The Reno City Council recently directed staff to begin negotiations on a purchase and sale agreement with real-estate developer BUILT for a parcel known as 0 Riverside Drive, located north of the Truckee River. BUILT’s proposal for the land was part of a solicitation by the city for uses of the property that would support economic development or increased use of the space.
With the sale, the purchaser will create affordable workforce housing, a four-over-one apartment complex. Three proposals were received by the city.
Some members of the public were generally against the agenda item.
In July 2022, council members approved paying the delinquent property taxes for $105,000 in exchange for the removal of an open space deed restriction on the property, and directed staff to request proposals for use of the land with an option for auction if no selection was made.
The property has an approved final map for the site of a 12-level condominium high-rise building containing 40 units, two lower levels of parking and a lower level mezzanine. The developer of that project fell through, leaving the parcel vacant.
The new proposal for the lot would create 123 units comprising studio and one-bedroom apartments, with 110 open air parking units, a river-front path, plaza and public access for the community.
Community members and council members were concerned about parking.
The property has often been used for overflow parking from nearby apartments and parks. Residents fear that the creation of 123 new units will cause even greater traffic and parking issues for the area.
Council member Jenny Brekhus said she would like to see a provision added to the sale that the property must take choice vouchers.
“That is a huge problem for the housing authority,” she said. “A lot of apartments will not take those choice vouchers…formerly known as Section 8.”
Brekhus said she also found the 10-year time span of keeping units affordable was too short, but if that was the time chosen, she would like to see milestones brought back before council during that period.
“I want to see a building permit pulled within three years, and once a building permit is pulled, I would like to see a construction [certificate of occupancy] within two years,” she said. And if they miss those timelines, there is a penalty of payment, and the penalty of payment is a [consumer price index] increase on the land.”
Brekhus also said she would like to see a provision ensuring that if the entity owning the parcel is to ever change, the city will be allowed the opportunity to buy back the property at the sales price before it can go to market.
Council member Naomi Duerr said that if the parcel was located on a main thoroughfare, she would have different opinions, but given its location on Riverside Drive, she is concerned of the project’s effect on Idlewild Park.
“Idlewild is, out of our 88 parks, our most visited park,” Duerr said. “And parking is always a challenge.”
Duerr said she recently attended Earth Day at the park only to find that there was no parking close by for the event. Organizers of the event requested people visit the event via carpool, bike or alternate modes of transportation.
“My concern is, this is one of the places that they park,” Duerr said. “If they can’t park here because it’s full of parking from apartments, that will interfere with our asset that is our most visited park.”
Duerr said she would also like to see a historic review revisited, as the information may be out of date since the last time a review took place, which occurred over a decade ago.
Council voted to direct staff to begin negotiations with these provisions in mind.
