Urban loft-style proves popular in Sparks

Moving vans brought the first rush of tenants late last month to a new apartment complex re-envisioned from an old motel in Sparks.

The Square 1 apartments in the former Silver Club Hotel features 100 units on six floors, developed by LandCap Investments Partners and GreenStreet Communities.

After only two weeks of leasing, about half of the units on the east side of Victorian Square were spoken for.

“We’re way ahead of our projections on leases,” Dane Hillyard, partner in Greenstreet Companies, said in a phone interview.

“The appeal has been very broad,” he said, describing the tenants as a mix of local young adults and retirees, plus employees from Tesla and other companies in the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center; everything but families. Hillyard said that was expected since it’s not really a family building.

Those who are signing leases “love the style. It’s very unique,” he said.

Unique was the plan from the beginning. Three years ago, Hillyard noticed the empty building and was attracted to its 10-foot ceilings, an unusual feature for a building constructed in the 1980s.

The developers charged Allco Construction, Inc. with creating a New York loft look for the planned apartments.

“The building had high ceilings and concrete floors. It really lent itself to that (concept),” said Bob Herman, owner of Allco Construction, which designed and built the apartment building.

The late Reno Architect Kelly Mier designed the apartments’ urban warehouse look.

Rent for the New York loft apartments starts at $750 per month for a 308 square-foot studio on the ground floor. A 924 square foot, two-bed, two-bath apartment starts at $1,300. The higher up the six-story building, the higher the rent.

Square 1 also features a gym and outdoor barbecue area for residents.

The original hotel had 250 rooms that were converted into 100 apartments. Each studio and one-bedroom apartment began as two hotel rooms and the two-bedroom apartments occupy the space from three hotel rooms, Herman explained.

Although developers began with an existing structure, converting the hotel into apartments still required a lot of demolition and renovation of electrical, plumbing and windows. Each apartment also features its own balcony.

Herman said it’s been a fun project to work on.

“Every project I’ve ever done, a little went into (the Square 1) project,” Herman said. “It was really fun to do that project. It’s a pretty unique project.”