Jacobs Entertainment says it’s trying to ascertain the status and condition of the quickly rotting Bonanza Inn after a drawn out process to acquire it through probate auction earlier this year was recently completed.
"Our intention remains to create quality housing which will include affordable workforce units at Bonanza Inn,” Jeff Jacobs, the CEO of Jacobs Entertainment, told media earlier this month.
It took until the end of July for the J Resort parent company to complete its acquisition.
During the auction, after at one point saying it was pulling out, Jacobs then had the highest last minute bid of $3,005,000 to narrowly surpass a previous $3 million bid by Marmot Properties.
The Reno Housing Authority previously had its eye on the Bonanza Inn to turn it into low-income housing, but last year the city of Reno abruptly backed out of a previously touted agreement to fund that conversion.
“The city council has invested quite a bit in housing affordability over the last few cycles, and the RHA received a tremendous amount of funding from the state – which gives the city an opportunity to consider other strategic investments,” former City Manager Doug Thornley wrote.
The property at 215 W 4th Street which encompasses 21,000 square feet and had 58 units was built in 1968. It was shut down in 2022 following multiple city code violations.
Jacobs Entertainment has demolished many of the motels it bought out during an ongoing buying spree of properties in the 4th street and downtown areas, but did reconvert one into the Renova Flats, where studios are listed at $1050, and one bedrooms at $1200. Many of the other motels, which served as a last resort before and after homelessness for lower income residents, were bulldozed and turned into parking lots.