If you haven’t been paying close attention, you may have missed the activity around the Fitz recently. All the old slots and gaming equipment have been presumably sold off, and trucked off on Friday. The agreement to sell the ground lease on the Fitz parking garage is back up for consideration this Wednesday by the Redevelopment Commission (staff report HERE) . Downtown Makeover and its Facebook doppelganger page have some juicy details, like no condos and no casino element.. I’m out and about enough to run into Fernando’s license plate in unexpected locations and have done some "asking’". You also overhear a lot waiting in line at Reno Permit Department.
So what’s in store for the Fitz? I have only heard bits and pieces, but am in AWE of what Nando is envisioning from what I’ve gleaned. "World’s Greatest". "West Coast’s Only". Things for both the Redneck and Riesling sets, for locals and tourists, visitors and local artists and even the local kids. And not a slot machine in sight anywhere.
The amazing thing is that there are probably a couple hundred local folks that are knowledgeable about at least some aspects of the new Fitz, and they have held their silence. What Nando is going to build is totally under the radar.
So don’t give up on the resilience and potential of downtown Reno just yet. Siena is scheduled to reopen in February, and the Fitz as soon as construction can be completed. We’re not dead yet!
Corey
Yawn.
Walter
“Nando”?
You on the payroll, Mike?
David
Really? You can’t give us an idea? This is killing me haha.
DowntownMakeoverDude
What, Waltie, we’re not allowed to make up nick names for people anymore without being on their payroll? Last time I checked, in the professional world people don’t publicly make up nick names for their boss. 🙂
I’m stoked about the Fitz project, and it’s a HUGE step in the right direction for Reno.
Chester McCain
If my hunch is correct, and it rarely is, I say this is going to be big.
Walter
Hey Dude, when are you going to put a post about “Nando’s” NOD on his mortgage.
Of course you are “stoked” about “Nando”. Just does not matter that he is stiffing his bank on the mortgage on the house he lives in? Hasn’t made a payment in almost a year. So admirable. A real community leader.
Quite the hero, Dude, quite the hero.
Brian Egan
I can’t wait.
skeptical
Just a few comments:
– Thanks Mike. It’s posts like this that keep me coming to the RRB regularly. Very informative. Please keep it coming.
– I remain skeptical, and neutral, but it is just this type of activity that is absolutely essential before there is any revival to the Reno economy. Let’s hope all stakeholders meet with success.
Carlo
As big as the Montage?
As huge a step in the right direction as the Montage?
Carney
To all the Fools reading this blog who feel some ethical or moral responsibility to pay their mortgage, just know that you will will never be known as Big Time Real Estate Mogul.
You have a naive and charming belief system, that will never allow you to be prominent and rich, or to have a cool nickname. You wil never get ahead.
Waiting for it
I’ll believe it when I see it. Selling off the slots and such to pay for gas is more like it.
Does anyone seriously believe if he can’t pay on his little mansion that he’s going to be the downtown’s savior?
And what suckers did he find to finance this one? Didn’t Corus Bank learn from the first time around?
Carole
Carney, that is one of the finest posts ever on this blog.
Excellent.
Matt
I can’t believe the negativity from some of these people. Who the heck knows about Fernando’s personal life? The man lives a VERY private life and rarely talks to anyone, why do you think the Fitz project is still a secret? This is not a dumb man, he is VERY VERY smart and he wouldn’t be moving forward with this project unless he had all the puzzle pieces set in correctly presumably he does and I am one of his biggest supporters, he didn’t give up on Reno and that’s why I cheer him on. The new Fitz will be spectacular and the naysayers will be scratching their heads.
Ernie
Nothing private about the Notice of Default recorded against Nando’s house. Matter of public record, Matt.
bob_c
The rumor is unbelievable food, your choice musical entertainment,
slots where you never lose and complete access to the staffs ample hostesses.
All for $39/night weekdays and $69 weekends
Commercial Row
What downtown Reno needs to get “stoked” about is a viable solution for Record Street. When will we stop deluding ourselves that a Santa Pub Crawl is the solution to downtown’s problems? ALL downtown Reno has on Fridays and Saturdays is a bunch of 20 somethings getting drunk and urinating on the sidewalks. They replace the Sunday through Thursday street people urinating on the sidewalks.
The Siena gamechanger? The Fitz gamechanger?
How about the Kings Inn gamechanger?
