This blog has been harping on the approach to redevelopment in Nevada, and in Reno in particular, for a while. While it is encouraging to note positive developments such as Aces Ballpark, the movie theater complex, the West Street Market, and the kayak park, it’s somewhat disheartening to find that downtown, all over, businesses are barely able to stay open. Retail is almost nonexistent downtown, and several blocks of Virginia Street, on one side or the other (thankfully not both sides) are severely blighted. There are vacant buildings all over the place.
Recently, La Bussola boutique was evicted from its storefront. La Bussola responded to this incident with a public statement posted on God Hates Reno, and the business’ owner, Meredith Tanzer, was lucky to have just recently opened a bar on 4th Street called Treehouse Lounge – providing a location for much of her former stock until it could be cleared out, and a business to run in the meantime. She, however, cited problems with her landlord in the eviction and problems finding a new retail space downtown because of inflexibility on the part of property owners regarding reasonable terms of occupancy.
Also recently, Cavanaugh’s Fine Furniture announced it was closing. In the Reno Gazette-Journal, Richard Oppio, the store’s owner, cited the inflexibility of his building’s owner, The City of Reno, in adjusting his lease rate downward to help him in a time of down sales.
So we’ve seen that the RDA is capable of good, even great work, and it’s clear they’re not slackers. But, working to improve the overall business climate in the city seems to be something they don’t consider their mandate today, as evidenced by a recent exchange between Councilwoman Sharon Zadra and Redevelopment Director John Hester, at the 10/7/09 City Council Meeting.
Zadra asked Hester if the RDA was doing anything to help the downtown business community in terms of helping them identify what would be lucrative business opportunities for them in these down economic times. She didn’t go into detail but with what we know from the two previous examples, let’s say a furniture store accustomed to dealing in particularly high end merchandise is on the rocks. This is due to the recession and the fact that nearby residences aren’t filing up nearly as quickly, nor with the sort of clientele, upon which the business plan for the store originally rested. Does the RDA as an entity function in any kind of advisory capacity?
Hester’s answer was telling. The RDA, he said, is helping prospective businesses in the West Street Market to identify sources of funding and business assistance.
Zadra at that point had to follow up. No, she meant the entire downtown business community existing within the bounds of the redevelopment district.
Hester replied that the RDA will sometimes help an interested party determine whether they could obtain financial assistance through the city’s Opportunity Growth Fund (OGF), and will put them in touch with UNR’s Nevada Small Business Development Center (NSBDC).
After I was done viewing the meeting, I went in search of a web page about the OGF. Multiple search engines do not display a summary web page about this resource – they display PDF files which are minutes or agendas from prior meetings where it was discussed. The NSBDC is focused on providing technical assistance to small businesses statewide.
Big projects – big developments like the theater complex and the ballpark represent important lynchpins for downtown in the form of attractions. It’s possible that a model like the West Street Market provides some glimpse into a future for other blighted properties.
But the problem today seems to be the lack of a methodical approach on the part of the RDA to organizing a groundswell of entrepreneurship to help fill the vacant real estate downtown. RDA could well act as a broker – helping property owners access funds to assist with beautification and tenant improvements, while helping entrepreneurs access funding and other resources.
In the case of Cavanaugh’s, a furniture store located in a city owned parking garage, if the business plan had been altered in line with Zadra’s question, the store itself might have been able to function as a draw to downtown pulling customers from around the city looking for a different product. Yes, it takes something on the part of the business owner to identify that market and that opportunity or at least go looking for it and help finding it. But, to use an old advertising slogan, you could have heard a pin drop at news of La Bussola’s closing, and Cavanaugh’s closing, if you were on the line waiting for the city, or the RDA, to say or do something to help either.
There are other unanswered questions. What exactly is Downtown Reno envisioned as? Is it an evening entertainment district? Bars and restaurants don’t seem to be having trouble. Is all that to be encouraged at the expense of any kind of decent daytime street life or retail activity? Is the new “ballpark retail” currently under construction some sort of panacea? Will the myriad of business associations downtown merge or otherwise give way to a single downtown association capable of providing what the RDA will not, or cannot?
That the discussion is happening in council meetings is a good sign. The future success of downtown Reno depends on the discussion producing some positive results.
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