Retail leads rooftops in downtown resurgence

The old adage is that retail follows rooftops, but in downtown Reno, retail is in the lead and awaiting arrival of the rooftops.

This is the year it's going to happen, says Dave Rigdon, executive assistant to the managing members of Latipac LLC, the group that owns the Riverboat Hotel Apartments."Things are really starting to reach a critical mass now," he says.

The Riverboat,with 115 studio apartments priced at $450 to $500 per month, is typically running at about 95 percent capacity, says Rigdon.Those tenants are customers for downtown merchants.

Many of them are regulars at the Downtown Marketplace across the street that opened just two months ago, say its owners, Linda Silveira and Lana Byrge.

"The eye-opener for us was that we drew so many people on a budget," says Bryge.

The marketplace opened with expectations of a professional customer base drawn from the nearby government, banking, and downtown commercial buildings, as well as from the university.

The new owners stocked gourmet foods, organic produce, and fine teas, the sorts of foods that non-budget-conscious folks pick up for lunch or on their way home in the evening.

They've adjusted their inventory, adding some of the everyday commodities that downtown residents need.

They've also added a drop-off point for Society Cleaners, and soon they'll be doing deliveries, serving chiefly downtown senior citizens,many of them at Ross Manor apartments and the Riverboat.

"We're doing everything right," says Silveira.

They are discovering the existing customer base and building for the changes expected when summer and sunshine hit.

When the sun goes up, professionals emerge from nearby offices and drop into the marketplace.

Business bumps up.

Those gourmet items are hot again.And when it's gloomy, says Silveira, the streets are empty.

January's dark weather made for a gloomy beginning for the market, says Silveira.

Still, the store has seen steady growth.And the owners are hanging on, they say.Waiting.

Waiting for summer sunshine and the numerous festivals and outdoor events that now attract locals and tourists to downtown waiting for downtown's promised condominium residents to move in.

Are they too early? Long's believes in downtown's retail future, says Rigdon.

It's signed a letter of intent to lease street-level space in the Riverboat and is awaiting the city's decision on waiving its existing moratorium against new downtown liquor sales.

"Long's is drawn here because of the longterm residents," says Rigdon."Currently," he adds,"there are not enough residents, but with the new ones coming in line, there will be." Downtown's future depends on the new condominiums under construction.

"It's coming together just right," says Brendan Egan, president and chief executive officer of Timber Ridge Development, LLC.

His group is developing a four-to-five tenant center at the corner of Fifth and Nevada Streets.

And he's got some promising interest from a national coffee chain and a sandwich chain, he says.

The downtown dynamics are changing, he adds.

Kelly Bland, a Collier's International broker and senior vice president, has already broken ground on the downtown patch of land at First and Sierra Streets.

It'll be developed into casual eateries,with Taco del Mar, Figaro's Pizza and the Cold Stone Creamery already lined up as tenants.

He saw tenant interest growing in the downtown area, partly because of the increased activity along the riverfront.

But for restaurants, as well as for retail, he says,"the more residents downtown, the better." Other restaurateurs are already flourishing.

Silver Peak Restaurant and Brewery is a high-profile lead.

It opened its downtown location just last year and has become a popular patio lunch and dining area.

La Famiglia Restaurant is another new hugely popular entry, and it joins old favorites such as the Beaujolais Bistro.All together, the downtown eateries are establishing a presence alongside casino fine dining.

Says Rigdon, from the perspective of the Riverboat: It's all working together.

The development corporations he manages are studying an additional property for possible condominium conversion.

Before the end of this year, downtown is slated to have 500 more condominiums.

The Residences at Riverwalk (the old Comstock building) has reservations on 89 of its 121 condos already, says Anita Herrera-Perez, managing sales agent.

The retailers opening downtown "are really brave," she adds."And they are counting on us to bring residents in." And will they? Owner Chaim Freeman says yes.He's targeting summer for the first owner move-ins.

The Riverwalk will have commercial space too, the street-level space currently being used for models.

It'll be converted but the earliest possible date for any commercial operation would be January 2006, says Freeman,"and that's if all the stars line up." Meanwhile, the old Sundowner building is still undergoing demolition, says Bijan Madjlessi, one of the owners converting it into the Belvedere Towers 380 condominiums.

He's hoping to have models open by the end of summer.And following that will have street level and mezzanine commercial space for lease.

"The downtown is starting to take wing," says Barbara Herman, owner of Spring in Your Step, a shoe store that's been operating at 3 N.

Virginia St.

for four years.

"It's been a rough row to hoe," she adds."But now it's all taking shape.We're starting to see rays of sunshine." The downtown is the key to any city, adds Herman.

She, too, is hoping the new condos will bring more people to shop and live downtown.

"You can't have downtown change if you do not have people," says Herrera-Perez.

The Comstock conversion will bring people.And, she adds,"When you bring in 120 residents in one shot, the downtown will start to look substantially different all of a sudden."