Collection of retailers set for site at Thoma

Bernie Carter has a vision of retail shopping that harkens back to simpler times in Reno.

Carter and three other partners that comprise the investment firm Dacole last year purchased the undeveloped parcel at South Virginia and Thoma streets and plan to construct a retail center at the 56,000-square-foot site.

But this isn't your ordinary strip mall project, Carter says.

Dacole plans to erect 17 individual retail shops at the site with a central plaza that cuts between South Virginia and Center Streets. Shops will range in size from 1,000 to 1,600 square feet, and Dacole already has two signed letters of intent from local eateries that want to establish a presence at the site.

Dacole will build several spaces speculatively, Carter says, and roll out additional buildings as existing structures are leased or sold. The lot, once planned for development as the Thoma Street Lofts, sat untouched for several years after the collapse of the housing market. Q&D Construction is expected to complete dirtwork and site infrastructure improvements such as sewer and water lines by the end of October, Carter says.

Dacole has selected three architectural firms to design individual buildings for the Thoma Street project. Each building will be available forpurchase, and Carter says Dacole is working with several banks in town to make small business loans available for new tenants. Dacole is using a mix of private funding and loans from Bank of America to advance the project.

The developer also owns three additional properties on the west side of South Virginia Street, including properties at 701 S. Virginia longtime home of Del Mar Station and the buildings that house Kreme, Aces Tattoo and Sup. Dacole is in the process of renovating the old Del Mar space, which can accommodate six small tenants. Three small businesses already have signed letters of intent for leasing in the building, Carter says.

Between the new retail developments and existing tenants Carter figures on having 25 small retailers in the midtown area. In all, Dacole controls about 300 feet of South Virginia Street on both sides of the street.

"The idea is that we are creating an environment that is extremely safe and extremely clean no liquor stores, smoke shops, lingerie stores, tattoo parlors or check cashing or bars," Carter says. "We understand that Reno will never be as we remember it back in the mid '60s and early '70s you are not going to take down hotels or parking garages and put in grocery stores, which was the Reno we knew growing up."