Smarten's Vanishing Equity
When I want help in creating a successful business model I always go to someone whose previous project went BK, and who can’t even pay their own bills. Yeah, mmm hmmm….
CommercialLender
Carney,
Those who aspire to be a “Big Time Real Estate Mogul, … prominent, … rich”, indeed those who need to “get ahead” at the expense of “ethical [and] moral responsibility”, have chosen a definition of personal success that in the end, if not before, will be regretted. How very sad their self indictment.
MikeZ
at the expense of “ethical [and] moral responsibility”
It still boggles my mind that some people think using the protections that have been deliberately codified into our laws is either immoral or unethical.
Carney/CL, would you care to explain your position?
DowntownMakeoverDude
Ah Walter, Smarten etc thinking you know someone’s life story from one public NOD on one property reveals your true intelligence level. Keep showing that soap-opera-like analysis of people’s lives of which you know nothing about on this blog, please…Or should I just wait for another real-estate-data post so you can all debate over the span of 50 or 60 comments whether we’ve hit the bottom or not like you have been for the past three years? Talk about ‘yawn’.
The Montage didn’t go ‘BK’ either. Get your facts right.
I never classified any developer ever as a ‘hero’ or ‘savior’, those are your own words not mine. I am just happy something is being done with this building, and excited to be part of the project. Oooh excitement, such a sin on this blog.
Compared to the baseball folks, who, when all is said and done and all the payments are made, will have received more in public subsidies than it cost to build their ballpark and ‘Phase 2′ I’d say you all are barkin’ that hate up the wrong tree.
None of you have a clue as to what the project is and you’re already dooming it a failure. That’s a pathetic display of community spirit and support, but common and to be expected on RRB. It’s even more pathetic and sad when you trash other people who get excited about it, particularly when this project will address a lot of people’s (and your) complaints about the casino district downtown.
bob_c
12,578 comments on whether we’ve hit bottom and 44,355 insults
Smarten's Vanishing Equity
When I want help in creating a successful business model I always go to someone whose previous project went
BKinto foreclosure, and who can’t even pay their own bills. Yeah, mmm hmmm….There, I fixed it for you DowntownMakeoverDude.
Walter
Dude, nobody here claimed “to know someone’s life story”. Nice hyperbole. Only pointed out that “Nando” is stiffing his mortgage lender and has been for almost a year. I know its difficult for you not to be able to refute that FACT.
I don’t know how you can offer with a straight face that you never classified any developer as a hero. Are you kidding? Your blog used to be so covered with Fernado Leal stories it came close to idolatry. Why the hell else would he grant you the “exclusive” interview for all inside Montage info? Pul-lease.
People on this blog even suggested you were working for Leal you gushed over him so much. Even when his Montage went down the toilet you denied that the project was a failure. People had to explain to you what a deed in leiu of foreclosure was.
You were carrying water for him then, and you are carrying water for him now.
Matt
Oh just shut up already you whiners who talk about the past! The past was in the PAST!!! It’s 2010, now almost 2011 now and we’ve got this really exciting pending project on the way for Downtown Reno, now you can either get excited about it like most normal people would or you can trash it, it’s developer and it’s supporters that’s fine with me because your negativity doesn’t change the reality of this project whatsoever.
Randolph
Some things never change with the Dude. He never met a developer he didn’t believe.
Actually, SVE, the Montage did not go into foreclosure. “Nando” simply delieverd a deed in leiu of foreclosure to the bank. No difference in outcome. The Montage was delusional from the outset. Hell, even at 80% off of “Nando’s” absurdo pricing, they still can’t sell the place.
Cal Gal
How do we know it is exciting? Who says so besides the commercial broker with an obvious agenda, a guy on the payroll, and a blogger who wets his pants whenever anybody says they are going to open another bar downtown?
Can anybody offer any verifiable info?
At least the new owners of the Siena have been clear about their intentions to “build a 5 star resort”. I appreciate the transparency.
This “its a secret” crap seems childish to me.
Martin
I agree with Cal Gal. This “I know, but I can’t tell” stuff seems very gamey to me. Can you imagine Steve Wynn saying “well, I’m going to build something really exciting in Las Vegas but I’m not going to tell you what it is”?
