Rancharrah Closes Escrow, Development Scheduled to Begin in Spring

On Tuesday, October 13, 2015, escrow closed on the Harrah family estate, known as Rancharrah. Rancharrah was purchased by the late Bill Harrah in 1957. Later, Bill’s son, John Harrah, rebuilt the main house and added the equestrian center. The Reno Land Development Company, which paid in excess of $40 million according to officials, plans to develop the property into a master-planned community of 691 residential lots on 117 acres and an additional 25 acres designated for commercial users, including office, medical and retail. Development plans, which were approved by the Reno Planning Commission, Reno City Council, and Regional Planning Commission last summer, call for the 24,786 square foot mansion and equestrian center to be highlighted as centerpieces of the master-planned community. Development is scheduled to begin in spring 2016.

Read the Article on RGJ.com or see below the complete article written by: Bill O’Driscoll, bodriscoll@rgj.com

The sale of the Harrah family estate in south Reno known as Rancharrah has closed escrow, and development of hundreds of homes as well as commercial and office uses is set to start next spring.

“Rancharrah has become an important part of my family’s legacy, my legacy,” John Harrah, son of the late casino magnate Bill Harrah who acquired the property nearly 60 years ago, said Tuesday in a news release. “I believe Rancharrah will be further established as a Reno icon — one in which the city and its residents can be proud.”

The deal on the property, which was originally listed at $33.9 million, gives the go-ahead for Reno Land Development Company to proceed with plans to develop the property into a master-planned community of 691 residential lots on 117 acres and another 25 acres designated for commercial/office/medical and retail uses.

The total purchase price paid by Reno Land Development Company is “in excess of $40 million,” officials said.

This past summer, the development plans were approved by the Reno Planning Commission, Reno City Council and Regional Planning Commission.

Chip Bowlby, owner and managing partner of Reno Land Development Company, applauded John Harrah for his “extraordinary vision,” adding, “It was his personal quest to ensure that Rancharrah was passed into the hands of a developer that would carry forward that iconic vision of what he intended Rancharrah to become. After careful and deliberate consideration, he engaged us to continue the heritage he envisioned and we intend to fulfill its destiny.”

The property was listed on the market in November 2013 by DoMore Real Estate and the deal was managed by Bryan Drakulich, who called the deal a “unique synergy” between the buyer and seller.

Plans call for the 24,786-square-foot Rancharrah mansion, visible to motorists along Kietzke Lane south of McCarran Boulevard as well from the Interstate 580 freeway farther east, and the equestrian center to be highlighted as centerpieces of the master-planned community, according to the news release.

Bill Harrah, who parlayed a 1930s Reno bingo parlor into a hotel-casino empire before his death in 1978, purchased the property in 1957 and John Harrah later rebuilt the main house and added the equestrian center.

“This has been home my entire life and it’s time to let all of Reno into Rancharrah,” John Harrah said.