A Florida company says it plans a major development in the Reno area - but it didn't provide many details.
Universal Property Development and Acquisition Corp., a publicly held company, distributed a news release saying it reached a deal to create a joint venture to acquire and develop nearly 600 acres adjacent to Interstate 80 in Reno.
The media release didn't provide any further detail about the location of the property. Nor did it identify the company's joint venture partner. Three calls to the company's office at Juno Beach, Fla., weren't returned. In the release, Universal Property spokesman Chris McCauley said the company would provide up to $5 million for construction of a condominium hotel and a travel center on a parcel located next to an exit from I-80. The release didn't provide financing details. Universal Property's most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed it had total assets of $329,954 - a figure that included an unsecured $316,735 loan that the company is having trouble collecting.
Universal Property, which intends to be a real estate and energy holding company, posted a loss of $6.3 million in the first half of this year.
In the company's news release, McCauley said the company's joint venture partner owns 12,000 acres adjacent to the Reno-area property planned for development. Future phases of the project, he said, could include some of that property. He said the company would acquire 600 acres in exchange for the investment of $500,000 in engineering, permits and site preparation.
That would put the purchase price at the equivalent of $833 an acre.
Land with I-80 frontage in the Reno area typically sells for at least $150,000 an acre.