Reno Gazette-Journal from Reno, Nevada • Page 5

LOCAL REGION TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2008 RENO 5A Downtown Reno condo project shrinks Waterfront change latest in series of potholes for market a year later and the property screened as if construction were to start any day. That coincided with city clean-up efforts before the National League of Cities annual convention. Since then, the screening has been ripped and tall weeds have grown on what was First Street and elsewhere on the property. Gonfiantini assured the council last week that grading work will be under way before the end of the year, and the property will be kept clean. The condo boom initially gave new hope to a wave of retail store openings and restaurants, said Shawn Smith, Colliers International vice president in Reno.

When condo prices were high, he said many of the condo deals made sense. "But it does not make sense at all right now, competing with home builders for rock-bottom prices," he said. He said he just lost a listing for a pub on the first floor of the Palladio building be BY SUSAN VOYLES svoylesrgj.com The Waterfront once a proposed $150 million, 34-story condominium project in downtown Reno now is planned to start as a single restaurant. But the restaurant won't be built on the 3'2-acre vacant lot until an operator signs a long-term lease, said Nello Gonfiantini III, the major property owner. The Waterfront change is the latest setback for the local condominium market.

Troubles have hit four other projects: The Belvedere, the former Sundowner casino, was extensively damaged by fire in July. More than 200 liens and twoforeclosuredefaultnotices have been filed against it, according to Washoe County recorder records. Fernando Leal recently turned over ownership of the 24-story Montage to mortgage holder Corus Bank of Chicago, which has agreed to lower the prices of the 377 condominium units for existing and future buyers. Dr. John Ilieuscu is seeking a two-year extension from the city for the Wingfield Towers project after a proposed sale to a development group failed.

The plans call for a 40-story tower that would be the tallest in Reno and on the south side of Wingfield Park. Grant's Landing, a proposed 137-unit townhouse project with much of the infrastructure built near the Waterfront, is for sale, as are the Belvedere, the Riverboat Hotel and Wingfield Towers, according to loopnet.com, a national commercial real estate Website. "It's a tough market," said Gonfiantini, who is proposing the Waterfront project with Peter Stremmel and Terry Manley. With so many condo projects proposed and the tightening financial markets, Gonfiantini said he had no choice but to downsize. He proposes to first build retail shops and restaurants around the edge of the 3li This artist rendering depicts developer Nello Gonfiantini Ill's plan for the Waterfront that is in downtown Reno.

The project now is planned to start as a single restaurant. trust on the property. The City Council is awaiting a city attorney opinion about whether Gonfiantini has submitted adequate documents to verify the loan and will review the situation in January. Gonfiantini said all of the paperwork is in order. In October 2005, the council approved abandoning the right-of-way subject to the loan.

The street was closed a temporary condo sales office that never opened into a restaurant. Future plans would include a 140-room boutique hotel on the southwest corner of the site. The plans hinge on keeping an abandonment of First Street through the middle of the 3 V2 acres that expires Dec. 31, unless Gonfiantini has a $10 million construction loan secured by a deed of acres along the north bank of the river and fronting Lake and Second streets. A parking lot would be built in the middle of the site and later used for a parking garage and a possible condominium tower.

"We intentionally designed it, so it had that possibility," he said. Across from Lake Street, he seeks city approval to turn cause an established restaurant owner in Carson City could not get the financing for the improvements. And he said he still has lookers for the long-closed Woolworth's building on Virginia Street. BRIEFLY Sheriff's deputy finds 15 pounds of marijuana A Storey County sheriff's deputy found 15 pounds of TCTEN GIFTS marijuana, hashish and a large sum of money in a West Virginia man's car during a traffic stop uggs slippers for her him Shown: Ladies' "Coquette." $90.00. Not shown: Men's "Yukon" lined slipper.

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