Truckee rail yard plan to turn cinders into cash flow

While Reno and Carson City deal with derelict downtowns, Truckee has a tougher challenge: a 62-acre derelict rail yard.

Initial studies show that Truckee is losing a potential $1.4 million dollars of revenue each year as the site sits idle. Meanwhile, that site has the potential to generate $21 million in increased taxes.

A Bay Area developer plans to remedy that and transform cinders to cash flow. Rick Holliday, project developer and president of Holliday Development, plans a mix of retail and commercial, recreational, lodging and public services.

And, as everywhere, the watchword is pedestrian friendly.

Holliday is based in Emeryville, Calif., but Truckee appeared on his radar screen because he owns a second home in the mountain resort town. And, because he had bought four other railroad properties in the Bay Area, Holliday was top of mind when the Union Pacific Railroad started calling around for buyers of the property.

Because he is a resident, Holliday says his No. 1 priority is to make Truckee a better place. The second hurdle is creation of appropriate architecture, and the third is to provide affordable workforce housing.

And of course, he says, he'd like for the project to be financially successful.

Holliday is no slouch when it comes to reinventing sprawling industrial sites. He redeveloped the Hamilton Air Force Base in Marin County and has a 33-acre rail yard project in Oakland under construction.

In Truckee, he bought a 37-acre site within the 62-acre rail yard development area; 10 property owners hold the remaining acreage. And Union Pacific will retain ownership of a 200-foot right of way from the center of the main line, as well as the land within the balloon track, used for snow removal equipment. But since the balloon track is in the midst of the redevelopment area, it will be moved east about half a mile as part of a land swap.

While it will take a year to do an environmental impact report, Holliday plans to design the initial building with movie theatre and retail on the ground floor and housing above in the next 90 days. The company is now interviewing architects and contractors.

Architectural design is a big part of the plan. Two- and three-story buildings will line the new street. To determine the look, the developer hired a consultant to take 2,000 photos of mountain towns.

"We have a distinct architectural style," says Denyelle Nishimori, associate planner for the Town of Truckee. "The development code dictates design." To preserve the historic feel of Truckee, the city limits the size of retail establishments to 40,000 square feet.

The town applied for a $350,000 grant from the State of California to finance its downtown redevelopment plans.

And because Truckee was already thinking along those lines, Holliday bought in. "I thought it would be fun to work with people who wanted to get something done," he says.

An initial design plan will be released in about a week, and posted at www.truckeerailyard.com

"It's huge for Truckee," says Nishimori.