If you've driven past 2450 Oddie Blvd. lately and wondered whether you can just park and walk in, you can. What you'll find inside depends on which door you use, and the part most people picture when they hear "art campus with a food hall" hasn't opened yet.
For now, the Oddie District serves people who want to make something, learn a trade or come to a market night. It isn't yet a place to grab a coffee and stay a while. That gap is closing on a published timeline, and knowing where it stands keeps a Saturday visit from turning into a confused lap of a 232,000-square-foot building.
A decade from hardware store to campus
The building's reuse has taken a while. A 2020 Reno Gazette Journal timeline shows Lowe's sold the property on June 25, 2015, and left that summer. Developer Foothill Partners bought the building from Renown Health for $8 million in 2021, according to Reno Gazette Journal reporting republished by the Elko Daily Free Press on October 25. The Oddie District's own site names Belay Investment Group as Foothill's equity partner.
The project has three pieces. The Generator makerspace opened in 2022 and takes up about 62,000 square feet. The Innovation Center held its grand opening on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. The Commons, the public and retail piece, is still to come. Rob Cord, a development partner with Foothill, described the bet in that same reporting:
"We took a risk. We took a chance on the location. We took a chance with the city. We took a chance with the concept. We took a chance with The Generator. And it's all paying off."
Two of those three pieces are open now. The Commons, which is planned to hold the food and drink, is not.
Where each piece stands this fall
| Part of the building | What it is | Status for a visitor |
|---|---|---|
| The Generator | Community makerspace with wood, metal, textile and laser shops | Open to the public daily, noon to 6 p.m. |
| Innovation Center | Business park for entrepreneurship and job training | Opened Oct. 1, 2026; tenants include EmployNV, UNR and National Technical Institute |
| Mythic Gymnastics | Gymnastics classes in Suite 161 | Class schedule and free-trial sign-up posted |
| The Commons | Nine retail spaces, six of them food and beverage | Expected within six months of the Oct. 25 report |
The front door today is a workshop
For most neighbors, The Generator is the reason to stop in. Individuals and small groups don't need an appointment for a tour, and tours run every hour on the hour from noon to 5 p.m. Groups of eight or more, organizations and schools are asked to request a tour ahead of time. Public hours are noon to 6 p.m., Monday through Sunday, so a weekday lunch break or a Sunday afternoon both work.
The shops are what set it apart from a gallery visit. The Generator has wood, metal, textiles and laser equipment, and its bookable workshops include woodworking, sewing, laser cutting, screen printing and welding. Its workshop calendar opens on the current week, so you'll need to move the date range forward to see later sessions. WoodShop 101 and MetalShop 101 are for Small Shop or Fabrication Shop members, and safety gear, materials and consumables are included. Once you've finished a class, a $10 Fabshop Day Pass covers independent time on the equipment.
If you plan to come back regularly, membership is posted in layers. Here's how it stacks up:
- Base membership: $25 a month or $250 a year, with a shared membership at $40 a month
- Wood shop add-on: $35 a month on top of base, $60 total
- Metal shop add-on: $55 a month on top of base, $80 total
- All fabrication: $75 a month on top of base, $100 total
Members get in Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and pay less for workshops. Members who already know a piece of equipment can sign up for a free check-off instead of a paid class. The membership page also mentions neighborhood, student and dual-membership discounts but doesn't list the amounts, so ask about them when you visit.
That price structure tells you who the building is set up for right now. Twenty-five dollars a month works out to less than a dollar a day for a place to build something. It works best for people who will use it, and it does less for someone who just wants a place to sit.
Two Thursday nights before the year ends
If you have no interest in welding, the markets are the easiest way in. The Generator's Maker Markets bring together local artists, craftspeople and creative vendors from Northern Nevada selling handmade goods and artwork. Two are on the calendar for the rest of 2026, and both fit into a Sparks December that already centers on Victorian Avenue:
- Thursday, Nov. 19, 6 to 7 p.m.: Technicolor Thursday Market at The Generator
- Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 3 to 5: 39 North Pole Village at Victorian Square, free, with lights, live entertainment, a heated vendor tent, food trucks, train rides and Santa photos
- Friday, Dec. 4, 6:30 to 7 p.m.: the city's tree lighting, which opens Hometowne Christmas weekend
- Saturday, Dec. 5, 1 p.m.: the Hometowne Christmas parade along Victorian Avenue, from Pyramid Way to Victorian Plaza Circle West
- Thursday, Dec. 17, 6 to 10 p.m.: December Maker Market at The Generator
The November market runs just one hour, so get there close to 6 p.m. The December market runs four hours, a week before Christmas, which makes it a better fit for gift shopping. Neither event page lists vendors or says whether there's an admission charge, so check before you go. The Generator also says it hosts monthly gallery openings and regular ArtBattle competitions, though neither had a November or December date on its calendar in late October.
The Innovation Center brings in people for jobs and training
The newest piece is built around work. Per the October reporting, the Innovation Center hosts tenants and services focused on entrepreneurship and job creation, and its signed tenants so far include National Technical Institute, EmployNV and the University of Nevada, Reno.
The Oddie District describes EmployNV's on-campus Career Hub as free and open to all ages, with career exploration and job-readiness services. National Technical Institute is building an 8,000-square-foot trade-training campus here. Northern Nevada Business Weekly reported in September that it was slated to open in November with evening and Saturday training first, moving to full-time instruction in the first quarter of 2027. The November opening depended on interior fit-out and city permitting. NTI itself said first classes would start in November 2026 and that applications opened in September. If you're thinking about enrolling, confirm the start date with NTI before planning around it.
Mythic Gymnastics adds a family reason to visit. It runs a posted class schedule out of Suite 161 and offers a free trial sign-up. Like the shops at The Generator, it runs on scheduled classes, so you'll need to book a time.
Taken together, the building has steady daytime and evening traffic from members, students, job seekers and parents. Those are the people a food-and-drink court needs, and the next phase is designed for them.
The Commons is the piece still on the way
The Commons is planned around nine retail spaces, six of them for food and beverage tenants. It will also have public tables and chairs, a fire feature, couches and a sound stage. The October 25 reporting said it was expected to open within six months, which points to roughly spring 2027.
The Oddie District's website already lists Coffeebar Roastery in The Commons and calls the space open to everyone. Given the published timeline, a quick call or a look at Coffeebar's current hours is worth it before you plan a morning coffee there.
Nick Smoot, founder of the social network Build and a co-developer of the project, told the paper the idea is to connect the people already on site, whether that's an artist at The Generator, someone in a Mythic Gymnastics class or a worker in one of the co-working spaces. Until The Commons opens, those groups share a building without a shared place to sit down.
For now, the easiest way to see it is a free walk-in tour at The Generator between noon and 5 p.m., or the Dec. 17 Maker Market, a week before Christmas.
If you live near Oddie Boulevard and want to talk through what a project like the Oddie District could mean for your own property, Valarie Jackson is glad to go through it with you, with no pressure and plenty of numbers. Let's Connect.