Seems bush league to me.
bob_c
Why do i keep thinking the Fitz is going to be politically correct?
geopower
Dude,
I’m a big fan of your website and all the work you do letting folks know the interesting activities downtown. With that said, I don’t think it’s fair to call people pathetic for showing skepticism about a project that hasn’t been explained other than being “HUGE” and “AWE”some. As great a guy as Fernando may or may not be, as good as his ideas are, his last project did fail financially due to economic circumstances that have not improved. I think anything in the Fitz, even another CalNeva, would be better than it standing empty, so for that I say good job. But until you or someone else is willing to let us in on the plan, skepticism is fair and you can’t expect people to be cheerleaders for the unknown. Especially here on RRB, where the biggest success of the discussion has been skepticism of irrational exuberance about real estate.
MikeZ
None of you have a clue as to what the project is and you’re already dooming it a failure. That’s a pathetic display of community spirit and support, but common and to be expected on RRB. It’s even more pathetic and sad when you trash other people who get excited about it, particularly when this project will address a lot of people’s (and your) complaints about the casino district downtown.
Makeover, how do you expect anyone to become excited about something with so few details? If you supply more information (real information, not teasing in drips and drabs), maybe you’ll have more supporters and cheerleaders.
As it stands now, with what little has been made public, I don’t expect anyone here to be enthusiastic.
smarten
DMD, you’ve accused “Walter, [me] etc [of] thinking [we] know someone’s life story from one public NOD on one property [the Montage? (which)] reveals…our true intelligence level.” I can understand your feelings, however, I think you have me mistaken with someone else [probably Mr. SVE]. I’ve posted nothing about this project; nor the person[s] behind it; nor their previous project[s].
Waiting for it
Randolph
There is a huge difference between deed in lieu and Foreclosure, or bankruptcy. 1- Fernando keeps his credit as he hasn’t defaulted on the loan. It’s an ‘agreement’. But 2- and most importantly- he threw all the depositors under the bus to keep his ‘credit’. By agreeing to the deed in lieu Corus was able to continue with the terms of the buyers, and thereby keep the deposits. Had Fernando defaulted, the terms would have been null and void and depositors would have received their respective deposits back. Good for Fernando, bad for the many who believed in him.
DMD – Geopower got it right. Reread his comments. I think he speaks for many of us.
Old Time Craps Shooter
If I had the options, I would install an outside glass elevator, providing a novelty feature and a view on the way up and down, like the old Mint Hotel did in downtown Vegas years ago. I think the Fitz elevators probably need updating anyway, from the traveler reviews I have read. This would fix that issue plus free up some space, in the old elevator shafts.
Then I would try to weld into the existing elevator shafts at each floor level, to use that space plus the elevator lobby space on each floor, to coax a couple more rooms out of each floor. This could be done in stages, say three levels at a time, over the next few years.
I would add more lighting to the parking structure.
Brighten up the casino and lose all that lucky Irish green in there, add some new machines, and feature live music on a casino stage.
The place needs a full-time, live on-site owner manager, to make it.
Pump up private event marketing and create special interest group meetings.
I feel this place can make it as a clean, updated mid-level facility; I wouldn’t try to make it boutiquish or super-upscale, because the area is not conducive to bringing in that type of trade.
Best of luck to the owners.
Harve
GreenNV
J.12 Update, discussion and potential direction to staff regarding activities and businesses on West Commercial Row in downtown Reno.
Interesting agenda item for today’s City Council meeting at noon. Is it related to the Fitz? You can watch the meeting live on cable 213 or at http://www.reno.gov/index.aspx?page=647 online. The Redevelopment Agency meeting to discuss the sale of the garage follows the Council meeting. Some of these meetings could double as Reno 911 episodes!
Martin
You all need to understand that for the Dude whatever Leal says is the Holy Grail. You HAVE TO simply bow down in awe at whatever Leal says, and if you don’t you are “pathetic”. In other words, complete obediance to the Leal Grail is expected. The Dude long ago lost any ability to be objective when it comes to Leal. Witness that the Dude has been absent from this blog for well over a year, but when a thread about Leal goes up he’s the third guy to post criticing another poster over a fair comment.
This blog has made its reputation over the years by standing apart from the real estate and builder/developer spincrap machine. This blog has been right far more times that it has been wrong. The Dude can’t stand that this blog early on predicted, with complete accuracy, the demise of the Montage.
So you all need to just be giddy with excitement that Leal is “doing something” that you are not allowed to know for now. That’s the required behavior.
I agree with the others that this “its a secret” is a bunch of crap. If it is such a extraordinary idea, why not get the word out?
