Paris Baguette Is Coming to Reno: Inside the McCarran Marketplace Repositioning

Reno is getting its first Paris Baguette -- and it's a deal our team has been working on for a while, so this one is personal.

The Korean-born bakery-cafe brand, which has been expanding aggressively across the U.S., will anchor McCarran Marketplace at the corner of South McCarran Boulevard and Longley Lane. According to local news reports, franchisees Jim Yoell and Eva Chen are combining two spaces at 3923 and 3929 S. McCarran Blvd. into a single bakery-cafe, with the storefront under construction now and an opening expected later this year.

Our team at LOGIC Commercial Real Estate handles the leasing at McCarran Marketplace, so rather than just reporting the news, we want to walk you through why this deal happened -- because the story behind it is a playbook for anyone who owns, or wants to own, older retail real estate in this market.

The Center: From Tired to Targeted

McCarran Marketplace is a 52,000 SF center originally built in 1988, back when the corner of McCarran and Longley was the edge of town. For years it traded on functional location rather than presence: solid traffic counts, established co-tenants like Juicy's Giant Hamburgers and The Human Bean, but a 1980s identity in a market that had grown up around it.

In 2024, Tolles Development Company acquired the center (then known as Air Center Plaza) as part of a $10 million portfolio investment and committed roughly $2.5 million to a comprehensive renovation -- new facades, refreshed site work, and a rebrand to McCarran Marketplace. Per the project team, Pinecrest Construction is the general contractor and OneStudio D+A the architect.

That sequence -- acquire below replacement cost, invest in presence, re-merchandise the tenant mix -- is the classic value-add retail playbook. What makes it work in Reno right now is the math underneath it.

Why the Math Works in This Market

Three numbers explain this deal, and they're the same three numbers driving nearly every smart retail decision in Reno-Sparks right now:

1. Vacancy is roughly 3.5%. There is functionally no quality space available in the central corridors. A renovated center with available suites isn't competing against a sea of alternatives -- it often is the alternative.
2. New construction costs over $4.00/SF/month to justify. A tenant comparing a renovated second-generation space at market rates against a new build at $4.00+ doesn't need a spreadsheet to decide. Renovated existing centers occupy the most valuable position in the market: new-feeling space at existing-inventory pricing.
3. First-to-market brands need credibility locations. When a national or international brand enters a new market, the first site carries the whole brand's local reputation. A freshly renovated center at a high-traffic, easy-access corner -- near the airport corridor, with established food co-tenancy -- is exactly the risk profile these tenants will commit to.

Paris Baguette is precisely the kind of tenant a repositioning is designed to attract: an internationally recognized brand, a daily-traffic generator, and a co-tenancy magnet. Bakery-cafes drive morning and midday visits that benefit every neighboring tenant -- and future leases at the center will be negotiated from a stronger position because of it.

The Bigger Pattern: Reno Is on the First-to-Market Map

Paris Baguette isn't arriving in a vacuum. Look at the last twelve months of first-to-market entries in Reno-Sparks: Anthropologie opened its first Reno store at Shayden Summit in March. Kendra Scott followed. Trader Joe's expanded its Northern Nevada footprint with multiple new locations. Dave & Buster's, Buffalo Wild Wings GO, Nick the Greek, Distill Bar, Electric Pickle -- the list keeps growing.

National site-selection teams work from data, and Reno's data has crossed a threshold: 500,000+ metro population (per U.S. Census estimates), household incomes climbing on the strength of California in-migration, and retail vacancy among the tightest in the western U.S. When brands that skipped Reno for decades start competing for space here, every existing center's tenant pool just got deeper -- if the center is positioned to capture it.

What This Means for Owners of Older Centers

If you own a 1980s or 1990s-vintage center in Reno-Sparks, McCarran Marketplace is your comp -- not for price, but for process:

• The "tired center discount" is the opportunity. Centers with deferred presence trade below the value their location justifies. In a 3.5% vacancy market, the gap between as-is rents and achievable post-renovation rents has rarely been wider.
• Renovation unlocks tenants, not just rents. The brands entering this market will not anchor a dated center. Capital investment doesn't just raise the rate -- it changes who returns your calls.
• Re-merchandising is where the value is created. The renovation gets attention; the leasing strategy determines the outcome. Anchoring with a traffic-driving daily-needs or food tenant lifts every suite behind it.

We walk owners through this analysis regularly -- what your center could command post-renovation, which tenants are actively seeking your trade area, and whether the capital investment pencils against your hold period. If you want that assessment for your property, email icochran@logicCRE.com or call (775) 225-0826. And if you're an investor looking for the next McCarran Marketplace before it's marketed -- those conversations are happening off-market right now.

What This Means for Tenants

One more lesson from this deal: the Paris Baguette franchisees committed to their space well over a year before opening, and combined two suites to get the footprint they needed. That's what site selection looks like in a 3.5% vacancy market. The operators who win the best corners are the ones who engage early, move decisively, and have someone watching the market for them before space ever hits a listing site.

If you're a first-to-market brand -- or a local operator who wants the corner before the national brands take it -- we'd love to talk.