Reno's former homeless shelter to be converted to 136 units of affordable housing

Plans are in place to convert Reno's former homeless shelter off Fourth Street into 136 units of affordable housing following a narrow vote by the Reno City Council.

Ulysses Development Group was chosen as the buyer for the two buildings located at 315 and 335 Record St. The Reno City Council approved in a tight 4-3 vote that the company would be granted the land of the previous Community Assistance Center.

Council members Miguel Martinez, Devon Reese and Kathleen Taylor voted against the Ulysses Development Group.

The previous shelter on Record Street was emptied out in 2021, eventually ending up vacant, and became prone to vandalism after no longer being used as the Community Assistance Center.

An appraisal in May found that rehabilitating the Community Assistance Center's two buildings would cost the city $10.1 million — unless the city chose to sell.

In June, the city put out a request for proposal for applications to take over the site and design something new. However, some of the original bidders had inaccurate contact information, no website attached, or no proper business location, were actually looking for communications and not bidding on the project, and did not appear to be legitimate.

The city was looking for applicants to met these conditions:

• Address affordable workforce housing
• Increase housing density
• Placemaking and quality of life
• Sustainability
• An attractive and vibrant neighborhood improvement

However, city staff picked a final four that they presented to the council based on all of the bidders who applied. The application was open until July 19.

The four proposals that the city chose from included:

• Ulysses Development Group : A Colorado company looking to build a 136-unit affordable housing development at or below 60 percent area median income. The company offered the price of $3.4 million to be paid over 15 years and would aim to have their project done in November 2026.
• Baxter Construction : An Iowa company looking to build a 118-unit mixed-income development with 90 percent workforce housing at 80 percent area median income and 10 percent affordable housing at 60 percent area median income. The company's offer price was $600,000 and would aim to complete the project in July 2027.
• Marmot Properties : A company looking to rehabilitate the buildings for a nonprofit office space at reduced rents of roughly 50 percent lower than what’s in the area. The company offered $1 million and would aim to complete their project in June 2026.
• The Blocks : A company looking to repurpose shipping containers as micro-business units. Their organization did not present an offer and the city did not take them into full consideration due to their lack of a formal, completed proposal.

“All of them are somewhat proposing a public benefit to the area,” Bryan McArdle, the city’s revitalization manager, told the council.

The review and screening committee was made up of five members selected by the city manager’s office. The committee then reviewed the proposals, rejected the ones that didn’t qualify, interviewed or asked further questions about the proposal and did further research to then score each of the businesses based on their evaluations.

McArdle said staff considered the alignment with city goals, team experience, design, financial structure and capacity, as well as their timeline to score each of the proposals.

The highest score was given to Baxter Construction, with an average score of 81.8 out of 100, so they recommended proceeding with this choice. Ulysses Development Group was close behind with an average score of 80.8.

None of the organizations were a part of the original Nevada-based list the RGJ previously reported . Bash Capital LLC, a developer looking to build workforce housing, also was not included on the list, after being the primary candidate pushing the city to open the property up for sale .

What did the council have to say?

Council Member Jenny Brekhus asked city staff about an email regarding the county’s input she received on the property, but interim City Manager Jackie Bryant and McArdle said they did not know what she was referencing.

“I’m really concerned. I think that was a building that I saw go up … it was operating well. It’s not like we don’t have a social services need,” Brekhus said. “Here we have a purposely built building for services.”

“I don’t get it. … I think we have a tainted proceeding, frankly,” Brekhus added.

Mayor Hillary Schieve told Brekhus to be careful about what she is insinuating with her accusations against city staff.

Council member Miguel Martinez said he believed it was “ample time” to bring forward a proposal to the table regarding the project and McArdle agreed, saying they didn’t exclude any ideas that were feasible and they believed the 45 days granted to people proposing was not a “time crunch."

Schieve reiterated there was talk about selling the property in April with the Bash Capital proposal, as well as talk about it long before the developer was interested.

Council member Kathleen Taylor said she has some concerns about a few of the proposals.

“I want a project that is real, that we’ve done our due diligence on, that’s actually going to get built. I want the least risk for the city financially and I want the largest benefit to the community,” Taylor said.

Initially, Taylor wanted Ulysses but said she’s concerned about their financing. She said she likes that the company offering a significant amount of money, but there are disadvantages to their proposal as well.

