Patagonia making move to downtown

Reno has attracted another major retailer to downtown.

Patagonia, the outdoor clothing and gear store, is moving from their current location in West Reno to the newly renovated 17,000-square-foot building on 130 S. Center St. The outlet store is scheduled to open beginning of November, according to Danielle Egge, the North America retail marketer for Patagonia.

“We think it is going to be awesome,” Egge said about the new location. “We have a very loyal customer base and customers currently make a day trip of coming to the store. (However, the new downtown location) is undeniably so much more central.”

Patagonia has been at their current Reno location at 8550 White Fir Street for nearly 20 years. According to Egge, Patagonia started looking for a new location about a year ago when they decided to expand their childcare service at their current location.

Patagonia is leasing the building, known as the Hudson Building, from Brian Egan with Egan Commercial Real Estate. It was built in 1947 as a showroom for the Hudson Motor Car Company. Most recently the building housed Machabee Office Environments.

Egan purchased the building back in October 2013 and started renovations on the building several months ago. Renovations included sand blasting the brown paint off the outside of the building to expose the original brick, opening up the ceilings and more.

These renovations allowed us to “show the building for what it originally was,” Egan said.

Prior to moving into the downtown building, Patagonia plans to make some additional improvements including removing a loft that is part of the building in order to take advantage of the high ceilings.

This building is part of Egan’s larger adaptive reuse project, which he calls The Hudson Project.

Part of the project includes four multifamily buildings that make up a total of 21 units. The multifamily apartments are located on Pine Street and State Street, on the same block as The Hudson building. The units range from studios to large two-bedroom apartments. All of the four buildings currently have some tenants occupying the units and includes a community garden. He hopes to have the remaining work on the multifamily units completed as soon as possible.

“There is a large demand for multifamily units in downtown,” Egan said when asked about what attracted him to redevelop the properties. “It was an opportunity to create a sense of community.”

The project also includes the redevelopment of property located at 190 S. Center St. that previously housed Pine Food and Spirits. Egan evicted the tenant and because of the moratorium on liquor stores in downtown, it will not be replaced with another liquor story. He sold the property to his brother Paddy Egan of Urban Investments.

Across the street from the former Pine Food and Spirits, construction is currently underway on The Center Lodge located at 200 South Center. Brian Egan sold the property to Allyson and Victor Rameker, owners of Desert Wind Homes. Desert Wind Homes is an award winning home building company located in Reno. They partnered with Urban Investments to redevelop the old motel into 24 high-end lofts and a restaurant space. The new lofts will be called the Center + Pine Apartments.

This area of downtown is experiencing a flurry of revitalization with the opening of West Elm in Fifty South Virginia and the transformation of the Siena Hotel into the Marriott Renaissance.

“I am really happy with Desert Wind Homes and the Marriott Renaissance,” Egan said. “They are all doing a phenomenal job.”

According to Egan, bigger businesses coming to northern Nevada are having an effect on multifamily and the revitalization of downtown. He thinks that projects like these are just the beginning and that there will be much more to come.

Aside from The Hudson Project, Egan is also working on leasing 24 California Ave, which previously housed a FedEx/Kinko’s. He has been working with the owner for over a year to lease out the building. They have now decided to update the building to create more retail and restaurant space. They are currently in the process of doing feasibility studies for the improvements.