Damonte Ranch retail on tap

Construction is about to begin on a new shopping center in south Reno that will include the city's fourth Home Depot and its first R.C.Willey home furnishings store.

The 539,000 square-foot Damonte Ranch Town Center will be located at Damonte Ranch and Steamboat parkways.

It is being developed by Lewis Operating Corp., an Upland, Calif.- based developer of shopping centers with offices in Sparks and Las Vegas.

In addition to over a dozen malls in southern and northern California, Lewis currently operates the Orchards Marketplace, a shopping center in Las Vegas.

About a dozen more stores will fill in the Damonte Ranch shopping center, one of which may be another, smaller anchor store, according to David Diffley, vice president with Lewis Operating in Las Vegas.

The company is now planning for the south Reno center with its broker, Colliers International.

"We are working with the broker on the project to define who are the right retailers," said Diffley.

R&O Construction of Ogden, Utah, is the general contractor on the first phase of the shopping center as well as the Home Depot store.

Bids for the first phase of the shopping center, which includes earthwork, landscaping and retaining walls, were due last week.

That work is expected to start this week and continue until December, according to Ivan Bustamante, senior estimator with R&O.

He said construction on the Home Depot store will occur simultaneously, and the store's grand opening likely will be scheduled in February.

Bustamante said the store's design had not yet been determined, but he expects the new Home Depot will be about 130,000 square feet and include a garden center.

"The developer who owns the shopping center determines the architectural style," said Bustamante.

R&O regularly does work for the home supplies retailer and is now building stores for the Atlanta-based company in 13 states, Bustamante said.

R.C.Willey, based in Salt Lake City, said it plans to build a store at the south Reno shopping center similar to its stores in Las Vegas, which feature a 130,000-square-foot showroom and 40,000-square-foot warehouse.

The 70-year-old retailer sells furniture, home appliances and electronics, and flooring.