The former Record Street shelter right behind Greater Nevada Field was locked up and partially boarded up this morning, with tumbleweeds, broken glass, plastic bags and litter strewn all around.
Advocates have long called for the former shelter to be rehabilitated so that it could be an emergency location in extreme situations, or perhaps continue as a smaller shelter for the locally unhoused feeling overwhelmed and unwelcomed at the Cares Campus, or for families when no spots are left at Our Place, or for victims of domestic abuse when all facilities helping them are closed or unable to answer their phones.
Item D5 on the agenda for Wednesday’s City Council meeting is “presentation, discussion, and direction to staff on the potential disposition of the Community Assistance Center (CAC) properties generally located at 315 and 335 Record Street … in response to a Letter of Interest by Bash Capital, LLC to include entering into an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement, obtaining an appraisal, and/or reversion of acreage.”
A letter of intent from late January indicates Bash Capital is offering two purchase options, one for $1.5 million without a development agreement, the other for one dollar, with a development agreement for a multi-family project with over half of its units at 80% Area Median Income of HUD income limit calculations.
In another letter from late January, Troy Keeney and Brianna Bullentini conclude that their “attainable workforce housing project represents a significant step towards transforming downtown Reno.”
In a previous paragraph outlined as “Our Commitment” bullet point 1. refers to “homelessness services” indicating they “will work in tandem with local social services to provide support for homeless residents, and continue to look for new location for Gospel Mission,” which is currently operating next door.
City of Reno staff are currently recommending that the City dispose of the former CAC either through a developer, through a request for interest proposal process or through an auction.
Alicia Barber recently wrote in the Barber Brief she was surprised this proposal was being considered so suddenly as “the City has not yet decided whether or not to dispose of these properties, much less whether to offer them for private development. And yet staff is not only recommending that Council direct them to “prepare the properties for sale” but is providing them with just three options—enter into negotiations with this company; issue an RFP; or hold an auction—without even providing the option that the City might retain the properties for some other use, either civic or leased.”
Just a few years ago, Reno’s City Council had considered selling the CAC for a much higher total of $7 million, and then more recently indicated the former shelter was in need of major interior repairs prohibiting any current usage.
“Even if Council decides in favor of unloading the property, the various options for how to proceed also warrant thoughtful discussion,” the latest Barber Brief indicates. “Auctions, of course, basically award a property to the highest bidder. In contrast, issuing an Request for Proposals or Request for Interest … gives the City (and the public) control over what might be developed there, allowing for public negotiation, transparency, and community buy-in.”