A major business on par with Tesla and Switch may soon be coming to Storey County’s Tahoe Reno Industrial Center.
“This will be the third and probably the biggest hurrah,” Lance Gilman, the industrial park’s developer and a Storey County commissioner, told the breakfast meeting of Nevada Business Connections on Wednesday.
Gilman said he couldn’t discuss the deal yet, but expected it to be finalized in the next six weeks.
“We’re working on closing documents now,” he said.
The company is looking to build on 2,000 acres in the 30,000-acre park and would have a manufacturing component to its business at the site.
Gilman also said he has had multiple meetings with Union Pacific Railroad.
“We’re looking at 150 acres of an intermodal yard,” he said.
He also expects the park, as well as Northern Nevada, to become a major producer of solar-generated power.
“We have contracts being drafted for thousands of acres of solar,” said Gilman.
The developer said the industrial park is entering its fifth phase of development.
First came distributors, then manufacturers, followed by fulfillment centers such as jet.com, the online seller owned by Walmart, which just completed a 700,000 square foot facility there.
The fourth wave is an influx of data storage providers such as Switch.
And now, in the fifth phase, services are beginning to arrive, including four hotels, two about to break ground and two on drawing boards, said Gilman.
“We have Marriott with a bistro and Motel Six with kitchens so the construction workers can live there. And Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn,” he said.
A portion of the property is being zoned for retail.
“We’re looking at a downtown,” said Gilman. “We’re looking at folks to sell big ticket items.”
He said once the USA Parkway is complete — in August, Gilman predicts — then the industrial park will be a 15- to 20-minute commute from most of Northern Nevada’s communities.
Gilman said the Northern Nevada region should be considered the trading area, comprising a 50-mile radius around the park that includes Reno, Sparks, Carson City and Douglas, Lyon and Storey counties.
“We aren’t just Reno,” said Gilman.
To that end, he’s concerned about Assembly Bill 153, sponsored by four Assembly members and one senator from Washoe County.
The bill would require counties to pay impact fees to local governments for certain costs incurred as a result of intercounty projects.
“It’s incredibly anti-development, anti-prosperity and 180 degrees from what Storey County has done,” said Gilman.
Ray Bacon, executive director, Nevada Manufacturers Association also spoke on upcoming legislation, including bills raising the minimum wage.
“The legislative session is not going to be fun for business,” said Bacon. “A southern Nevada contingent has an investment in destroying everything that was done last time.”
