A three and a half acre lot on the Truckee. Currently sub divided by first street. Now after two years of planning... local developers have unveiled their plans. Two towers... 21 and 35 stories. Modern, glass marvels...with 153 luxury condominiums, a restaurant and office space.
Nello Gonfiantini, Developer "I think the whole downtown area is going through a transformation... That we had never seen before."
Gonfiantini was born and raised in Reno. He and his partner Peter Stremmel are the principles in project. But they brought in a heavy hitter to do the design. Award winning Architect Carlos Zapata who has buildings dotting the globe. Notably the major renovation of the 63-thousand seat Soldier Field, which won awards for saving the façade of the old soldier field stadium.
Now Zapata has aimed his architecture at capturing the views of Northern Nevada. Carlos Zapata, Architect, "To take advantage of the beautiful setting the distant views and the near views of the river and the mountains in Reno."
The project has an estimated price tag of one-hundred and 11-million dollars. Prices for the apartments haven't been set, but they will range in size from 800 square feet to more than 3-thousand for penthouses. Walter Estay is 40-year Reno resident and the local architect who will oversee construction. He says the time is right for a project of this scope. Walter Estay, Reno Architect, "We're seeing a lot of development along the river. We're seeing a lot of good architecture come into town. We're getting some exceptional architecture with Carlos' design... It's lovely to see that happen."
Terry Manley, New West Development, "we probably conducted a dozen focus groups... Pretty high hopes for the sales."
Architect Carlos Zapata was also one of the finalists in the re-design of the World Trade Center project. Site preparation is scheduled for this fall... With construction set to begin sometime early next summer...with a completion date in early 2008. There is also a second phase of the project, of undetermined size which will be built along second street.