Visitreno

[remano]

Fernando Leal, developer of the Golden Phoenix-to-Montage condo conversion and one of the new owners of Fitzgerald's, is presenting his proposal for the train trench cover today to the city council. As the owner of all the property to the south of the proposed plaza he has a big stake in its success and probably a lot of influence on the final decision, especially since one of the proposals for financing includes assessments on the Montage sales.

A local web site has the latest on Leal's ideas, including photos of a scale model. I don't know who runs the site, but he does a good job on keeping up with developments in downtown Reno as they affect residents and tourists alike. Here's the site:

http://www.downtownmakeover.com/ReTRAC_trench_cover_pres.asp

I think the proposal looks great, and it would fill a big hole in the downtown landscape. I just hope they can find the stores and the customers to make the retail spaces succeed. Right now they're talking about new retail on the trench, next to the city plaza skating rink, as part of the baseball stadium development, in the Post Office redevelopment, and on the ground floor of each of the 4 condo developments that are underway. Although some of these may not happen it seems that "build it and they will come" is the operative philosophy. I'll keep my fingers crossed all the same.