North Reno industrial park set to begin

In a sign that the slumbering market for

new industrial building in Reno is about

the awaken, Panattoni Development Co.

will begin work this spring on the 100-acre

Lear Industrial Park.

The industrial park will be on Echo

Avenue adjacent to the new General

Motors distribution facility in north Reno.

When it's complete, the Lear Industrial

Park is expected to include about 1.6 million

square feet of space in six buildings.

Build-out is expected in 2006 or 2007.

Doug Roberts, a partner in Panattoni

Development, said last week his company

doesn't expect a fast rebound in the demand

for industrial property during the first half

of this year but wants to be ready when the

market recovers.

"If a big user comes around, we want to

be in a position to submit a proposal,"

Roberts said.

Already, he said, some potential users of

big industrial space have begun taking a

close look at the Reno area.

The first building at Lear Industrial

Park a 400,000-square-foot structure

will be built as a speculative project if a

build-to-suit customer hasn't signed on,

Roberts said. Construction of the building

is expected to begin this spring. Early work

on the project also will include street

improvements and drainage work.

Lear Industrial Park is one of the few

remaining tracts available within Reno for

large-scale industrial development.

Roberts said a key selling point will be

the availability of a good labor force living

in Stead and other northern parts of the city.

The development company also will

seek to position Lear Industrial Park on

the basis of prices that it expects to be

about 15 percent lower than other new

industrial projects in the market.

Panattoni Development's plans come

after almost two years of very slow activity

in industrial development in the region.

Although developers had a number of

projects ready to go a year ago, most of

them were cancelled or delayed as casualties

of the national economic recession.

Paul Perkins, senior vice president of

the industrial properties group at the Reno

office of Colliers International, said the

market appears ready to revive.

"All indications are that we're poised for

a rebound," he said. "Their (Panattoni's)

timing is going to be perfect."

Colliers is the broker for Lear Industrial

Park.

Among other factors that will aid the

Reno-area market, Perkins said, are the

effects of California's budget shortfall and

power woes. Companies in the Golden

State already are pressured by higher taxes

and power bills, and both may be ready to

rise again.

"I think we're going to see some manufacturers

who say enough is enough,"

Perkins said.