The four-lane portal into the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center in Storey County east of Sparks will soon span the Truckee River as development continues in the mammoth business park.
Last week, crews using a 450-ton crane set concrete beams on what will be a new bridge linking the park's key artery, USA Parkway, with a soon-to-be-completed interchange at Interstate 80 north of the river.
When they open, the bridge and interchange will provide shorter and faster getaways for the hundreds of trucks a day hauling goods from mega-sized warehouses, topped by a 970,000-square-foot Wal-Mart facility, that dot the 104,000-acre park.
Many more are destined to follow as crews begin the second phase of development in Eagle Valley on the northeastern edge of the property. Nearly 2 million square feet of buildings are slated so far.
And that's atop the 6 million square feet going up or already built in phase one since TRI, as it's known, was created in 1999 as the nation's biggest industrial park in Nevada's smallest county.
"It gets pretty'Wow,'" said Lance Gilman, TRI part-owner and developer. "The market is ready for it."
Not all of phase one is occupied -- yet. Some high-profile names are operating, Wal-Mart and James Hardie Building Products, EGL Logistics (distributor for Dell computers) among them.
Others are being built, notably PetSmart, which will cover 900,000 square feet when completed next year. Still others will house such varied businesses as Thybar, a sheet metal producer, Pioneer Nut Co., and Express Nevada Inc., a maker of Italian prosciutto.
Center challenges
But a number of structures already built still await suitors. While officials are gung-ho on the overall project and its long-term build-out, the empty buildings are a bit an issue with Dean Haymore, building official/planning administrator for Storey County. He's anxious to see them occupied.
But add in the 5,000 new jobs expected in the park in the next year or two, the traffic they will bring, and the roads needed to carry it, and Haymore admits he's concerned about that as well. he would like to see improved roads to handle the traffic and small commercial businesses to serve the work force.
"I'm not going to close my eyes and say it's not (an issue). It is," he said. "This (TRI) comes with challenges. We're moving forward, but not as fast as I'd like."
Meantime, the growth continues, reflecting developers' bullish vision. In fact, it appears to be excalating, given a slew of recent announcements since August, including:
- Two major land purchases in phase two: a 52.5-acre parcel by Chicago developer McShane Companies for a 560,000-square-foot building, and 102 acres by Reno-based Development Arts which broke ground last Wednesday on what will ultimately be the 1.9 million-square-foot West America Commerce Center.
- A 12-acre site purchased by U.S. Ordnance Inc. looking for more room to manufacture and test 50-caliber machine guns, which it now does in a small facility in northeast Reno.
- Completion of a 500,000-square-foot structure by San Francisco developer Union Property Capital, the first of four buildings on a 108-acre site.
- Completion of a 10,300-square-foot building, with more planned, by Truckee-based Econcon LLC.
- Completion of a 601,750-square-foot building by developer ProLogis.
- Construciton of a 100,000-square-foot building to be the new home of Dynamic Isolation Systems of Sparks, designer and maker of ball bearings, some weighing up to 20,000 pounds, used inside buildings to absorb the shock of earthquakes. "The walls are up. We're excited," said Mitch Mahan, DIS plant manager. "We're really booming, so we need more space."
Linking businesses
Then there is the new bridge over the Truckee linking the industrial park directly to Interstate 80.
The freeway, with its one-day links to markets up and down the West Coast, is crucial to the industrial park's success, Gilman said.
As is the nearby Union Pacific Railroad line. Gilman said developers have applied to federal regulators for short-line rail service, via spur rails off the UP mainline, using their own engine.
Add in utility, water and sewer service, and plans for a fire-police-EMT station, and the industrial park is fast becoming a self-contained entity, Gilman said.
And it all will start at the new interchange, now the Tracy-Clark exit along the freeway.
Most of the $25 million cost of the bridge and interchange is being paid by TRI's principal owner, Roger Norman, and opening is set for early 2008.
"I'm hoping to drive on it by March," Haymore said.