'Adventure Place' draws downtown condo buyers

The three-year-old campaign to market Reno as "America's Adventure Place" is paying off in some surprising ways.

The sale of downtown condominiums, for instance.

A mortgage broker who is the developers' preferred lender at a couple of big condominium projects the Riverwalk project that's replacing the Comstock Hotel and The Montage in the shell that once was the Golden Phoenix says at least a quarter of the buyers are coming from out of state.

They're buying downtown Reno condos as second homes, and they want those second homes in a city that's a central location for outdoor activities in the Sierra, says Cheryl Parino, home mortgage manager with National City Mortgage in Reno.

Along with the Adventure Place buyers, Parino says the downtown condos are attracting interest from buyers who want to live within walking distance of downtown amenities such as the Truckee River and Nevada Museum of Art.

"It's the lifestyle they want,"Parino says.

"They don't want to use a car.

People are looking forward to walking."

Also driving the residential explosion downtown some 2,000 new residents are expected in the area in the next two years is the desire of some to live close to jobs such as those at Saint Mary's and Washoe Medical Center.

Two years ago, Parino began seeing the potential of downtown condos, both as a way to meet housing needs in the Truckee Meadows and a way to recycle older hotel properties.

But as she tried to line up support for the idea, she encountered plenty of skepticism some of which continues today.

"It's going to make a huge statement once everyone moves in,"Parino says."Then the doubters will be converted."

The only question, she says in echo of the developers who are bringing downtown condos on line, is the depth of the market.