This weekend my husband and I went to see Ocean’s Thirteen at our favorite theater, the Century 21 downtown. It was a quick drive from Somersett, we parked for free in the garage across the street, and afterward we hopped over to the Chocolate Bar for appetizers and dessert.
Two weeks before, we took the kids downtown to see Pirates of the Caribbean, hit the Silver Peak Brewery right before and did the Riverwalk right after to see the kayaks in action. No lines, no real traffic, no fighting for parking spaces… all-in-all an easy, pleasurable, family outing.
Saturday I noticed that the Starbucks in the Palladio was open. Where Starbucks goes, redevelopment soon follows… I have seen this time and time again. Soon we’ll be checking out Divine and 210 North. We already love Se7en, Java Jungle and Beaujolais. There is so much happening downtown, this is only the beginning. And though it may have taken more than a generation to get to this point, the momentum is there, and Reno is poised for rebirth.
Tim Ruffin over at Colliers International wrote a guest column a few weeks ago for the Northern Nevada Business Weekly stating that he was a downtown believer… well, I’m a believer, too. commercial outlook
NVMojo
We’ve had similar experienceds in downtown Reno. One thing nice about the downtown theater is that it tends to show some of the “indie” films that the other theaters don’t show.
I can’t wait to see the Palladio with lights in the residential windows.
derrick
I for 1 am also a believer in downtown. all of the development going on excites me. I hope it helps in getting more suburbia to visit downtown and give it a chance. I dont go downtown that often. I feel I might just have to now, perhaps a little more just to see whats new and exiting. That being said I live in spanish springs and with the amount of new retail going on out here its hard to find a reason to go downtown.
I have everything I need here shopping,dining,parks,movies,great neighborhoods,enjoyable neighbors, boating on pyramid lake, great camping and outdoor activities. not to mention unlike downtown there arent too many bums around here walking around with birds pecking at their feet. Or people roaming 7/11 at 3am looking for a shed to store their broken dreams in. All in all however im quite optomistic about downtown’s future.
Mike Van H
Right on Diane that’s awesome! Did you know I was a believer in downtown too? I bet you NEVER would have guessed that lol.
What Diane posted is important, because the goal of downtown is not just to be its own isolated neighborhood, it’s to be the entertainment hub for the entire city. There’s a lot of people who bash downtown, and a lot of people who love downtown. Just like a any movie, there will always be people who hate it and people who love it. That’s why I don’t get offended by the naysayers.
That’s awesome Museum Tower is fully leased, the first time a building has been fully leased downtown since 2000. Craig Nelson must be loving it.
Palladio is having trouble leasing its remaining retail spaces; IMO and apparently the City’s, they made the spaces way too small to be practical; they may end up needing to combine them, ala Riverside 12 riverfront retail spaces. The 4th key to that successful Sierra & First area is 100 North Sierra, which I am told will begin renovations as soon as the lease is up for the antique store/mall.
GreenNV
A minor correction – it is the Century Riverside 12, not the “Century 21”. Someone has real estate on their mind!
I head downtown a couple times a week just to wander around and check out the action along the Riverwalk. It is becoming a fantastic place. Who knew what a huge impact the kayak park would have on the whole neighborhood?
As Mike Van H knows, I’m not a fan of the architectural look of the Palladio, but at least it isn’t horrible. It will be nice getting additional population downtown (and getting the Riverwalk finally open again). The addition of the Montage should really provide critical mass for additional redevelopment.
Lindie
I’m with you NV Mojo. I can’t wait for all the buyers to move into the Palladio either and put the lights on in their units. Then, at night, we can see how many of these buyers actually live there.
2sleepy
What’s happening downtown is encouraging, but I think what it needs is a Portland style saturday market. I suggested this to RRA a few years ago and got zero response. Even if it was subsidized at first, I think it would eventually become profitable and draw alot of permanent businesses and residents. If there was something happening like that in downtown Reno, I would be there, every weekend.
YinReno
The mix of stores, restaurants and entertainment will be important. A good layout and mix is needed for improving the “energy” of downtown. Silver Peak, Starbucks, Cold Stone, river walk, etc. are great starts. We still have the antique store which is either a fun part of history or an eyesore depending how you view it. And seemingly constant turnover of stores next to Silverpeak is a drag.
I wish Reno would look at other successful outdoor mall projects for inspiration. For example, I love Santana Row in San Jose, or 4th Street in Berkeley. Instead the planning commission gives us dreadful early 90’s mall layouts and concrete in south Reno. It’s a shame. I think as the condo projects start to open their doors and new blood moves in, we’ll see additional improvements. Fun to watch!