Motel demolition vs. preservation in downtown Reno, explained

The controversial demolition of motels is actually a fight over downtown Reno's future.

On the one hand, elected officials and some business owners hope for the revitalization of a part of town many people think is gross and scary. On the other, historic preservationists fear an out-of-state developer's vague redevelopment plans will destroy homes and Reno's history.

Last year, Colorado-based Jacobs Entertainment started buying and demolishing properties on six city blocks of Fourth Street and Fifth Street between West and Washington streets, with plans to redevelop the area into the Fountain District.

There would be fountains, retail, parking garages, and eventually housing built on top of those phase-one structures, Jacobs told the RGJ last year.

More: Only on RGJ: Casino co. investing over $40M into Sands purchase and three blocks of downtown Reno

The area of west downtown Reno currently includes weekly motels, apartments, vacant buildings and land, houses and two casinos. Jacobs Entertainment also bought other properties, including the Sands Regency Casino, and is finalizing deals with more motel owners.

The El Ray Motel, Keno and Star of Reno motels between Arlington Avenue and West Street on Fourth Street were all demolished last week.

The surrounding Mardi Gras, In-Town, City Center and Keno 2 motels and several houses on Fifth and Ralston streets are all next, according to permits filed with the city of Reno.

That would leave a house and an existing business left on that block, for now.

The cases for motel demolition vs. preservation

People living and working on the block of recently razed motels see Jacobs' project as revitalization of the city's core.

"And for all the naysayers regarding Jacobs Entertainment and the progress and demolition of these places; you haven't lived it, you haven't been there holding a young teenager as she has been held captive in the sex trade. You haven't witnessed an overdose death of a neighborhood regular," Farrah Reed posted on Facebook after last week's demolition.

Reed managed the El Ray, Keno and Star of Reno motels before Jacobs bought them this year. She said she was forced to find new housing for her family, too. But she is looking forward to the new life coming to Reno.

Now she manages the Townhouse Motor Lodge on Arlington Avenue and Second Street.

“I’m happy to see change in the city of Reno because it’s stagnant. It’s at the stage where it’s going to be vibrant and it’s breathing new life into the downtown area," she told the RGJ. “I absolutely believe in (Jacobs') vision and I believe it’ll be the best for Reno. I love Reno, it’s my hometown, it’s my place, it’s my roots.”

She said Jacobs has genuine compassion for the people being displaced. She said she's seen the plan and thinks it's right for Reno. She couldn't share details.

More: Jacobs Entertainment tearing down ‘heroin hotel’ and two other downtown Reno motels

More: Jacobs Entertainment demolishes another motel west of downtown Reno

Local historic preservationists, who call themselves the Motel Team, and the Society for Commercial Archaeology decried the destruction of the midcentury architecture and Reno's tourism origin story when they learned of the plans to take down more buildings at a quick pace.

"Last week we lost the majority of the Block, which was not retained but went to a local landfill," Corri Jimenez, leader of the Motel Team and a preservation professor, wrote in a Facebook group. The Motel Team calls the block of motels behind 3rd Street Flats "the Block."

"The motel's workmanship, materials, and design gone…and the beautiful neon signs are in a state of limbo," Jimenez continued.

Jimenez and partners Barrie Lynn and Christina Roberts along with the society and other history enthusiasts are rallying to protect other midcentury motels that Jacobs plans to raze.

Opinion: Demolition spree destroying downtown Reno's character: Lynn

Neon preservationist Will Durham wants to save the motels' neon signs, which represent a particular style of design unique to the time period when the motels were an integral part of Reno's commerce and not a sign of its decline.

Jacobs promises to preserve some of the houses on his property that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places by selling and moving them. He also plans to use the neon signs in the future project, according to statements emailed to the RGJ.

Preservationists would prefer Jacobs keeps the houses and motels and convert them into something else, such as boutique hotels, restaurants-bars, office space or apartments. The outlined their recommendations in several letters to Jacobs.

Gary Foote, owner of Harry's Business Machines, which has been on the same block as the recently razed motels for 70 years, asked why no one tried to save the motels in the last 20 years when they were still worth saving.

