UNR signs $10 million contract with 2 housing developments

RENO, Nev. — The University of Nevada, Reno announced last week it will contract with the owners of two off-campus apartment complexes to house hundreds of students for the 2020-21 school year.

The deals with CA Student Living Reno II, LLC (of the housing complex Uncommon Reno) and Cardinal Group Management/Canyon Flats III, LLC (of Canyon Flats) allow the university to lease 838 student beds, according to a Feb. 18 press release.

Canyon Flats, located at 661 N. Center St. in downtown Reno, will house roughly 506 students and residential staff, while Uncommon Reno, at 1669 N. Virginia St. across from the university and next to the Little Waldorf Saloon, will house roughly 330 students and staff.

Further, UNR's Nye Hall — which was closed after the July 5, 2019, explosion in nearby Argenta Hall — will reopen this August, offering an additional 530 beds to students, according to the announcement. Argenta Hall remains under construction and is on track to reopen in August 2021.

According to a story last week from the Reno Gazette Journal, UNR had previously said it would not renew the temporary lease it has with Eldorado Resorts-owned Circus Circus, which is housing roughly 1,300 students in its Sky Tower for the 2019-20 school year following last summer's explosion. That lease reportedly cost more than $21 million; it expires May 16, after which the tower will revert back to hotel rooms.

“Our entire Wolf Pack community will forever be grateful to Eldorado Resorts for working with us so quickly to help us provide a comprehensive University residential life experience to 1,300 students after the events that unfolded last July,” Shannon Ellis, vice president for the University's Division of Student Services, said in the Feb. 18 press release. “Given how well it worked to lease and operate an entire building as our own, we set out to find spaces that could accommodate a similar need for a smaller group of students.”

Both Canyon Flats and Uncommon Reno — construction of both is expected to finish this summer — were designed with students in mind. They offer apartment-style living, with housing options ranging from studios to four-bedroom apartments. All apartments are furnished, and limited free on-site parking is provided under the lease agreements.

Per UNR, both housing options will be an active part of the University's Residential Life and Housing programs. Both will include entrances and exits that lead to a services desk staffed 24/7 by UNR employees. Further, live-in student mentors and resident assistants will be housed on each floor — and master's-level faculty and graduate assistant resident directors will also live in each location.

“As with all of our residence halls, our goal is to offer students residential spaces where they can live, study and thrive,” Ellis said in a statement. “Canyon Flats and Uncommon Reno will offer spaces for our residence hall students to succeed.”

According to UNR, the contract for both properties will cost $10.1 million for the 2020-21 academic year, to be paid “primarily from insurance proceeds” from last summer's explosion.

Housing rates will remain consistent with the university's currently published rates.

“We are glad Canyon Flats could assist the University for the 2020-21 academic year as they continue to bring Argenta Hall back online,” Wesley Deese, of Providential Student Housing (consultant to Canyon Flats ownership), said in a statement. “The ... proximity to campus along with the purpose-built floor plans and amenities will make it very conducive for the students' lifestyle while they are attending the University.”

“In conjunction with the University, Uncommon Reno will do everything in our power to provide an exceptional living experience for Wolf Pack students beginning this fall,” Ashley Parsons, Uncommon Reno property manager, added in a statement.