The Reno City Council, acting as the Redevelopment Agency Board, approved a deal that will build a AAA baseball stadium at the Freight House site and create a Ballpark District surrounding the new stadium that will spur retail and other entertainment opportunities in downtown Reno.

The deal to build the stadium includes a complicated series of land exchanges valued at $11-million with four property owners to assemble a little more than eight acres of land in downtown Reno. The new stadium will utilize the historic Freight House in its design and have seating capacity for 10,000 fans.

The new Ballpark District would cover an area immediately east of Lake Street, from the ReTRAC project on the north to the Truckee River to the south. The district would include opportunities for new residential, restaurant and retail components.

The deal includes the relocation of the Fire Station presently located at the corner of Evans and Second Street. The relocation plan would establish a temporary location for the Fire Station by the end of January 2008 with a permenant location to be determined at a later date. The relocation costs would be paid for through a $10 million dollar loan by the developer, SK Baseball which is composed of retail developer Herb Simon as well as Jerry and Stuart Katzoff. The Redevelopment Agency will be responsible the relocation costs which will come from the tax increment generated from RDA #1 and portions of RDA #2.

The total start-up costs for the project are estimated to be $81-million, including the costs to relocated the fire station. Twenty seven million is proposed to come from money generated through a rental car tax imposed by the State Legislature. The Washoe County Commission is expected to decide whether to appropriate the car tax money for the stadium construction at meeting set for September 25.

AAA PowerPoint Presentation
AAA Redevelopment PowerPoint Presentation