He criticized preservationists for not putting any of their own money into saving these buildings.

“To force someone to do something when you have no skin in the game, that’s not what we’re about," Foote said.

Redevelopment is inevitable, he said. Preservation and reuse is too little, too late and may not even work in downtown they way it has in other cities, he added.

Attorney Joe Laub sold the three motels to Jacobs this month. The deeds have not yet recorded with the county but the motels were already flattened.

“Why would you want these 1953 buildings still there?" asked Adam Laub, son of Joe Laub. Joe Laub owned the motels while Adam Laub managed the three motels recently demolished.

Adam Laub said Reno residents avoid downtown, and he tells people to avoid it except during events on Virginia Street.

Owners of the Chapel of the Bells wedding chapel that Jacobs bought last year also said Fourth Street was getting sketchy and feeling unsafe in the last decade. It's one of the reasons they were happy to close the chapel.

More: The last day at the last drive-through wedding chapel in Reno

"Why don’t you want them cleaned up?" Adam Laub said. "It’s a rough environment for people who want to go downtown."

Adam Laub said they barely broke even on the sale to Jacobs after pouring so much money into their continued upkeep. Joe Laub used money from his law firm, Laub and Laub, to keep them afloat during the recession when rents were down to $400 per month.

Adam said it was bittersweet to watch them go down. He misses the good tenants, but doesn't miss the prostitution, after-midnight phone calls from the police and people who destroyed their units.

"All we have now are stories," he said.

What happens next for Jacobs' land?

Soon the Fountain District footprint will be dirt punctuated by properties that haven't sold yet.

Because of Nevada property laws, Jacobs doesn't have to show anyone his plans until he files planning application with the city. Demolition permits are easy to get when an owner files the right paperwork, so they don't require much review or explanation.

Jacobs Entertainment is primarily a gaming company. It has pushed for more favorable gaming laws in Virginia, Mississippi and Ohio. The company released plans for a large redevelopment project on the Cleveland riverfront two years ago. It included a casino.

But nothing has come of it yet, according to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer.

Twenty years ago, he successfully redeveloped the same riverfront into an entertainment district, though, and businesses still operate, according to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer.

Laws are different in Ohio. It's not as easy to do what Jacobs is doing here. There's more bureaucracy and public-private partnership in development there, according to Cleveland Plain-Dealer.

So Jacobs pushes on in Reno.

But in the absence of information, people on social media have started making up their own ideas for what Jacobs will or won't do.

Some people in the preservationist Facebook group compare his plans to a nondescript strip mall replacing the character of Fourth Street.

"I have lived here 20 years and watched the beautiful history of this town be peeled away, little at a time," Mercedes de la Garza, owner of Mercedes de la Garza Architect Studio LLC, posted to Facebook. "With it goes the aesthetic bar...what replaces it is boring generic crap."

Some people worry Jacobs is going to flatten everything then disappear like Lyle Lanley selling monorails to Springfield.

Reno has seen this before many times.

A developer who promised new office buildings and housing on the east side of the casinos a decade ago is now selling off dirt and vacant motels.

Only a few people know Jacobs' plan and they aren't sharing.

Still, Jacobs continues trying to garner goodwill by donating to nonprofits that take care of at-risk youth and adults suffering through poverty and addiction. The company has been trying to move people to other motels when those people want the assistance, though that process is messy and painful for residents with few options.

Most are one step away from homelessness.

Reed, who has taken on displaced people in her motels, moved people out of her motels and been displaced herself, said Jacobs is doing his best.

“No one’s just being left on a stoop," she said "That’s being portrayed inaccurately. ... He could’ve slapped 30 day notices on every door and told them to get the f--k out. But he genuinely cares. I’m not on the outside looking in. I’m living it. I know better is coming."

So here we are. A vague promise of a renewed downtown Reno and a fistful of sand.

Mike Higdon is the city life reporter at the RGJ and can be found on Instagram @MillennialMike, on Facebook at Mike Higdon, Reno Life and on Twitter @MikeHigdon.