Franktown Corners, a multi-tenant boutique shopping center at Kietzke Lane and Grove Street, sold for $7.5 million to Hammonds Family Interests of central California.
The property's appeal included a good tenant mix and an upside investment potential with the right improvements, says Dewey Struble, senior advisor at Sperry Van Ness, who was assisted by Sean Singer in representing the buyers.
Hammonds plans to increase the tenant stores' visibility from the street with improved signage and selective tree trimming, says Struble. Hammonds also bought two neighboring one-acre parcels one to the west and one across across Grove Street.
The center is fully leased, says Bob Ford, co-founding member of Coldwell Banker Commercial Premier Brokers, who represented the seller, Franktown Corners LLC. The managers of the limited-liability corporation are Russell Ernst and Walter Roskoski Jr, both of Reno, according to a corporate filing with the Nevada Secretary of State.
Despite the good occupancy, the center had been on the market for a year and a half, adds Ford, and the final escrow was the third in a year. The center has 44,000 square feet of rentable space on about three acres.
Franktown Corners was unique when built in 1980, says Ford, unlike anything in Reno at that time. "It's a design that was way before its time."
The center's designer, Peter Wilday, also shaped the Peppermill, Atlantis and other area casinos.
The sale is a further sign of change in the neighborhood, says Ford, pointing to the conversion of apartment complexes to condos on Grove Street.
