Storage, retail development under way on Longley site

The success of boat and RV storage at a

Caughlin Ranch facility led developer Gary

Sabatini of Sierra Management Group on a

three-year search for a suitable place to build

another storage facility.

And after a year of land negotiations,

Sabatini and partners Brett Sabatini and Jill

Carter, principals with Sierra Management

Group, have begun developing a 9.1-acre site at

the southwest corner of Longley Lane and

South McCarran Boulevard.

The project will include 135,000 square

feet of boat and RV storage and 23,000 square

feet of office and retail space. Part of the retail

development will be a 3,400-square-foot winery

with a 1,500-square-foot restaurant.

Gary Sabatini says approximately 10,000

square feet of office space has been leased and

that Sierra Management Group will move from

its current location at 855 Mill Street once the

project at 5005 Longley Lane is finished.

Completion is scheduled for May or June of

2009.

Sabatini says when Sierra Management

Group opened Caughlin Ranch Mini

Warehouse and RV Storage five years ago, the

boat and RV storage sites filled in a few

months.Ditto for a company-owned facility on

Kietzke Lane.

"We need additional RV and boat spaces;

we have waiting lists," he says.

The Metzker Johnson Group helped

Sabatini find a suitable site. Sierra

Management Group will foot the $14.5 million

bill for the new project. Sabatini says the company

secured a $2.4 million construction loan

but likely will not use it.

"We are mostly doing it with cash," he says.

The retail and office development will be

constructed during the second phase of the

project, and Sabatini says he has not yet

applied for permits with the City of Reno.

Sabatini admits to being slightly nervous

about adding retail space with the region's

high vacancy rates.

"But we have half sold or rented already, so

we should be OK," he says.

Quilici Construction is performing site

work, and Pavers Plus will handle the cement

and block work.A general contractor has not

yet been selected for the project.