Conservative approach helps retail developer move ahead

Retail activity took a hit when rooftops dropped in value, but Reno's 6 Development is moving ahead on a trio of commercial projects.

However, says Jack Dolan, partner, "It's a different world out there. You can't do things on spec. We like to have 80 percent leased first."

The small firm headed by Dolan and Brendan Egan remains in the game while others have folded because it focuses on smaller projects and relies on established relationships to recruit tenants, Dolan says.

6 Development expects to break ground this fall on Three Flags Center, a 33,000-square-foot retail plaza set on four acres off Highway 395 between Lemmon and Golden valleys.

It's got leases in hand for a dollar retailer location and a gym. The center will accommodate six to nine tenants total. Ken Mattison at Grubb & Ellis is the leasing agent.

The dollar retailer its exact identity remains secret for now needed no convincing to set up shop in the underserved North Valleys region, says Dolan. The site has a traffic count of 62,000 cars a day.

A dollar retailer and a gym also are the tenants for a 6 Development project in Fernley. The 27,000-square-foot center on nearly three acres is located south of Wal-Mart off Interstate 80. With space for six to eight tenants, it will break ground early next year, says Dolan.

When seeking tenants in a down economy, Kristyn Johnson, project coordinator, says the company looks for retailers with recession-proof demographics and little need for capital.

The third project under way by 6 Development involves redevelopment of a former Blockbuster building in San Diego. The company will divide the 6,500-square-foot shell into spaces for four tenants.

The Reno firm took in a partner on that project, a broker at Voit Commercial Brokerage, a Southern California company.

"That's how we make it work," says Dolan. "Someone's got to be down there."

Colonizing big boxes in San Diego isn't the chore it seems in northern Nevada, says Johnson.

"The vacancy rate in San Diego is 3 percent, very low. It's easy to colonize in-fill because the area is built out," she says.

Yet another reason 6 Development remains viable in a down market, says Dolan, is reliance on a standard team of builders. As with former projects, its present work will employ Tectonics Design Group, Moody Wieske Contractors, and Ware Malcomb in Sacramento.