Circle Square

An Alternative to “The Village on the River”

Ken Manz

Introduction

The Projects Side By Side

Differences in Particular

Design Principles

Principles: Insights on Circle Square

The Neighborhood

Food For Thought

Conclusion

Introduction

Silverstar Communities, Inc has proposed and shepherded through the planning process, a project called “The Village On The River”, slated for construction in the area of Downtown Reno bounded by E 2^nd St, Mill St, High St, The Truckee River, and The National Automobile Museum.

Silverstar’s proposal is an important indicator in the vitality of the downtown property market, and would bring much needed residential users to the area. However the design for the project is out of context with the urban setting of the area. This proposal is intended to address the issues of context and surrounding, and provide a new way of looking at site rehab projects in urban settings.

The Projects Side By Side

Village On The River, Silverstar Communities Proposal, Oriented with North to Left

Phase 2

Phase 1

Circle Square Proposal, Oriented with North at Top

Differences in Particular

Village On The River

Village On The River’s landscape plan is the first indication that the project lacks a sense of context and integration with its surroundings. While almost all of the City of Reno is oriented with North at the top, this project landscape plan is oriented with North to the left. The project is laid out very much as a traditional suburban apartment complex, which is inappropriate for a downtown core. Finally, it is a single use project and features nothing in it to improve upon other assets the area possesses. Its intention to provide good frontage on the Truckee River is admirable, but should not be considered the selling point of the project. That amenity is basic enough that it would be conspicuous in its absence.

Circle Square

Circle Square, as depicted above, is a two-phase project, but both phases focus on certain qualities of urban development within the context of the downtown core. First, the project map is oriented North Up, which gives it integration into the street grid. It features flow-through streets, Wa She Shu Drive and Circle Square. It features continuations of other streets in the nearby grid, in the form of alleys. It features good frontage on the Truckee River, but is oriented to no less than three points: The National Auto Museum, Mill Street, and E 2^nd St. This orientation to the two nearby arterial streets means that transit connections are planned for from the get-go.

Each of Circle Square’s buildings is designed to serve more than one purpose. We see in building 1 that it is the building with the river frontage – thus connecting it to the river path which other city residents use as a jogging and biking trail, as well as for access to their favorite put in spots for fishing and rafting. Thus building 1 is intended as the community center for the project, featuring a restaurant and lounge, fitness center, and meeting space. Building 1 in this context also features the most exclusive residential units in the development.

Building 2 features retail facing the area in the middle of Wa She Shu Dr and Circle Sq, as well as quick street parking for load/unload as well as a few residential spots. Facing Holcomb Alley and E 2^nd St, it features ground level residential units, as well as several floors of residential units above.

Building 3 (Phase 2) is a mixed structure with parking, retail, and commercial. Building 4 is an extension of the concept of a mixed structure, featuring parking, residential and commercial uses. Building 5 features retail suites on Circle Sq, and residential units upstairs. Building 6 follows this pattern as well.

The target height for buildings in this development is no less than 4 stories and generally no more than 6. One very tall building would be a nice feature of the project but is not required. A “zero level” would be excavated and constructed under Phase 1 to provide private, covered parking for residents and employees.

Design Principles

Principles give direction to projects. Different types of development in different types of places require adherence to different principles. The following principles guide the development of Circle Square.

Context

Key to any project is that it is done in the context of the surrounding area.

Mix of Uses

Projects in downtown areas require a mix of uses, catering to a mix of activities, occurring at a mix of day parts.

Mix of Users

Projects everywhere require a mix of different kinds of users. The project should be accessible to a variety of income levels.

Mix of Transportation Modes

The project design should be integrated with public transit, it should be pedestrian oriented, and it should encourage uses such as bicycles.

Public Space for Public Relationships

The project should encourage intermingling in public spheres among the residents and users of the project, due to well-designed public spaces which set the right tone.

Principles: Insights on Circle Square

Now that the principles are established and we have a general understanding of what the project entails, let us relate the principles to each other and to the project.

First, context. The context here is the urban setting of Downtown Reno. The project is located directly adjacent to a museum and a small urban neighborhood. There is river frontage, a police station, and two major arteries. Across the river is the railroad tunnel, and just down the street is the southeastern most downtown casino, the Siena.

There is a lot going on at this location. Its close proximity to the old Reno Arch, lodgings, and the downtown core suggests a concentrated buzz of activity.

