Shellie Neeser-Brown, co-founder of the Wolf Run properties, stands in front of the 105-unit Wolf Run East development. The student housing complex is scheduled to open this August.
The locally owned and operated student housing community of Wolf Run Village has provided an off-campus housing option for Nevada college students for the past two decades. The founders are now building a second 105-unit sister property across the street called Wolf Run East. The new housing is slated to open summer 2017.
Wolf Run East is located two blocks from the University of Nevada, Reno at 1980 Valley Road. The new development will consist of studios, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units that will house 210 students. Prices range from $600 to $850. Students will be able to start moving into Wolf Run East on Aug. 1.
The growth of the university’s student population has provided an opportune time to expand.
“We actually had that property for about 18 years,” Shellie Neeser-Brown, co-founder of Wolf Run properties, said.
Shortly after she graduated from college, Neeser-Brown and her father, Mike Neeser, recognized a need for off-campus housing options near UNR. They were pioneers in off-campus housing in northern Nevada when they built Wolf Run Village in 1997.
“We were the first ones,” Neeser-Brown said. “There was no other housing that was off-campus.”
They always had the idea that they would someday add additional housing on their vacant property. Now, that idea is becoming a reality with Wolf Run East.
Construction on the new project started in summer 2016. The contractor on the development is Neeser Construction Inc. The new complex will feature large bedrooms, private bathrooms, washer and dryer facilities in each unit, furnished common areas, free parking, Internet, cable TV and individual billing for utilities.
Residents must be a student of either UNR or TMCC to live in Wolf Run Village and Wolf Run East. This model helps foster a community specifically designed around students.
“Students have a different lifestyle from a 9-to-5er,” Neeser-Brown said.
She explained that they conducted focus groups to understand what college students were looking for in off-campus housing.
“It really does matter, just from a business perspective, that we do it right,” she said.
“These are our clients. We wouldn’t be in business without them.”
According to Neeser-Brown, the Wolf Run Village complex has been at an 100 percent occupancy rate for at least the last six years. Approximately 90 percent of the students that live at Wolf Run Village come from out of state.
“As the economy has improved, our reach has become farther and farther,” she explained.
Wolf Run is one of several new student housing developments being built around the university. Others include Identity Reno, a 103-unit complex located at 1551 N. Virginia St., Towers at Pink Hill, a 23-unit student housing development located on North Virginia at 14th Street, as well as a new residence hall on campus called Great Basin Hall, which is a replacement for White Pine Hall. Great Basin Hall will house more than 400 students and is scheduled to open in summer 2018.
The area has come a long way in terms of student housing options since Neeser-Brown and her father started Wolf Run Village.
“It has completely changed,” she said about the university district.
She hopes to continue to see more development, particularly near the Wolf Run properties. She would like to see more eateries and services for students on and around Valley Road in the coming years.
“I think that this could be its own little Mecca,” she said.
Wolf Run also has the potential to grow. The partners also own a brick house and an additional grass field that is adjacent to Wolf Run East. They have potential to develop more housing on the lot. But for now, Neeser-Brown said that she plans to use the green space for Wolf Run community events as well as a recreation area for students to use for activities such as Frisbee and more.
Students interested Wolf Run Village and Wolf Run East can visit the leasing office at 467 Beverly Street in Reno. For more information, visit http://www.wolfrunstudenthous ing.com/.
