Re-Purposed Post Office Aims to Help Downtown Economy

Remodeling of the former U.S. post office in downtown Reno is nearly complete and locals will be given the opportunity to see the progress that's been made.

Since ownership of the old post office changed in 2012, the building has been re-purposed as a retail and business work place in the center of downtown Reno.

Bernie Carter, project manager, says they are 95% done with remodeling and they are now entering into the phase where they prepare for tenants.

Right now we've done all of the tear down, we've done the cleaning, we've put the atrium back in, we've put operable windows back in, the skylight's back, we've prepared the building for tenants, says Carter.

Bernie Carter is the developer who initially bought the old post office because he didn't want the city to tear it down and build something new.

He wanted to preserve the local history; including the building's interior and exterior design. He also wants the re-imagined structure to make a bigger impact to the downtown economy.

The building has also been rehabilitated differently for each floor. The second and third floors will be used for tenants to rent out office spaces. For the first year the main floor will be held for special events, including weddings. After that, the goal is to make it one of downtown's premier retail locations. Finally, the basement is being renewed as a marketplace.

With so many additions in store, developer Debbie Day says she is excited to see a place that was once used for collecting mail or buying stamps to become something much greater.

Now there's an opportunity to come in and step back and go wow, look at what we've got here and I think the concept to rehabilitate it back to what it was is phenomenal and we really have a treasure here, says Day.

On Sunday the building will be open to the public from 10 a.m. until p.m.

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Re-Purposed Post Office Aims to Help Downtown Economy