Station Casinos sells big land tract in Reno

Station Casinos has sold nearly 90 acres in Reno to a warehouse developer, records indicate, as the locals-focused resort chain sheds a chunk of its extensive land holdings.

Panattoni Development Co. partner Doug Roberts, who oversees its projects in Nevada, confirmed in a statement Wednesday that the firm purchased about 88.7 acres of land at the southwest corner of Mount Rose Highway and South Virginia Street, in south Reno.

Project planning is still underway but could include a mix of industrial, multi-family, office, hospitality and retail development, according to Roberts, a prominent developer in Las Vegas Valley real estate circles.

Construction is not expected to start until the first quarter of next year, he said.

Panattoni acquired the land for $32.6 million, brokerage Colliers International announced this week.

Colliers said it represented the buyer. Its news release did not name the seller, but Washoe County property records and Nevada business-entity filings indicate it was Station.

The Las Vegas-based casino company has also said in securities filings that it owns around 89 acres at the intersection of Mount Rose Highway and South Virginia Street in Reno, describing the tract as “land held for sale.”

Reno city records indicate that a 900-room hotel-casino was approved for the site in late 2006 but that the approvals have since expired.

Station did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

Unlike other casino operators in the Las Vegas area, Station owns big tracts of real estate scattered around the region that are essentially in storage for future resort projects. Its holdings include 71 acres at Durango Drive and the 215 Beltway in the southwest valley, where the company plans to break ground on a $750 million resort early next year.

All told, Station owns about 315 acres of land held for development in the valley and another 57 acres, several miles south of the Strip, that it’s holding for sale, according to a securities filing.

With the recently purchased Reno site, Roberts said Panattoni is working with officials, including from the Nevada Division of Forestry, to ensure it does not disturb native plant life, namely Steamboat buckwheat.

The plant “was listed as an endangered species in 1986 because of its vulnerability to habitat alteration,” including by commercial development, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Roberts said a barrier fence will be built around 3 acres “to ensure the plant species thrives as a part of the project.”

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.