From dying to destination: Repurposing big box spaces

Perhaps nowhere is the growing national trend of repurposing outdated and empty big box retail spaces into thriving retail and social destinations more evident than in Northern Nevada, where several high-profile conversions in Reno and Sparks are bringing shoppers back to once-shuttered spaces.

The newly opened Reno Public Market is a prime example of the work it takes to reposition an outdated retail center into a thriving mixed-use facility featuring restaurants, retail and entertainment. For the lead architects on these projects, breathing new life into and modernizing these old spaces requires much more mental gymnastics than designing new buildings.

Jeff Frame, principal of Frame Architecture, was brought in by developer Foothill Partners to design Reno Public Market. Frame told NNBW last week that repurposing projects typically start with a discussion of what the client has in mind, but at the same time, the existing building often dictates design elements of a project.

“It really starts with the client,” Frame said. “Foothill Partners wanted the space to look like an old street with a collection of buildings – they didn’t want it to look like a mall food court.

“We had to take this old building that had been there since the 1960s and make it new, but also make it look like a collection of old buildings. It was a delicate balance, but I think it came out great. We made a community gathering space that’s about people, vendors and the arts.”

Marrying the developer’s design desires with the structural bones of the old Shoppers Square mall required a deft touch, patience and a penchant for the unknown. Typically, the older the building, the less today’s architects truly know what they are dealing with until the work begins.

Frame said as parts of the old Shoppers Square came down, it quickly became evident that the center was built in multiple phases.

“Structural systems and structural directions would change, and every section was like a new adventure and discovery,” he said.

Having the original structural, framing and electrical blueprints in hand can help architects immensely – but oftentimes, those old prints simply can’t be found. And even with original plans in hand, surprises arise that require architects and others to adapt on the fly.

“You have to think fast on your feet – you are on the job site, there are workers standing around waiting for direction, and you have to make sure what you do works for the developer,” Frame said.

Eric Sikora, president of Sikora Architecture, designed an extensive exterior and facade remodel that’s currently underway at The Crossing at Meadowood Square. The FedEx building at 6479 S. Virginia St., had been remodeled a few years prior by a different architectural firm, which went for a design that loosely ties in with the look of the neighboring Whole Foods center just to the north.

Sikora had to artfully blend some of those existing elements with the developer’s plans for the rest of The Crossing at Meadowood Square to maintain visual consistency. As he moved away from the FedEx building, he modified certain design elements but remained tied into an overall aesthetic theme by using the same colors and materials. However, as he moved closer toward the final section of the center that houses Blind Onion Pizza & Pub, the design that was used on one part of the center was space constrained.

“I couldn’t put the same kinds of undulations in the facade that I had done at the other end of the center because there was no room for it,” Sikora said.

And while Frame had the luxury of the original blueprints for his firm’s work on Reno Public Market, Sikora wasn’t as lucky at The Crossing at Meadowood Square. Work crews had to cut holes in soffits to provide visual access to the building’s bones. Underneath existing work were structural supports that likely were intended to carry wind loads for the building’s original facade, which was built for former electronics retailer Circuit City.

“Anytime you do a remodel project, it is a discovery process,” Sikora said. “You find those kinds of things, but you know they are going to happen.”

Sikora Architecture also transformed the former “pink” Scolari's center on South Virginia Street a few years back. Although the developer wanted to lease the entire space to a single tenant – that’s the way the building was designed, so that’s the easiest way it would lease up, Sikora said – the building ultimately was subdivided into two spaces housing Lee’s Discount Liquors and Planet Fitness.

“Usually the tenants and prospective tenants drive how these things are going to be remodeled,” Sikora said. “And most tenants just aren’t that big anymore.”

Shrinking retail footprints often mean large spaces are being chopped up to house multiple users. Subdividing large spaces, such as the transformation underway at The Oddie in Sparks, means distributing infrastructure such as power, water and electrical to each tenant. Frame said that type of work usually leads to a lot of holes being cut in buildings, much to the chagrin of structural engineers.

Sometimes, the discovery process leads to pleasant surprises. During the design phase for Reno Public Market, Frame Architecture also had to determine how far into the old structure they wanted to cut. Demolition work east of the food hall, for instance, exposed the nice-looking original brick and concrete exterior of the old Skagg’s building, so it was left alone.

“You have to take cues from the structure,” Frame said. “It’s easy with ground up because you don’t have any restrictions. But our most creative work comes from buildings like this where we have restrictions that are pushing and pulling us.

“At times it can feel like you are backed into a corner, but it’s the hand we were dealt and we have to make a royal flush,” he added. “At times it's taxing, but the reality is, when I look at all of it together and the work we did (at Reno Public Market), I like each individual segment. As a whole, I think we accomplished what Foothill Partners wanted.”

Large spaces becoming homes?

West Coast real estate remains a favorite for institutional and private investment capital, and Reno-Sparks is inundated with vacant big box retail spaces that were built to house one user.

Shifting business models have led to smaller retail footprints, so many of these large spaces are being subdivided to house multiple tenants. Another growing trend across the nation, though, is repurposing vacant big box spaces into multifamily apartment complexes.

Jeff Frame of Frame Architecture said that while those redevelopment projects are extremely complex, it’s a concept that may catch on in Northern Nevada.

“All over the Western U.S. you see these big boxes where tenants left because their 30-year lease was up and their business model had changed,” Frame said. “Northern Nevada has been an industrial and warehousing hub, and many buildings here have gone through their second- and third-generation users and are now sitting empty.

“We are looking at using some for housing. It is a very difficult thing to do, but I think you will see more of these developments come up and set the pace. We have to stop tearing them down and sending them to the landfill.”