I think it's good to have a completely different set of eyes because you have new people coming here.” We need to bring tourism back, but in a different way. “Quite honestly, Reno has needed a bigger and bolder vision for a long time,” said Mayor Hillary Schieve, who is nearing the end of her second four-year term as the city’s top elected official and is credited with helping to revitalize the city’s Midtown area. “That’s one way you activate the community.”Ĭity leaders, the business community and operators of Reno’s casinos believe transforming downtown from a gaming destination into a place with affordable living spaces, vibrant restaurants, stylish hotel rooms and non-gaming entertainment options will stimulate the market.Ĭhris Beavor, CEO of CAI Investments, gives a tour of Reno City Center in downtown Reno on Thursday, Oct. “We look for a void in the marketplace and what Reno needs right now is people living and breathing in downtown,” Beavor said. He said other residential developments would move from the planning stages to construction based on the success of Reno City Center. The development is expected to open early next year.ĬAI Investments CEO Chris Beavor, who grew up in Reno, idealizes a downtown framed by the Truckee River that underscores Northern Nevada’s outdoor lifestyle.

In place of the Harrah’s sign, there will be a building-height illustration of a downtown Reno map with the Truckee River and highlighting City Center’s location as the original casino in the Harrah’s chain opened by William F. Commercial office space, restaurants and retail offerings would replace the casino. The property was sold two months earlier by Caesars Entertainment and VICI Properties for $50 million to Las Vegas-based CAI Investments, a real estate development and management company.ĬAI announced at the time it would convert the aging 980-room hotel-casino into Reno City Center, a mixed-use development with 530 one- and two-bedroom residential units. Harrah’s Reno shut its doors in March 2020 when the pandemic forced a 78-day shutdown of Nevada gaming industry. The closure of Harrah’s after nearly 84 years in the Northern Nevada city also signifies the rebirth of downtown Reno as the city seeks to broaden its economy. The outline of the Harrah’s name was barely visible atop one of the Nevada gaming industry’s historic landmarks on an early October morning, the actual signage long since removed.Ī few days later, all traces of the Northern Nevada gaming mainstay were gone, the sign’s outline whitewashed by a fresh coat of paint.

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