Those of us who live here know that a recreational treasure trove completely surrounds us. Apparently, major outdoor retailers are also catching on. Cabela’s, Scheels and Bass Pro Sports are all planning mega-stores in our area, more than a half million square feet between them. This, in addition to REI, Sportsman’s Warehouse and probably others I don’t even know about.
These stores are expected to become major tourist draws, along with the 1.35 million square foot Legends at Sparks Marina entertainment complex, the Dodd Mitchell Grand Sierra Resort, and perhaps, someday, a revitalized downtown.
What does this mean for our real estate market? I can only guess. New jobs are great, but if most pay less than $10 per hour, those folks won’t be able to buy much house. Perhaps if they pool resources, they can start on the very low end and work up. If this happens, demand may push upward.
All these tourist attractions will hopefully bring more dollars to town. Tourists shop, gamble, eat out and buy second homes. That’s good for house values, right?
Reno has a pretty diverse economy, and sure, we’ve got the Reno-Tahoe Industrial Park coming online. But a major new direction also seems to be tourism. Economies dominated by tourism are typically plagued with ever increasing housing prices coupled with an underbelly of service workers who can’t ever seem to get ahead. In other words, the gap between rich and poor seriously widens, and there’s a constant turnover of workers and residents. Every resort town I’ve ever been in seems to grapple with these issues. I wonder, is this where Reno is going?
