Tower renovation almost done

Construction on Arlington Towers’ second floor offices in downtown Reno is near completion and its owners are currently looking for tenants to fill the newly renovated 11,000 square feet of office space.

Reno Engineering Company, a local development services company, purchased the second floor of the building in November 2015. They are wrapping up construction now and anticipate that it will be ready for businesses to move into in mid-April.

“This is truly a good workspace,” Vincent Griffith, president of Reno Engineering, said of the downtown offices.“This is a place where you can get stuff done.”

The 11,000 square feet is divided into space for six tenants. There are two large office spaces that both have a large collaborative work space with connecting private offices, one 2,500 square feet and the other 3,500 square feet, and four smaller offices.

“You have the best of both,” Griffith said about the open collaborative space and the connecting private offices.

The building was constructed in the 1960s and the second floor was previously home to a mortgage company called Summit Funding, Inc., which moved to its new location on Lakeside Drive in December.

According to Britton Griffith-Douglass, vice president of operations for Reno Engineering, they have already leased one of the smaller offices to Robert Wildman, a local psychologist. Reno Engineering also has had interest from Reno-Tahoe Tonight, a local magazine, Hamilton Solar, and Desert Diamonds Realty, who is currently a tenant on the first floor of the building but is looking for more space.

The father-daughter team was very involved throughout the renovation process even doing a lot of the work themselves, including laying the floors in the open offices and picking out the appliances for the break room.

“It is gratifying,” Griffith said to develop downtown office spaces for start-ups and other local businesses.

Reno Engineering acquired the first floor of the building in December 2012. It is currently home to the Reno Collective, Reno startup Filament, Outsiders Hair Studio and Salon, Desert Diamonds Realty, Laxalt & McIver, a local web and graphic design company and Monolith Bar.

They also have future plans to renovate the space that is currently occupied by Monolith into a restaurant.

According to Griffith, downtown offices and restaurants are just two aspects to creating a vibrant downtown. Also needed are new housing developments to attract more people to live and work in the downtown area.

After construction is finished at Arlington, Griffith and Griffith-Douglas will focus on their other projects including the Town Center project, located on an eight-acres parcel of land Reno Engineering owns at Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center. They currently have the building permit to build a sister building to the 440 USA Parkway project and expect to break ground on April 1.

“They need additional services out there,” Griffith-Douglass said about TRIC.

They have had letters of intent signed by several businesses to occupy the new building. Interested businesses include a staffing agency, a gym, convenience store, a restaurant, daycare and more.

Arlington Towers is located at 100 N. Arlington Ave. Businesses interested in leasing office space in Arlington Towers can call Griffith-Douglass at 775-813-1822.