Grand Wazoo
Not to pile on, but this is a memorable quote from one of The Dude’s interviews with Nando some years back:
“Fernando wants dining experiences in his bottom floor, he says it ‘caters to the type of people buying our units more than traditional retail stores.’ He doesn’t anticipate having a problem getting the tenant he envisions, and admits turning down quite a few applicants who want the space who didn’t meet Leal’s strict criteria and prerequisites. Nice!”
Hilarious, talk about The Dude drinking the Kool Aid! How’s that first floor retail/dining space working out these days?
Anonymous Coward
What geopower said.
DowntownMakeoverDude
I have been absent from this blog because real estate and the monthly posting of numbers is not my favorite topic when I don’t own a lot of real estate investments, own a small inexpensive home that has held its value, and don’t really follow the real estate market to the extent all of you do. Fair enough? I occasionally pop in when it’s a downtown related topic.
Also, I’m friends with Mike M in ‘the real world’, and he told me about this post, and the resulting flame comments as he called them, so of course I’m going to come over and comment on it.
My blog was/is peppered with construction pics of the Montage, just like it was full of construction pics from Riverwalk Towers, the Ballpark, Palladio, and everything else I got a tour of. There was a time when I used to get excited about every project any developer came forward with yes, but that was like what, three years ago now? Can’t believe I am still getting crap about that. Most of my posts these days have to do with fighting graffiti, city council policies, new businesses opening, etc. There’s a reason why I won Best Blogger and Best Local Web Site for 2010, and it’s not because I schmooze developers. It’s because I morphed from being a redevelopment-centric site to a community-centric site. People get it and dig it.
The Demise of the Montage? Give me a break. The only thing I care about is getting people downtown to stabilize the neighborhood, even it if means Montage units have to sell for 100K a piece. Reno Ignoramous and I had a discussion on this topic over a year ago on this blog, and I agreed back then with him prices downtown were way too high, and I still think they are way too high. If you think I care that the Montage failed in terms of offering $350,000 1 bedroom condos in a dreamworld, I guess you don’t know me very well.
I can appreciate the ‘Matter-of-fact’ mentality of this blog, and while some of you may disagree with not knowing the full details about the project right away, in the marketing world it’s called creating buzz, and it did, with over 3,500 people viewing my post about the Fitz so far. People need some good news in this town right now. The reaction on my own site was markedly more positive than on this site. Go figure.
Geopower, I understand a little skepticism given Reno’s economy, but there’s a difference between constructive skepticism and alluding to a false-scenario that concludes ‘because Fernando has a foreclosure he is incapable of managing or taking on a new project.’ I think that comments like ‘Quite the hero, Dude, quite the hero’ are pathetic, juvenile, and go beyond skepticism. Sorry, just my opinion. There are just a lot of assumptions you guys have that are waaaay off base.
Yes, this blog has been right more than it has been wrong, but it HAS been wrong. I have a huge respect for Bantering Bear, Reno Ignoramous, Smarten (sorry smarten I got you and Smarten’s Vanishing Equity Confused, been a while since I have been to this blog) because they all knew what was really happening with the real estate market when most of the country including myself lived in a bubble.
Oh and Martin, your comment is so extreme and over the top it’s ridiculous. The Leal Grail? I guess you’re forgetting that MY BLOG WAS THE FIRST to point out that the piece-of-crap-closed Fitz garage which he owned was covered in graffiti from top to bottom and what an embarrassment it was to the thousands attending the Italian festival at the time, and that lease payments to the city had stopped, jeopardizing the city’s ReTRAC bonds they took out against the future revenue of the parking garage, and directly called out to fix it in front of the thousands that read my site weekly. That story then caused RGJ, News 4, News 2, and News 8 to all do subsequent stories on it and interview me. Suffice to say the graffiti has been cleaned up. That sound like the actions of someone enamored with Leal? Gimmy a break. Don’t even try to judge me or else you’ll just come out looking, well, pathetic.
DowntownMakeoverDude
Well Grand Wazoo, considering it’s now owned by a bank I would say not so well! How is gloating working for you these days? You guys referencing what I did three years ago really gets old. Oooooh I drank the kool aid big deal. I also barfed it back up three years later too.
lurker
for what it’s worth, I like the Dude dropping by every now and again. I hope this latest piling on doesn’t scare him off for good.
