The Tahoe Reno Industrial Center (TRI Center, or TRIC) is a privately owned 107,000-acre (167 sq mi; 430 km2) industrial park, located in Storey County, east of Reno, Nevada, and south of Interstate 80.[1][2] The center is the largest in the United States (third largest in the world),[3] occupying over half of the land mass in Storey County, and is home to more than a hundred companies and their warehouse logistics centers and fulfillment centers such as PetSmart, Home Depot, Walmart and others.[4] Gigafactory Nevada was built there to serve Tesla, Inc. and Panasonic.[5]
Facilities include rail-serviced sites with Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway, municipal water and sewer, natural gas service, and five power plants on site producing more than 900 megawatts (1,200,000 hp).[1][6][7]
History
In 1995, Storey County saw an opportunity in the open area close to rail and highway, but isolated from residential areas to avoid disturbance.[8] Mars/PetSmart became the first tenant.[9] In 2020, TRIC was one of the areas depicted in the art exhibition "Countryside, The Future" by architect Rem Koolhaas at the New York Guggenheim Museum.[10][11]
Private extension
In 1998, private developers bought 102,000 acres of the adjacent Asamera ranch (formerly McCarran ranch) from Gulf Canada for $20 million cash,[8][12] and the area was zoned as "I-2 Heavy Industrial" in 2000, including retail.[8][13] About 30,000 acres are developable.[14] It operates as a public–private partnership, where the owners provide $5 million for the county to support TRIC. The owners also built infrastructure such as roads, rail, gas, power, water, and sewer, and are reimbursed with 35% of the tax paid by the tenant companies to the county.[8][15] The owners built the six-mile, four-lane USA Parkway between TRIC and I-80 for $60 million in 2007 as the second access, along with rail spur.[12][16]
In 2009 TRIC had 4,500 employees on 11 million sq ft of buildings,[8] growing to 14 million sq ft in 2014,[16] and 5,000 employees in 2015, increasing to over 18,000 employees by 2018.[17] The additions have contributed to economic activity in the Reno area.[18][19][20] The Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) took over USA Parkway for $43 million in 2015, extending it for $70 million to U.S. Route 50 to cope with projected increasing traffic.
Construction
Switch opened a 130 MW data center in 2017, with plans for 650 MW on its 2,000-acre site.[21][22][23] It is scheduled to occupy 7.2 million square feet[22] and cost $4 billion,[24] with the aim of being Tier 5-approved.[25][26]
A 91-unit Studio 6 Hotel started construction in 2017. A Courtyard by Marriott is scheduled nearby.[27]
In 2017, Google purchased 1,200 acres of land for $26.1 million, to be used as a data center.[28] Construction was underway in 2019.[29]
In 2018, Blockchains bought 67,000 acres for a cryptocurrency-powered libertarian city.[30][31]
Top employers
Incomplete list, sorted by number of employees.[32][33]
| Employer | 2016 | 2017 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gigafactory total | 850[34] | 3000[35] | 7,557[36] |
| Tesla | 5,540 | ||
| Panasonic | 1200[35] | 1,825 | |
| Heitkamp & Thumann | 192 | ||
| Walmart (Distribution) | 600-699[32] | ||
| Zulily | 500–599[32] | ||
| Thrive Market | 218[37] | ||
| James Hardie | 100-199[32] |