— By Jared Glover of Berkadia —
While several Sun Belt and Rocky Mountain markets continue to work through challenging operations, elevated supply and weakening fundamentals, Reno has emerged as a bright spot in the West. The city posted 2.5 percent year-over-year employment growth, adding more jobs in 2025 than Las Vegas. This is a remarkable stat given that Reno’s population is roughly one-fifth the size of its Southern neighbor.
At the same time, Reno’s population grew at roughly four times the national average as median household income climbed to just over $90,000 as the economy continued to diversify into technology, healthcare and manufacturing. In fact, Northern Nevada saw 14 site visits per month last year for potential corporate relocations, according to a recent report by the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN). This places the region it in the top 1 percent of U.S. markets, reinforcing long-term growth expectations.
Several major development projects look to keep this momentum going. The most significant is the $1 billion transformation of the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, which saw a record 4.9 million passengers in 2025. The University of Nevada, Reno, also continues to invest heavily in new buildings to attract and retain top talent. It recently opened a new $155 million business school and has announced a $137 million state-of-the-art life sciences building. Finally, Grand Sierra Resort’s $1 billion master-planned expansion will be a major source of future job growth. As the city’s largest private capital investment ever, this endeavor will bring a new 10,000-seat arena, 800-room hotel tower, ice rink and other amenities to the resort.
The multifamily segment of the market capitalized on these fundamentals in 2025 as unit deliveries declined to 1,600 units alongside healthy demand of 2,000 units. This led to positive year-over-year net absorption. Effective rents grew 3.3 percent as occupancy across stabilized assets increased a full percentage point to more than 96 percent. The current construction pipeline is at historic lows with less than 1,000 units under development, leading to higher forecasted rent and occupancy growth in 2026. Expectations for future supply growth remain muted in Reno given a variety of challenges that include the federal government’s control of 90 percent of available land through the state, difficult topography, increased impact fees and overall construction costs 10 percent higher than markets like Phoenix and Las Vegas.
Larger institutional firms are increasingly taking note of these macro- and micro-level trends, deploying capital both into acquisitions of existing assets and into new development. Over the past year, we’ve seen investment from major institutions like New York Life, which entered the Reno market for the first time through a two-property portfolio alongside Hamilton Zanze. Berkadia is also in the process of closing a core asset with another large institutional investor, their first acquisition in the market.
Reno’s development activity has historically been led by local and regional players. Over the past year, however, more national firms have established a presence in the market, with groups like Thompson Thrift, Tricon and Hillpointe expanding their footprint and capitalizing on a limited pool of development opportunities.
With its business-friendly environment, diversifying economic base, ongoing corporate recruitment efforts and proximity to exceptional outdoor recreation in Tahoe, Reno is well positioned for outsized growth going forward.
— By Jared Glover, Managing Director, Berkadia. This article was originally published in the March 2026 issue of Western Real Estate Business.