Riverside housing development in the works for vacant downtown land

People will soon be living on a long-vacant parcel in downtown Reno, promised Aces and 1868 President Eric Edelstein on Wednesday.

In a presentation to the Reno City Council, Edelstein said Herb Simon, co-owner of the Greater Nevada Field, is in active negotiations for the site of the former Bundox hotel across from the ballpark. The property on the corner of Lake and 2nd streets has been vacant for more than two decades and is owned by one of Simon's subsidiaries.

Simon Equity Partners has been promising a mixed-use development on the site for four years. Edelstein said Wednesday a deal is close.

"We will have people living on the river across from the ballpark in the next few years," Edelstein said. He gave no additional details.

Edelstein gives an update on the Greater Nevada Field annually to the council. On Wednesday he said attendance for baseball games declined last year, but he blamed the weather. Attendance at 1868 FC soccer games, however, more than made up the difference, he said.

The ballpark remains heavily mired in construction-related debt and borrows from a line of credit guaranteed by Simon to meet annual operating costs, he said. The ballpark makes interest-only payments on the construction debt.

Reno taxpayers foot a $1 million annual payment to the ballpark's owners for the loan to relocate a city fire station from the ballpark site and to help the owners pay back their construction loan.