zoning that's in place.

The townhomes would include three floor plans 1,317-, 1,457- and 1,644 square feet and the total project is valued at $52.2 million.

Approximately 1,400-1,700 condominium units coming to the market in downtown Reno in the next three years.Most are conversions of existing casino hotels or new highrise condominium projects.

"We're providing an alternative lifestyle which is 'You own your own home' and it's a different scale of living all together," Miller said.