Giant Spanish Springs project takes shape

One of the best-kept secrets in the Washoe County business community is taking shape in the burgeoning community of Spanish Springs, where the 411-acre Spanish Springs Business Center is under development just off Pyramid Highway.

The project is the brainchild of Hawco Properties, a company founded in 1981 by Jim Haw Sr.

and now under the direction of his grandson Jesse Haw.

The elder Haw envisioned the center as a hub of a large business district in Spanish Springs.

Spanish Springs' population currently stands at 27,000 and expected to double in the next 15-20 years.

"It used to be the place you go through to get to Pyramid Lake," said Jesse Haw, current president and chief operating officer of Hawco.

To assist in marketing the vast complex, Hawco hired Collier's International.

Dave Simonsen, vice-president and industrial specialist for Collier's, said t a diverse selection of businesses, including manufacturers, local distributors and small companies could relocate to the center.

Leviton Manufacturing and Valley Building Supply already have constructed facilities and begun operations at the center.

"A large number of national firms and local businesses are looking to move into the center," Simonsen said.

Haw is optimistic that the first phase of the center's construction will be completed in the coming months.

Eighty percent of the land in the initial development phase has been leased.

"I feel very confident we'll have it leased up in the next six to eight weeks," Haw said.

That leaves much construction.

Haw estimated the project should be completed within the next five to eight years.

Hawco and Collier's have promoted the center business-friendly atmosphere.

They pitch potential tenants on the idea that they will not be subjected to inordinate red tape to build or lease a facility and establish a business.

All land purchases and construction have already been pre-approved.

In fact, Haw noted that there's but one thing a company is required to have in order to build at the center.

"All you need is a building permit," Haw said, noting the fact that businesses will not have to worry about other permits and restrictions.

"We want to be as pro-business as we can."

Land on the center's property is selling for $2.75 per square foot or $120,000 per acre.

Simonsen added that companies and firms would have the option of buying and building on a piece of land, buy an existing structure or simply lease a building.

"What it does is gives the prospective buyer flexibility," Simonsen said.

Haw said the center should facilitate other developmental projects in the community.

For example, a 15-acre shopping center is proposed within the close proximity to the business center.

The center would be a boon for nearby support services.

Haw pointed out that workers at the complex would travel to convenience and grocery stores, restaurants on a daily basis.

In addition to providing a stable of business opportunities, the center should help the Spanish Springs areas in other ways as well.

For one, Haw said it should alleviate the problem of heavy traffic going to and from Spanish Springs each day.

With more people moving to Spanish Springs, much of its residents work in Reno and Sparks, thus making for a great number of drivers commuting on a daily basis.

With the business center, more people will have the option of living and working in Spanish Springs.

"Instead of having everybody commute from Spanish Springs to Reno, people can live and work out here," Haw said.

"If you can move the business to where the traffic is, it helps Reno and Sparks in that regard."

Another advantage, Simonsen added, is the center could supply plenty of jobs to a growing population in the Spanish Springs area.

He said Spanish Springs definitely would need to provide jobs for the expanding workforce in the area.

So far, the project's development has gone fairly smoothly, but not without some intense negotiations with city officials.

"We worked over three years for hundreds of meetings to get this thing done," Haw said.