Sparks: District @ Victorian Square Cancelled

Bad news coming out of Sparks, NV.  RGJ reports today that The District at Victorian Square, a two phase, human-scale mini neighborhood slated to replace some parking lots downtown, has been canceled.  The reason?  Predictably, the current housing market and credit crisis.

Goodbye, The District.

This space glowed about the project a while back, and it's a shame to see this project put on hold.  But this project would also not have been a very large project, with buildings 5 stories tall, which were slated to become luxury condominiums.  Clearly this was intended as a huge short term profit-maker for the principals, and it would have to be, being a post modern style urban infill project covering 4 blocks.  Since we have seen how much damage can be caused by people trying to make a quick buck in real estate, now might be a good time to start assembling an alternate vision for how to do this infill right.

The suggestion we would make is to divide the 4 blocks worth of real estate up into 8 parcels and then take bids to fill in the 8 parcels.  Each bidder would only be able to build 2 contiguous parcels per bid.  This would allow for things like 8 on Center, Thoma Street Lofts, Cedar Dwellings, the Redfield Row project, and more.  Smaller projects independently designed and built as neighbors by a variety of interests means smaller budgets drawing on primarily local money, shorter timelines, and the ability to better serve a broader mix of price points.  All great hedges during times of uncertainty, and setting the erstwhile investor up for a win in the next housing boom.