Belvedere Towers, The Bonanza Inn and the City that was Silent
This is the story of the Belvedere Towers, the Bonanza Inn demolition, and a broken promise that quietly disappeared and the city that did nothing.
Feb 03, 2026
For more than six weeks, the owners of Belvedere Towers, one of downtown Reno’s most prominent residential buildings, have tried — politely, professionally, and repeatedly — to get the City of Reno to respond to questions about the Bonanza Inn demolition project happening next door.
They received nothing.
No acknowledgment.
No timeline.
No explanation.
No meeting.
What they did receive was dust, noise, uncertainty, and a growing realization that when redevelopment involves powerful interests, existing residents are no longer part of the conversation.
The Bonanza Inn with the Belevedere Towers behind.
The Complaint: Reasonable, Documented, Ignored
On December 15, 2025, the general manager of Belvedere Towers, a downtown condominium building representing 176 property owners, emailed the City of Reno regarding the proposed demolition of the Bonanza Inn.
The email was direct and measured. The residents did not oppose redevelopment. They asked for answers and mitigation.
Specifically, they raised four issues:
Noise and dust impacts: Demolition activity had already begun, affecting residents and staff and raising health and quality-of-life concerns. The owners asked for standard mitigation measures.
No disclosed plan for the site: At the time of demolition, there was no publicly shared plan for the building’s replacement. Residents requested transparency on timelines and intended use.
Alleyway access and safety: The alley adjacent to the building is essential for deliveries, waste removal, and daily operations. The residents asked for assurances that access would remain open and that the alley’s deteriorated condition would be addressed.
A failed attempt at partnership: Belvedere Towers offered $9,000 to $12,000 of its own funds to improve Arlington Avenue through landscaping, banners, and aesthetic upgrades — and asked whether the City would partner or match those funds. They reported encountering red tape and resistance. The email closed with an offer to meet. There was no response from the City.
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Follow-Ups, Then Silence
On January 8, 2026, a follow-up email was sent. It was polite. It referenced the December message. It asked whether the City had received the email. Again: no response.
By January 30 — more than 45 days later — a third email was sent. This time, City Councilmember Kathleen Taylor and the Mayor were CC’d—still nothing. At no point did the City acknowledge receipt, explain delays, assign a staff contact, or offer a meeting. This was not a disagreement. This was non-responsiveness.
Why This Was Not a Small Issue
Belvedere Towers is not a single homeowner or a fringe interest group. It is a large, owner-occupied residential building in the downtown core—precisely the type of constituency city leaders claim to want to invest in urban revitalization.
These residents were not asking for special treatment. They were asking for:
Communication
Coordination
Basic project impacts to be managed
Transparency about what was coming next
They were also willing to contribute their own money to improve an obvious downtown corridor. That offer was effectively declined.
The Missing Context: Who Owns the Bonanza Inn
Jacobs Entertainment owns the Bonanza Inn property. That fact matters.
Jacobs is not a passive landlord. It is the dominant private landholder in downtown Reno, controlling more than 100 acres along West Fourth Street and the surrounding area. Jacob’s requests get answered quickly. Its demolition requests are granted. Its impact on West Reno is undeniable. When the City goes silent in a dispute involving a Jacobs-owned property, residents notice.
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The Broken Promise: Worker Housing
What makes this case more than a standard demolition dispute is that Jacobs previously promised to convert the Bonanza Inn into worker housing. That promise mattered. Worker housing was presented as a community benefit — a justification for acquisition, demolition, and disruption. It was part of the narrative that redevelopment would serve people, not just land assembly. Today, that promise is gone. The building is being demolished.
No replacement plan has been publicly presented. No explanation has been offered for the disappearance of the worker housing proposal. And the City has not addressed the change. If a public promise is abandoned, residents deserve to know why — and what replaces it.
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Empty Lots and Deferred Futures
Drive through West Reno today, and the pattern is impossible to ignore.
Jacobs Entertainment owns over 100 cleared or underutilized parcels — former motels, demolished buildings, fenced lots — with no active construction and no public timelines.
Each demolition is framed as progress. Each delay is framed as patience. But taken together, the result is stagnation.
What residents see is not revitalization, but vacancy. Empty lots do not create housing. They do not create street life. They do not support small businesses. They do not improve safety. They wait.
The Governance Failure
The most troubling part of this story is the failure, which lies with the City.
Once demolition began, the City had an obligation to:
Communicate with adjacent residents
Explain what happened to the worker housing commitment
Manage basic impacts like dust, noise, and access
Engage with residents by offering to invest their own money downtown
Instead, it chose silence. Silence is not neutral. Silence is a decision.
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The Question That Still Has Not Been Answered
What replaced the promised worker housing at the Bonanza Inn site?
If the answer exists, the City has not shared it. If the plan changed, no one explained why. If there is no plan, residents were not told. Downtown residents were asked to live with disruption in exchange for a better future. They are still waiting to hear what that future is.
Closing Thought
This is not an anti-development story. It is a pro-accountability story.
Redevelopment only works when the people who already live downtown are treated as stakeholders — not obstacles. Right now, the record shows they were treated as neither. They were ignored.