Visitreno

[lvbear584]

After a decade of hassling carrying luggage and a computer, staying in hotels and renting cars, I am considering purchasing a condo in the Reno area to use on my 15-20 annual trips. I have another three or four years of Reno trips ahead of me before I retire from active casino play, and want to make travel simpler. I would keep a car in Reno rather than renting one each trip.

It does not seem that the Reno condo market has collapsed as badly as the Las Vegas market. Unfortunately for me, Reno condo prices do not seem to have come down as much.

My requirements are a ground floor if there is no elevator, preferably a gated community, one-bedroom is fine. I will probably pay cash. No preference as to location, except that it must be in a safe neighborhood that is graffiti-free. Suggestions welcome.

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Opinions and Commentary on the Gaming Industry: www.TheBearGrowls.com

[ErininSD]

There were a glut of those hotel/condo conversaions going in downtown, but I'm sure they were pricey.

Stay away from Neil Road, Sutro Street and and most of the avenues 1st - 4th...LOL

Is distance a factor? Sparks will definitley be cheaper than a Reno.

Doesn't John live near Virginia Lake/Peppermill? Though it's not the best neighborhood...LOL, they may have some bargains around there.

[john]

[jerry]

Hookers are cheap in John's neighborhood.
John, the Cauc you saw was likely me, trying to find your house.

[RenoLady]

R and I lived in a condo 10 years ago in Reno. We really liked it, and considered buying in that complex at the time. It's Meadow wood condos near the mall. It's NOT the Neal road ones.

What's interesting about this complex is the roller-coaster prices it has seen since we left. The condos were $78k in '99, they peaked at $278k in 06, you can buy one now for $52k. We're considering it. It is not gated though

[remano]

LVB,

From today's RGJ:

"A public auction for the Residences at Riverwalk will be held at 1 p.m. May 31 at the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino's Carson Ballroom.
Sixteen units from the development in downtown Reno will be offered with five selling absolute, according to the developer. The development features an assortment of penthouse, loft-style and townhouse layouts.Commercial development space in the two lower floors will be offered as well, along with three commercial development parcels across the street For more information, call 800-558-5464 or log on to www.jpking.com"


Riverwalk is the condo development in the former Comstock Casino building.

[stan_allen]

Well, at least they're doing something - contrast that with the ol' Sundowner - what the heck is happening there?!

[remano]

To conclude an earlier post about the auction of Riverwalk condo units, below is a post copied from the web site downtownmakeover.com. Most disappointing is that they were unable to sell the retail space on the ground floor. It's not of much use to visitors but I thought it was interesting how they set up the auction:

"6/01/09 - As you know, over the weekend there was a large uaction at GSR for Residences at Riverwalk. The auction started out with a big surprise – a 6th unit was now going to be sold for at absolute auction.

The way the auction worked, the absolute units were bid on as a block. The winning bidder then got to choose which unit they wanted, the process repeated for the remaining absolute units. The first bidder got to select any of the “good” units that originally had a hidden reserve price, and bid $225,000 and took unit 1106 for $145/SF (1547 SF, 2/2.5). The second absolute unit went for $155,000 and took #610 for $99/SF. Third went for $105,000 and took #702 for $68/SF. Fourth, fifth and sixth absolute units all went for $70,000 and took #412, #304 and #1606. 412 went for $45/SF. 304 for $90/SF. And the mini penthouse 1606 for $161/sf.

Then bidding opened on the reserved price units. Same format – high bidder got his pick of units. Bidding topped out at $190,000 and selected penthouse 1604. The crowd then got a chance to equal that bid and select other units with no guarantees that the owner would approve the sales, and no one stepped forward. So the auction was halted, except for “negotiations”.

Then they unilaterally cancelled the auction for the Retail space and the development parcels (not sure if these were guaranteed to go to auction or not)."

[JD]

Sorry I took a year and a half to get back to you Stan.

The Sundowner condos that originally PRICED from $ 170,000 to $ 850,000 (not sure what or IF they actually sold for) were sold yesterday...well, a LOT of them were, anyway.

I don't know what they look like (maybe 2x the size of hotel rooms?) but some California Lawyer won 92 of them with bids from $ 12,000 to $ 45,000.

But the whole deal still smells stinky:

"The lawyer for the developer of downtown Reno condominiums -- converted from rooms in the former Sundowner Hotel and Casino -- on Wednesday purchased 92 of the condos for nearly $2 million at auction, after his client was delinquent in paying nearly $800,000 in taxes to the county."


http://www.rgj.com/article/20110428/BIZ02/104280337/Lawyer-failed-project-s-developer-purchases-92-condos?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|p




Still looking LV Bear?

Edited to add:

This deal with the Sundowner got me thinking...So I looked up the other casinos that went condo years back... anyone wanna check out the Comstock? Or the Riverside, Flamingo Hilton? Oh, and Bears: The "Riverwalk" (formerly Comstock...my favorite) is having an auction as well:


http://www.riverwalktowers.com/

Check these out:

http://renotahoe.about.com/od/neighborhoodprofiles/tp/renocondos.htm

[stan_allen]

I had a feeling those results were going to be dramatic.

Interesting that the Riverwalk-former-Comstock's auction is still set to be held on "Sunday, May 31, 2009"

If I had cash to burn, it would be an amusing investment, but it's hard to imagine exactly what one would be walking into - for example, can it be claimed in any meaningful way that there will be a management entity of some sort to take out the garbage, replace burnt-out light bulbs, maintain sprinkler systems, and all that boring day-to-day stuff?

I think we knew these condo projects were a boondoggle - little boon, and lots of doggle; too bad there wasn't a line to bet on; we could have won....a Reno condo!

[JD]

I did NOT notice the Comstock auction was May....OF 2009!!! LOL

But I stayed in room 1524 (THE best view room in N.E. Corner) many times. But I was never able to see those shoreside views of Lake Tahoe or the Truckee River as is shown in their "views" page. I recall showing a lady the view and she said, "...all I see is the roof and air conditioner of the Quickie Mart on the other side of the street"!

I often wondered what the floor plan was...the "Rivulus, Riverene and Riparian..." each are pretty much 1, 1 1/2, and 2 units respectively. The "Allluere" looks to be four of the old hotel rooms side by side with the "Maiandros" takes up four rooms on two floor with a stairway.

But it looks like the upper floors are reserved for "penthouses" that have not yet been built. I clicked a few of those red buttons and was unable to find any chips under the furniture.

[lvbear584]

With the ongoing deterioration of games and sportsbetting opportunities in Reno, I have reduced my scheduled number of trips there to about half of what they used to be. I no longer have a need for a condo there.

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Opinions and Commentary on the Gaming Industry: www.TheBearGrowls.com

[stan_allen]

But Bear, even if your trips have *halved*, the drop in price for the condos is even more dramatic - down to a ten percent or less of their "original" price, so you'd still come out way ahead!

c'mon Bear, take the plunge - your action could probalby sustain the entire Cal-Neva for six months at a time...