Professional Documents
Culture Documents
EvansPark.org
Reno Heritage Foundation
Table of Contents
- Proposal Summary
- Conceptual Site Drawings
- Who we are
- Historic Summary
- Project Cost Summary
- Investor Summary
- Community Benefit
- Site Aerial, Traffic, Demographics
- Tenant and Owner Potential
- Small Business Financing
- Additional Materials
Proposal Summary
Historic Summary
The University of Nevada, Reno developed a master plan in 2014 that includes a "Campus Gateway Precinct" between
the south end of campus and Interstate 80. The plan, as written, threatened to displace the remaining houses on the
Fletcher lots, including twelve homes that are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, and one already on
the State and City Historic Registers. On April 26, 2018, UNR issued a request for proposals to move these twelve
homes out of the Gateway. Constructed between 1895 and 1920, they represent a wide variety of architectural styles
and are valued by the community not only for their architectural and historical significance, but for their longstanding
connection to the University. If these homes are separated and moved to disparate locations in the city, their collective
importance and context will be forever lost. In the year of Reno’s Sesquicentennial, this is an especially disheartening
thought.
A group of citizens calling themselves the Reno Heritage Foundation have come together with an idea to relocate
eleven of the homes to the perimeter of nearby Evans Park to create a unique commercial district that is walking
distance from campus and downtown. The Evans Historic Park plan preserves the homes near their original location,
creates a $2 million endowment for City Parks, funds a City staff position for Historic Preservation, creates ownership
opportunities for small businesses, and brings a return to investors.
Evans Park was deeded to the city by the Evans family in 1926 on the condition that it remain a park. In this plan,
Evans Park remains a city park, but transforms into a historic home park. The building owners, anticipated to be small
business owners, will not own the land under their buildings but will pay a land lease to the City Parks department.
Evans Park is currently a very large and under-utilized park. Even with the relocation of 10-11 structures around the
perimeter, there is still an entire city park left in the center. Structures would be listed on the City Historic Register.
With an array of cafes and retail shops that will attract people, Evans Park will be full of life once again. A thoughtfully
developed owner’s association will be put into place to regulate hours of operation, maintenance of historic structures
and other management issues. Interpretive signage will educate visitors about the park. We feel that this is a quadruple
win scenario for City parks, UNR, small businesses looking to own their future, and Reno history.
Evans historic park 18 month timeline
Investor Summary
The Reno Heritage Foundation will bring a group of investors together to create a $700,000 nest egg to launch the
Evans Historic Park project. This project involves moving eleven of the twelve Gateway homes to Evans Park for
commercial use. Evans Park will remain a city park, and the homes will be on a land lease from the City of Reno. The
Reno Heritage Foundation will obtain the homes at no cost from the University and will move and place them on
foundations, connect them to utilities and sell them to individual owner-operators or investors for an average of
$200,000 plus the cost of moving and connecting to utilities, estimated to be around $125,000 per home. Average initial
cost for a buyer is $325,000 plus renovations. Homes will be priced according to square footage and condition.
A local bank has options for financing commercial properties on ground leases. The cost of moving the homes,
installing the foundations, connecting to utilities and some renovations are all things that could potentially be wrapped
into financing. Our financing plan involves the option to defer $100,000 for 5 years to allow owners to complete
improvements and establish a stable business from years 1-5 with lower payments.
The Reno Heritage Foundation will front a portion of the infrastructure costs and will be repaid upon each home sale.
Even though the total project cost is $1,807,500, the incremental sale of homes will replenish the Foundation’s bank
balance. Many of these costs such as landscaping and paving will come after the last home is sold and will be paid
from sale proceeds. The up-front costs needed in order to move the first 3 homes are expected to be $565,000 and will
include $250,000 for utilities, $100,000 for engineering, the first three home foundations, first installment of the project
manager and historic preservation professional’s salaries, insurance and legal fees.
Upon closing of the first three homes, $495,000 will have been repaid and the foundation will have enough
capital to continue to install foundations and close the remaining homes and be repaid upon each closing. The
collateral will be the homes themselves, since the Foundation will own the homes prior to their move. An above
average return is expected for investors. We are seeking investors who can commit $50,000 for 18 months.
Estimated annual breakdown for parks as the $100,000 deferred payment reaches maturity.
Community Benefit
Year 1: $660,000
This scenario assumes no one sells Year 2: $26,400
their property before year 15 or pays Year 3: $26,400
off the deferments in a lump sum. Year 4: $26,400
This scenario does not account for Year 5: $26,400
an increase in land lease rates, Years 6-15: $136,400 per year
although those increases would Years 16+ $26,400 per year in perpetuity _
likely be incorporated into the
agreement. Total for 15 years $2,129,600
Reno Parks has a funding need for pools, parks and flat fields as well as programming. This endowment creates a
perpetual fund that will bring revenue to city parks in perpetuity, well beyond the fifteen year timetable. This scenario
would ideally allocate 1.6 million dollars to city parks over 15 years and eventually accumulate $500,000 to fund a staff
position for Historic Preservation Planner at the City of Reno.
A Historic Preservation Planner is a local government position that is common in many cities. This position would be
held by someone with a background in planning and historic preservation who would be responsible for finding feasible
ways to integrate historic structures into planning for Reno’s future. Other responsibilities would include identifying tax
credit and grant opportunities that could assist the city as well as owners of historic properties in maintaining and
improving their properties, increasing the number of properties on the City Historic Register through outreach and
education, developing a cohesive local historic marker program, and many other duties currently being tasked to the all
volunteer staffed Historical Resources Commission. This planner would also serve as staff for the HRC and be
involved with the HOA or maintenance association of the Evans Historic Park.
Evans Historic Park Site
This underutilized historic site sits just south of the University Campus. The Evans Historic Park concept leaves a large
grassy community space in the middle of the park. There is room for a loading/delivery zone and ADA parking on the
south side of the site.
- Currently
- Two acres with a seasonal restroom
- Horseshoe pits
- Tables and benches
1. NDOT 2. University of Nevada, Reno, Student Union 3. 2017 City of Reno: Annual Report
Current Sites
Reno Visitors:
+4 million in 20173
The Reno Heritage Foundation will be repaid $125,000 per home upon closing for utilities, foundations and house
moving. Of the $200,000 balance, only $100,000 more will be due upon closing and will first be allocated to repay the
foundation’s investments ($40,000 per home), then the remainder ($60,000) will be allocated to city parks.
If desired, $100,000 of the remaining balance will exist as a second position lien on the properties, payable to the City,
to be deferred in 5 year intervals. $50,000 will be deferred with no payment due until year 6. Owners will have the
option to pay a lump sum with no interest, or $10,000 per year for 5 years, ($833 per month principal, interest rate to be
determined). The next $50,000 will be deferred with no payment due until year eleven. Should the property owner
decide to sell prior to these benchmarks, any remaining balance will be due in full upon sale and payable to the City of
Reno. This deferred payment option will allow business operators to have a lower payment during the first 5 years to
establish the business and pay down start-up debt.
Many of the homes need extensive upgrades in order to function as commercial spaces. The project’s historic
preservation professional will complete a nomination for the National Register of Historic Places for a district
designation and if approved, this designation will allow the owners of the properties to receive 20% of the cost of their
property improvements back as an income tax credit. Since the city will be the recipient of such a large endowment, we
would ask that the sewer connection fees be waived for each structure, and we would work to get the RTC impact fees
waived. The park currently has enough water rights to service eleven commercial structures and a park, so we would
ask the city to dedicate the appropriate amount to service the structures at no charge to the owners.
Additional Materials
- Professional resumes
- EvansPark.org