A concentrated buzz of activity is generated by a variety of uses. A variety of uses includes shopping, dining, living, working, selling, serving, relaxing. There are a variety of people here at a variety of income levels. The clerk in the shop may own the place and live upstairs, and the server in the ice cream store may be a college student and live across town. The ice cream store server takes the bus every day and the waiter at the restaurant rides his bike. The president of the small company located on the third floor of building 3 drives her BMW to work every day and parks it under the building. The receptionist of that same company walks down the street from another urban development. The project consists of some rental units and some owned units.

All of this intermingling of different people doing different things creates a fantastic sense of community because it creates a public sphere where a variety of paths intersect, but never too deeply. It creates a connection to the community for all participants, but it is an easy connection. Since the people do not have to go out of their way to have their paths intersect, they do not have to do any work to maintain the relationships except show up where they were already planning to show up for another purpose (job, house, place to shop, place to eat). Safety is ensured thanks to eyes on the street from lots of people who are there for a legitimate reason.

The Neighborhood

This document has had a lot to say about building the project in context with its surroundings. That is all well and good, but what specifically is meant by that phrase?

Circle Square, Neighborhood

Let us spend some time examining the neighborhood and putting the area into context. In the above diagram, the black line going through the project site to the north and to the east is representative of the axes of orientation. In addition to representing these axes it is also intended to give a sense of pedestrian, bicycle, and limited automobile flow-through routes tying together two areas of the city which are physically close yet inaccessible from one another today.

Starting with # 6, Holcomb Ave is one of Reno’s classic boulevards. The neighborhood at Holcomb and Ryland features classic architecture oriented toward pedestrian activity, at a human scale. It is flow-through. It is also the southeastern edge of the city’s financial district.

Number 5 across the river is the Riverside Towers, a set of signature towers designed to evoke a sense of the new Reno. This is the southeastern edge of the high-rise core in Reno: tall buildings may exist outside this boundary, but the central high-rises end here (today).

Number 4, Broadhead Park. This is the preferred public access point to the river for purely recreational uses. Transforming this park into a focal point for the entire area pictured should be a priority.

Numbers 1, 2, and 3 are vagaries. Number 3 is the train trench; the concern is what happens immediately due south of the train trench, on both the vacant lot and also with the apartment complex established there, which is disconcertingly aligned away from both the river and the neighborhood. The entire area is ripe for redevelopment.

Number 1 and Number 2 are focal points for East Fourth Street redevelopment and the point being made here by their inclusion is that this site sits at a crossroads on the edges of the financial district, the downtown high-rise district, and the old southeast suburbs of Wells Ave, and it is not so far away from East Fourth Street, either. It could be said that this project is as close to Fourth Street as it is to the casino core.

A development at a crossroads should do its best to encourage flow-through traffic. What is required for a crossroads is a sense of community, a sense of hearkening to all the directions one can take from the crossroads.

The axes are illustrated here to give a sense of some of the areas that can take advantage of this crossroads.

Food For Thought

A project proposal like Circle Square which has so much in context with its surroundings would be remiss without some suggestions to consider as potential drivers both of the quality of the project in question, as well as the quality of the surroundings. Here are a few pieces of food for thought.

Gateways

The project features a number of gateways: Wa She Shu Dr and Mill St, Wa She Shu and E 2^nd St, Circle Square as it runs into the museum, Circle Square as it stretches out toward High St, and the River.

Given the number of gateways, care should be given to consideration of the impact of the community on the gateway and the gateway on the community. Special thought should be given to tying in the Auto Museum to the project.

Extensions, Future Phases

Consideration should also be given to extending the project’s principles to the surrounding community. The issue of access from South Wells Ave south of the railroad tracks to the East Fourth St neighborhood and the downtown core could be addressed through the extension of Circle Square out to Wells Ave in conjunction with neighborhood preservation efforts designed to retain the character of the buildings and streets the neighborhood has historically possessed.

Broadhead Park Expansion

Concurrent with the preservation effort involving the neighborhood between the project and Wells Ave, another (city) effort should be undertaken to acquire all land between Kuenzli St and the river, to expand “Broadhead Park” and create a true neighborhood park in that area that safely serves the Truckee River and the area’s residents.

It is obviously not the responsibility of Silverstar Communities to make any of these things happen; however a little advocacy goes a long way. When residents, developers and other interested parties get involved and advocate for positive change, positive change can be effected.

Conclusion

Much is happening in Reno today with regard to infill developments in urban areas. Silverstar Communities is a leader in this regard with Virginia Lake Crossing. The principles and ideas outlined in this document only scratch the surface of the full range of considerations in an undertaking such as this, so in closing the reader is encouraged to consider this one final thought:

Village on the River brings quiet to downtown. What is missing from Downtown Reno is not quiet. It is noise. The noise of plates, children, cars, friends, neighbors. Create a place where the moments happen that create noise. This is an opportunity to lead.