The Reno Housing Authority (RHA) along with city and state officials celebrated breaking ground on the new Railyard Flats, a 15-unit affordable housing complex in the middle of downtown Sparks on 10th Street on Jan. 17.
Standing at a podium in front of what will soon be the Railroad Flats parking lot, several city, county, and state officials shared what this project means to the City of Sparks.
Kayla Anderson – Officials from the Reno Housing Authority and Sparks and state leaders break ground on a new affordable housing complex in the middle of downtown Sparks on 10th Street.
“Sparks is full of great housing and nice people; we work long and hard for projects like this,” says RHA Chair Dave Aiazzi. He also joked, “I wanted to name this Martini Village not only because it’s a cool name but after the late mayor Geno Martini, who was such a huge advocate for affordable housing here.”
RHA named the new complex “Railroad Flats” to honor Sparks’ rich history as a railroad town, and it is close to the earlier railyards that helped form Sparks into what it is today.
Another speaker said that “we’re deeply honored to celebrate this project”; “this will make an incredible difference to Northern Nevadans”; and “RHA is one to make things happen.”
“This is exactly how and where we want to grow, and especially for subsidized housing. This is a great project,” Sparks Mayor Ed Lawson added.
Before the groundbreaking ceremony, RHA Director of Development JD Klippenstein explained how Railroad Flats came to fruition.
“This was definitely a team effort,” he says, sharing how the RHA received Home Means Nevada funding awarded out in 2022 and then it received another $775,000 to buy the land. An additional $1 million was acquired from the Washoe County HOME Consortium, and the RHA pitched in some reserve funds, bringing the total cost of the project to $6.8 million.
“Land acquisition is usually the hardest part, but the former owner is also the architect on the project, and this all worked out timing-wise. A lot of really good things came together at once,” Klippenstein smiles.
This collaboration and grant money between agencies allows the RHA to keep rents low since they were able to pay for the land and building of the property free and clear.
“Traditionally a developer would go out and get a loan [to build something like this], taking on debt, and then have to charge a lot in rent to pay off that debt. With this project, there is no debt,” Klippenstein explains.
He adds that the City of Sparks has also been instrumental in helping to obtain land to help house Northern Nevadans.
“The City of Sparks has been a really great partner,” Klippenstein adds, saying that the city embracing a higher density housing project at a time when Sparks is growing so much has helped. Fifteen units will be built on the one-third of an acre lot, and rented out to individuals making up to $21,000/yr. or a 3-person household income of $53,000/yr.
There are nine public housing complexes in Washoe County, two of them in Sparks that total 50 units (16 units at Silver Sage Court and 34 units at John McGraw Court).
Railroad Flats spent one year in the pre-development phase, just broke ground and is expected to be finished this winter.
A representative of the Consortium added, “We’re trying to fill the gap of households that are currently house-burdened. Now let’s get some shovels in the ground”.
For more information about the Reno Housing Authority and its projects, visit https://www.renoha.org/.
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