Miss BB too. In his own way, I think smarten misses BB, too, otherwise he wouldn’t call every other critic of his…..BB. I think smarten misses the fight. I would be bored too if a lived in a million+ dollar chalet in Tahoe with nothing else to do except listen to my nagging wife.
Ean
The Dude may be annoyingly positive and sometimes (often) naive but it’s nice to get perspectives from both the lovers and the haters. I am right about in the middle. I read the rss feed of Downtown Makeover and he doesn’t ooze love for Leal or anyone else since I subscribed in late 2008.
http://www.downtownmakeover.com/10-5-10-The-Next-Kings-Inn.asp
http://www.downtownmakeover.com/11-10-10-Siena-Challenges.asp
http://www.downtownmakeover.com/11-5-10-city-council-meeting.asp
Reno Ignoramus
I don’t have much to offer to the foodfight. My only comment is on the “secretive” nature of Mr. Leal’s proposed Fitz renovation. I can understand the concept of creating a “buzz”. I would suggest there can be a potential downside to that, though, if “the buzz” starts to create some unrealistic expectations that the reality then falls short of.
I guess I am in the camp of those who find the “we can’t tell you” approach to be a bit gamey and silly. If this is going to be a really great concept, then plenty of “buzz” will be created by simply getting the word out and letting everybody watch it unfold.
skeptical
Reno makes another list:
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-36915181
Not the most cheerful narrative, though.
Smiley
“Reno’s heyday has come and gone.”
Whoever wrote that obvioulsy does not know about the “Nando” gamechanger that is going to turn the universe on its head.
Curious
Lurker,
Smarten is bored and hankering for a fight because he lives in a $7,000 a month chalet, which he will be paying for until he 80 years old, which he bought because of the nagging wife, which he now has to justify to himself and everybody else. That’s why 95% of Smarten’s posts are about himself. His house, his mortgage, his property value, his refinance, his lifestyle.
MikeZ
From skeptical’s link: “Reno was once the place to go for a quickie divorce.”
If I may digress … The National Automobile Museum on Lake (?) has a room dedicated to this unique and charming facet of Reno history. A Reno divorce was known as “The Cure” if I recall correctly. Reno divorces were so popular that the legal notices were printed in the New York Times so that spouses back East would know if they’d been divorced. 🙂
I highly recommend the Museum. If you like vehicles, set aside a few hours, it’ll take that long to appreciate the entire collection.
Drive by Poster
Not that I am a regular commenter on this blog, but I do lurker quite a bit, have for years, and have posted before. There are, I think, 4 or 5 names that I do not recall ever seeing before that are part of the “pile on the Dude” parade. Now, I find it odd that a post about the development of the Fitzgerald is so contentious that multiple people are driven to throw their lurker-hood aside to post about how the Dude had drank the Kool-Aid.
Wait for it
Drive By Poster
Writing on this blog is like reading the letters to the editor. Anyone can write anything. For entertainment purposes, it’s interesting. It also sometimes gives you regular Joes mentality. Don’t confuse it with having a life.
Rory
Naysayers and haters…..please leave your vitriol at home. It’s unproductive and unbecoming. Feel free to doubt a project on its merits, but seeing as things are still hush-hush, can’t you just think positively and be optimistic for once???
oldjohnny
I have alot of respect for the Dude, he has maintained his website fairly well, and has alot of positive outlook when it comes to downtown Reno. I do have to agree that he has a little too much love for Fernando Leal. It has always appeared to me that Nando has received alot of praise for his Montage project, which was a really, really bad idea. Nando came to town for no reason other than to make alot of money, and failed miserably. Anyone with common sense would have looked at the same project next door, the Comstock re do, and came up with a different plan. Now he’s going to get creative with the Fitz. The down town draw is it’s casinos. Californian gamblers like Reno because if they are on a losing streak they can hobble over to the casino next door and try their luck, something Indian casinos do not offer. I say, make it easy for them, encourage casinos down town, and re vamp the surrounding area. I find it hard to believe people want to live down town where casinos are anyway.
I’m sure Nando will come up with some sort of moronic, overpriced, family style oddity that has no place being located across the street from Harrah’s. The guy is a menace, and is destroying the flair of Reno. There’s alot of quaint charm about the old casinos that could be capitalized on with just a little focus. Nowhere else is there a downtown quite like Reno’s. Nando needs to go away and a real plan for the downtown restoration needs to be put into place.