Montage, catching residential tailwind, readies push to fill retail space

Now that The Montage has sold the bulk of its residences, the downtown Reno condominium building is looking to start filling up its retail space, too.

The Sierra Street high rise has nearly 21,000 square feet of retail space it is putting on the market.

“We’re looking for a good deal for the owners,” says John Tippins, senior vice president with ST Residential, a partnership between the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and a handful of private equity investors which owns The Montage.

Ideally, that would include a grocery store, something missing from downtown and much bemoaned by residents and businesses alike.

“In 2011, 2012, we reached out the Trader Joe’s and Whole Food’s of the world, the Fresh & Easy, but we were unsuccessful,” says Tippins.

Fresh & Easy is a chain of small grocery stores similar to Trader Joe’s owned by Tesco, the large British retailer. Earlier this year, Tesco announced it was getting out of the market in the United States. The company had never opened a store in Reno, but had purchased and leased property it is now trying to sell. Both Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods already have stores in Reno.

So now the condo is looking for “anything that activates beyond 5 p.m.,” says Tippins, citing the popularity of local restaurants Campo and Sup.

Tippins says some of the company’s other properties, such as The Ogden in Las Vegas, are similar to The Montage and feature retail and services that cater to residents, including bike stores and dog walkers.

Earlier this year, ST Residential was trying to decide whether to lease or sell its retail space, but Tippins says the company is open to either option. As for pricing, Tippins declined to be specific but said it would be dictated by the market.

The Montage retail space will be available through Egan Commercial Real Estate in Reno.

ST Residential recently announced that more than 70 percent of its 366 residences had sold, including 32 sales so far in 2013.