Reno is reimagining itself and John Uhart Commercial Real Estate couldn’t be happier. If any city needs a second chance it is Reno. By January 2011 the unemployment rate in Reno was 13.9% and two thirds of the homes sold that year were short sales and foreclosures.
According to the U.S. department of labor data the current unemployment rate is 7% down 1.5% from 2014. This turnaround is due in large part to the newly unemployed of 2010 who began to buy commercial real estate dirt cheap spawning an artist-entrepreneur economy much like Silicon Valley
Reno is looking more and more like Silicon Valley
Apple Inc. and Tesla Motors have also done their parts in making this number go down. Apple built and expanded a data storage unit in Reno in 2013. Tesla is set to begin building lithium ion batteries in February of 2016 inside of its new 10 million square foot “gigafactory”.
The city is currently incubating multiple startup companies, just as Silicon Valley did in its early years. The city has even named a strip of downtown “Startup row” with offices that overlook snow capped mountains and the Truckee River.
The attraction for Reno is the lower cost to rent commercial space. $1.61 a square foot versus $5.27 a square foot in San Francisco. “It’s cool to be here right now,” said James Elste, who founded Inqiri, a crowdsourcing platform for businesses, in 2012. “It’s got that ‘things are happening’ feel to it. Being in Silicon Valley or Austin, you get the sense that things already happened.”
We here at John Uhart Commercial Real Estate agree whole heartedly with James’ words. Reno is the place to be. With its flourishing economy there is room for a multitude of commercial businesses. Whether you are looking to open a bakery, a car lot, or a retail store Reno is primed and ready for the entrepreneurial spirit to take over.
There is currently a huge population growth. Not only will these newcomers need homes, but they will need the same services you take advantage of every day. Silicon Valley realized it could fill a void that had been in their market. Let’s do the same for Reno. It is the cool place to be. Now, let’s make it a profitable place to be.
