Retail, luxury housing planned for site of a boarded-up motel

A venture of two Reno companies plans to develop a retail and housing project on an eyesore site across Virginia Street from the Peppermill Hotel Casino.

If Reno officials give their blessing, West Haven Development Group and Gentry Development Co. late this year will demolish a boarded-up 21-room motel and other buildings on the site.

In their place, the companies plan six luxury condominium or apartment units above street-level retail on the 1.4-acre site.

Lewis "Buzz" Schulte, whose Gentry Development acquired the property in October, said he expects that the proximity of the Peppermill and high traffic counts on Virginia Street will boost retail uses.

And he said the developers think they're on the cutting edge of redevelopment efforts along the South Virginia Street corridor.

"We think that the whole area will be upgraded," said Schulte.

Mark Behl, West Haven's director of business development, said the project has drawn interest from potential retail tenants, including a coffee shop, for the project designed by Cathexes of Reno.

Assuming construction begins late this year, the project will be ready for occupancy in mid-2008.

The highway sign that marked the location when it was home of the Zanzibar Motel has been rescued and stored by historic society representatives, Schulte said.

Schulte also plans to develop a 71-unit apartment complex on a one-acre property he owns along Wrondel Way, just east of the Virginia St. site that is planned for retail and condos.