Reno developer starts work on major distribution center

A development company headquartered in Reno broke ground last week on its first project, a 632,130-square-foot industrial building at Tahoe Reno Industrial Center.

Development Arts expects to complete the building in mid-2008. It is a speculative project, and leasing will be handled by the industrial group of Grubb & Ellis|NCG in Reno.

David Loring, a managing partner of Development Arts, said the building is projected to be the first of three in a complex known as West America Commerce Center. The center will total 1.9 million square feet.

He said the developer plans to grade all 100 acres planned for West America Commerce Center in coming weeks even though the additional buildings will be constructed in phases to meet market demands.

Trammell Crow Construction Co. is the general contractor on the project, which was designed by HPA Architects of Irvine, Calif.

The building is in Eagle Valley, the 5,000-acre second phase of Tahoe Reno Industrial Center. It's about three miles east of USA Parkway, the four-lane highway that's under development through the industrial center.

Just down a hillside from the Development Arts project, the McShane Corp. of Rosemont, Ill., has begun building a 560,000-square-foot industrial building. It also is a speculative project that awaits signed leases.

The Development Arts building can be divided into spaces as small as 75,000 square feet. Loring said the building will allow separate security controls for each user, and the developer expects the security arrangement to be a key selling point.

The building will include 125 dock doors and 30-foot clear heights for warehouse racking inside.

Loring said the plans call for extensive use of skylights to help reduce energy requirements for lighting. Interior walls will be painted white to further increase natural lighting.

Along with Loring, Development Arts was launched by Managing Partner Michael Schnabel, formerly managing director of the CB Richard Ellis office in Reno, and Vice President Shannon Wiseman, a former vice president with CB Richard Ellis.