Steamboat Gets an Upgrade

Don Wilkerson, Art Hinckley, Dennis Banks, and Dan Oster, four longtime Reno businessmen, will be providing Steamboat with a facelift in the near future. They purchased a 101-acre parcel of land on the southeast corner of Highway 395 and Geiger Grade in late December for $2.05 million. The group plans to develop the parcel into both apartments and commercial flex space. Currently, the north end of the parcel is entitled for 400 apartments and the south side flex industrial.

Previously, the land was owned by Station Casinos, which had plans to build a hotel-casino on the parcel. With the completion of Interstate 580, which shifted much of the north and southbound traffic away from the site, Station Casinos decided against their initial plans. “The change in the freeway location probably didn’t fit with what they wanted for exposure,” said Wilkerson.

The deal closed very quickly, with the group first hearing about the opportunity in October. Purchase also included some prepaid sewer and water rights. Phone calls from various groups seeking to develop portions of the land have come from all over, including Atlanta, Philadelphia, San Diego and even overseas companies.

The group will not have issues developing the land as Wilkerson has built apartments and flex commercial space throughout much of Reno; Banks has developed several million square feet of commercial property throughout the Truckee Meadows; Hinckley has a vast business background as former president of Berry-Hinckley Enterprises; and Oster is a leasing and marketing specialist. The team is also planning to create a greenbelt or open space for Steamboat Creek, which runs through the middle of the parcel. They plan to utilize the feature to create a nature area accessible to the public.

Wilkerson says the group may sell individual parcels with design stipulations and architectural controls and they may also try to re-entitle some portions of the land to either add additional apartments or change some of the existing usages. The team is not looking to flip the land quickly. They plan to get started in the spring and may not begin on the south portion of the project for five to seven years.

This development project is in a great location with everything in Reno moving south. The developers will have their challenges with the site but could create something special with the creek and other amenities.

The article, Steamboat plan: 400 apartments, commercial space, appeared in the January 5th edition of the NNBW and was written by Rob Sabo. The complete article can be read at: http://www.nnbw.com/news/14425042-113/wilkerson-says-apartments-development