Council member Devon Reese said he believed Marmot was a great local builder, but he doesn’t believe more office space is needed. Reese talked about making negotiations with the other proposals later, but McArdle said the council needs to make their best judgment on the projects proposed instead of thinking ahead at negotiations now.

“In the end … what we don’t want to be in the situation of doing is allowing the project to move forward and then it doesn’t come to pass,” Reese said.

Council member Naomi Duerr said she was leaning on the side of Ulysses, but she can work with both proposal on the project.

“I think what’s needed down here is residential,” Duerr said. “Our biggest driver is affordable housing.”

However, Ulysses has a seller’s note saying the company will only begin payments on the $3.4 million offer once the project is completed.

Ulysses is also planning to use federal funding, which would exempt the company from paying property taxes to the city.

McArdle said Baxter asked for a $2.8 million discount in order to have a better opportunity for financial growth, but would pay property taxes to the city. Ulysses won’t have to pay the property taxes, meaning the company won't need the fiscal bump.

Brekhus pushed to postpone the discussion and give the county 90 days to propose the opportunity of what they want to do with the building, but Taylor argued she doesn’t see a point of postponing.

Monica Kirch, director of housing and neighborhood development for the city, told the council she was leaning toward Baxter because she was all for affordable housing, as well as property taxes getting paid by the company.

“I love affordable housing,” Kirch said. “Financially, realistically the Baxter looks better to me.”

Ryan Watt, senior associate of the Ulysses group, told the council he was open for negotiation on their project, as long as it complies with the federal standards.

Brianna Bullentini, a spokesperson for Baxter, also told the council the company was open for further financial and plan negotiations if their proposal is chosen.

"Look, this is challenging," Duerr said. "I think I am going to lean towards recommending to the council ... Ulysses."

Duerr said her priority is affordable housing, so she's pushed for an exclusive negotiation agreement with Ulysses Development Group to continue discussing the raw proposal and for the city staff to come back to council with a proposal.

Taylor said she was concerned about "more risk" when it comes to the agreement, since staff would put forward the time and money, and there would be no benefit if Ulysses pulls out of the agreement. Duerr said she would push for a negotiation of money to be put down by the group so the city doesn't lose the money on the project.

"We're all interested in sooner rather than later, but we also known nothing's coming on our calendar in two weeks, so I'm just saying when can we expect it back on Council," Duerr said.

It was suggested to bring Ulysses' new proposal idea back after further negotiation with staff for the Sept. 11 council meeting.

Public split on who to pick

Ilya Arbatman, a Reno resident, told the council he was “disappointed” about the lack of abundant options for the Community Assistance Center.

“We firmly believe there is still potential for the city and county to come together and reactivate the CAC as a public source,” Arbatman said. “What better project to work together on than an actual, feasible, move-the-needle solution to addressing homelessness in the downtown area.”

Lynn Stanfield, a graduate teaching assistant at UNR, told the council only two of the proposals for the Record Street properties were worth the council’s time. However, she argued that the two that actually got high scores were not adequate and the council should still vote against them for better options.

“We don’t think either of these proposals meet the specific and urgent needs of this neighborhood,” Stanfield said. “If we had to choose, we would choose Ulysses in a heartbeat.”

Stanfield explained that they are pushing for affordable housing, which is what they need. She said their proposal offers an estimated timeline of move-in for 2026.

However, she said the Baxter proposal was the same as Bash Capital’s, just rehashed and under a separate name. Stanfield said she is concerned about the staff’s behind-the-scenes work with the company.

Bullentini, one of the spokespersons for the Bash Capital’s previous proposal, had shifted to another bidder since the initial push. She is listed as a “development support” in the Baxter’s proposal and was their spokesperson in the meeting.

Will Truce, an owner of Black Rabbit Mead Company, asked that the council move with “urgency” to approve a proposal for the properties. He said he is concerned about the “lawlessness” that comes along with abandoned properties and wants a local developer who knows the area to take over.

“The proposals being presented by Baxter Construction and Marmot Properties would both lead to a dramatic and positive transformation in our downtown neighborhood,” Truce said.

Jaedyn Young covers local government for the Reno Gazette-Journal. Her wages are 100% funded by donations and grants; if you’d like to see more stories like this one, please consider donating here . Send your story ideas and feedback to Jaedyn at jyoung@rgj.com .

This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: Reno's former homeless shelter to be converted to 136 units of affordable housing