Marriott franchise signed at Mountain View

An upscale Marriott hotel franchise will

anchor the north end of the Mountain

View Corporate Center, a project that was

slow getting started because of the failure

of a similar development not far away.

Construction of the hotel is expected to

begin next year. The first office building in

the 30-acre project, meanwhile, is scheduled

for completion in December.

Templeton Development Corp. of Las

Vegas is developing the area just south of

Del Monte Lane at the end of Kietzke

Road. When complete, the Mountain

View Corporate Center will include about

400,000 square feet of office space. The

first structure known as The Sierra

Building is arising near Highway 395 in

the project. It's a 55,000-square-foot structure

whose lead tenant will be Sunwest

Bank.

Construction of that building is particularly

important to the marketing of the

project because of skepticism engendered

by the high-profile Corporate Pointe

development at South McCarran and

Virginia.

Corporate Pointe these days is little

more than a weed-filled hole in the ground.

Bill Quinn, vice president of Templeton

Development, said potential purchasers

and renters of space at Mountain View

Corporate Center waited to get serious

until they saw the skeleton of the first

building arising.

"It's a show-me kind of thing," Quinn

said.

The Marriott Springhill Suites hotel is

planned north of The Sierra building now

under construction. As its name suggests,

Springhill Suites is an all-suites operation.

Templeton bought the property out of

bankruptcy two years ago. Its initial plan

called for nine large buildings, but the plans

were revised to include eight smaller buildings

along the south edge of the property.

The development company envisions that

those will be purchased by professionals.

"There is a demand from people who

want to own their own building," said

Quinn. "Everybody would rather own than

pay rent."

Recent low interest rates have further

spurred sales rather than leases of

office properties.

One of the offices in the complex will

be owned by Grubb & Ellis Northern

Nevada Group, the firm which is marketing

Mountain View Corporate Center.

John Pinjuv of Grubb & Ellis said construction

is expected to begin in October.

Pinjuv said marketing of the project has

been particularly successful as it targets

medical-related professionals who want to

own their own buildings. Other strong

interest, he said, has come from upper-end

service professionals such as law firms and

certified-accountancy offices.

Along with the project's location

next to Highway 395, close to Reno-Tahoe

Airport Grubb & Ellis' marketing

efforts emphasize the natural setting and

landscaping that includes fountains and

extensive use of cobblestone.

Leases, Pinjuv said, are in the range of

$1.75 a square foot triple net a figure

which is comparable to $2.35 a square foot

in a full-service lease.