The blue parking garage, on the corner of South Virginia and Commercial Row, includes long-empty ground floor retail space that Whitney Peak will be remodeling. The corner is seen here during Street Vibrations activities.
Whitney Peak Hotel is beginning the process of upgrading three buildings in downtown Reno in order to attract retail and small office tenants.
“We acquired these buildings at the same time we purchased the Fitzgeralds, roughly 7 years ago,” Niki Gross, managing director of Whitney Peak Hotel, said in an email with NNBW.
The buildings include the vacant Old Reno Casino and Vino restaurant, as well as the ground spaces in the blue parking garage on Virginia Street.
“We are really proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish in the downtown area with Whitney Peak and how we’ve been able to draw a different type of traveler to this part of town,” Gross explained. “With all of the business developments in the region and the spiked interest in leisure travel to our area the timing is perfect.”
They have started very preliminary work on the buildings.
“Revitalization efforts in other parts of the city have created a great deal of momentum for redevelopment projects, and we think the time is right to bring more tenants to downtown,” said Gross, in a press release earlier this month. “Now that we have completed our hotel renovations, which culminated with the recent opening of our third floor meeting and event space, we are ready to turn our attention to upgrading these other buildings.”
The hotel has engaged Cathexes architecture studio to provide preliminary designs for the new buildings. Once the designs are finalized, Miles Construction will serve as the general contractor.
“A budget has yet to firmly be established, but will be based on the type of rent we expect we will be able to command in the area over the next few years,” Gross explained.
As design plans are coming together, Whitney Peak Hotel is also pursuing tenants to occupy the spaces. According to Gross, there is an emphasis on attracting retail and small office tenants to diversify the downtown tenant mix.
They have some interest in the spaces already, but are not at liberty to discuss the details yet.
“Don Clark and his team at Cathexes have a great eye for urban design,” Gross said in a press release. “Based on their work in other parts of the city, I think they are a good fit for this project.”
The plan for the exterior and interior of the buildings is still being worked on, “but you can expect an urban aesthetic not unlike what you’ve seen us do here at Whitney Peak,” Gross said.
Regarding the art on the blue parking garage, it will stay.
“We greatly value fine art and view it as a cornerstone of the Reno identity and culture. It absolutely stays,” Gross emphasized.
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