Panattoni repositions industrial building in north Reno

The industrial market is continuing to see a high demand in northern Nevada.

“It is still very healthy,” Doug Roberts, partner at Panattoni Development, said in a phone interview with NNBW, about the industrial market. “There is still more building going on to meet the demand and vacancy continues to be reduced.”

In addition to new construction industrial buildings, developers are also renovating older properties for new tenants. Panattoni recently finished repositioning a 169,027-square-foot property at 400 and 450 Par Boulevard, which is now occupied by Sears Hometown Outlet Store. Panattoni originally purchased the building in the 1970s and the company renovated the space in 2006. Roberts explained that the building was leased to the Red Cross for five years before Panattoni sold the property it to an investor. The investor lost the property to the bank and Panattoni repurchased the building about three years ago.

“We bought it again because Weaver Popcorn was going to lease the building to put a popcorn plant in it,” Roberts said.

However, that plant never materialized.

Sears Hometown Outlet Stores, Inc. now occupies the building. The company tests and repairs lightly damaged major home appliances such as washers, dryers as well as lawn and garden equipment. The Parr location distributes the refurbished appliances for resale.

According to Roberts, Sears Hometown Outlet Store took occupancy in January.

“Reno was an ideal, centrally located market for us to open a new Sears Outlet Repair and Distribution Center,” said Michael Lesso, Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, Inc.’s Director of Distribution, in a press release. “These centers are key to the success of our Sears Outlet Stores. Customers purchasing a Certified Appliance or other item from a Sears Outlet Store receive a fully functional and operational unit, as well as the assurance that the unit still meets Sears’ quality standards as the nation’s leading retailer of appliances and appliance-related products. Our new center in Reno will be key in delivering on this promise.”

Panattoni needed to upgrade the facility to accommodate the new tenant. Roberts explained that they had to get permission from the City of Reno to extend the truck dock into the right of way of Parr Boulevard.

“We actually relocated some of the travel lanes within Parr Boulevard,” Roberts said.

Other renovations included new flooring, offices, restrooms as well as some structural upgrades to the building.

“Just in general cleaned the building up,” Roberts said.

Panattoni has several other projects in the works in the region in addition to the Parr Boulevard renovation. The company is currently finishing construction on its two new industrial buildings at the South Valley Commerce Center. The development totals 390,000-square-feet and one of the buildings has been leased to Zazzle, an e-commerce company. Roberts said they are negotiating a lease on their existing 700,000-square-foot industrial building in North Valleys and they are getting ready to start a 352,000 spec building also in North Valleys.

For more information about Panattoni, go to http://www.panattoni.com/. For more information about Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, go to http://shos.com/.