7 bids filed for 12 homes in UNR's historic Gateway District

Siobhan McAndrew | Reno Gazette-Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Watch: UNR gets approval to sell historic homes UNR gets permission to look for buyers who are willing to move historic homes in Gateway District.

The University of Nevada, Reno has received seven bids to move one or more of the 12 homes south of campus in the Gateway District.

UNR started a public bidding process for the homes that were built between the 1890s and 1970s in April, after trying to work with state and county to take ownership of the homes that are in the path of future development at the growing college campus.

The bidding process ended Thursday. A committee will meet in the coming weeks to look at the proposals and make decisions.

Read more: Group proposes using Evans Park for historic houses on university chopping block

More: UNR announces public bidding process for 12 homes in Gateway District

UNR said preference will be given to those who want to keep multiple homes together and can show the ability to pay for the cost of moving a home.

The cost to move one home could easily top $100,000.

"We have been working for two years, trying to be mindful of the historic interest of these houses," said Johnson about pushback from some on UNR's plans to move or tear town the homes.

UNR has plans to develop the area on East Ninth Street to Interstate 80 into academic buildings, a residence hall and parking garage.

"Unfortunately, the cost to renovate and relocate the houses surpassed the resources publicly available for the proposed project," UNR said in a release about opening the bidding process to the public.

The Truckee Meadows Heritage Trust, a group whose members aren't known, responded with a proposal after getting last-minute approval from the Reno City Council about moving forward with a proposal for 11 of the homes to city-owned Evans Park, just east of where the homes are located.

The group is made up of Realtors, engineers and contractors, and is being publicly represented by Reno historian Alicia Barber.

The city council voted unanimously to support Barber's group to move forward with its bid to UNR despite the Reno city attorney's office saying that deed restrictions prevent Evans Park from this plan. Barber disagreed with the city attorney's findings and said the park has in the past has been used or considered for other purposes, including, at one time, as a site for the Nevada Historical Society.

The group has proposed leasing Evans Park from the city of Reno and moving the homes to that area for commercial development.

In documents, the group said $700,000 would be raised through short-term loans from investors to build the infrastructure at the park and the houses would be sold for about $325,000.

Addresses of homes:

895 N. Center Street

847 N. Center Street

839 N. Center Street

829 N. Center Street

821 N. Center Street

820 N. Center Street

815 N. Center Street

843 Lake Street

829 Lake Street

825 Lake Street

127 E. 8th Street

801 Lake Street

Note: This story has been updated to include that the Reno City Council voted unanimously to show support for the Truckee Meadows Heritage Trust's proposal to bid on plans to move historic homes owned by UNR to a park owned by the city.