News - August 11, 2025 - by Ray Hagar

President Trump's global financial overhaul of 2025 has included the introduction of tariffs on many trading nations, both large and small.

  Now, those tariffs have changed the real-estate climate at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, said Donny Gilman, the general manager of  Lance Gilman Real Estate Services and a Storey County commissioner.

  Gilman is in the process of reselling large tracts of land at the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, land now owned by businesses like Blockchains LLC, which once planned to build a city on the property, based on technology as part of a self-governing "Innovation Zone."

  The tariffs, however, has made some potential buyers wary, Gilman said recently on Nevada Newsmakers.

  "So a lot of people are still looking but what I'm hearing is that there is a lot of concern over the tariffs," Gilman told host Sam Shad.

  "A lot of (manufacturing) companies that want to come in from out of country, they want to build their product here, but they have specific needs," Gilman said. "And so they need to bring their materials from out of the country. And there's some tariffs issues there. And so we're working through some of that. And hopefully we can get that behind us and start selling some land."

  Talk of tariffs appears to be the top concern of potential buyers, Gilman said.

  "I'm not hearing they don't want to come to Nevada," Gilman said. "The only issue I have heard is the tariff issue. That's really the only one."

  Yet potential buyers also have other concerns, Gilman said.

  "Traffic is one of them that a lot of people talk about," Gilman said about the traffic congestion on the nine-mile stretch of Interstate-80 between Sparks and TRI. "And we're working through that right now. You know, between 3 (p.m.) and 6:30 to 7 (p.m.), it's pretty crazy out there. But there's no major issues that I'm hearing about education and things of that nature."

  Another view of tariffs: Shad noted that Don Ahern, chairman of the Ahern Family of Companies, which includes a large manufacturing component, was also critical of the tariffs during a Nevada Newsmakers interview in June.

  "When we put a tariff on China, China is not paying it," Ahern told Shad. "I'm paying it at the manufacturing levels and I'm trying to pass it on to my customers.

  He called the tariffs "extortion."

  "So that money is being sent out of my bank account straight to Customs and then into the U.S. Treasury," Ahern said. "And I think it is extortion by the federal government against manufacturing here in the U.S."

  Room to grow: TRI, marketed as the largest industrial park in North America, still has room for growth, Gilman said.

  "I believe there's room for new companies to come. But in any area, neighborhood or county, we have to grow with what's coming at us," Gilman said.

  Local governments must develop a regional view, said Gilman, the Storey County commissioner.

  "I think collaborating between our counties probably would help," Gilman said. "More than everybody trying to protect themselves. You know, we need to open it up so that we're talking regionally instead of just our area."

  The lack of housing is often cited as a drawback for people moving into the Reno-Sparks area and the type of housing they want is sometimes hard to anticipate, Gilman said.

  "Housing, I hear, is an issue," he said. "But then I'm also hearing the American Dream has changed. It's not owning a home. It's travel, having the ability to take your vacations.

  "I'm seeing apartments pop up like crazy ... And it's everywhere," Gilman continued. "It's not just here. I mean, there are so many apartments going up. I think it's going to change with what is the American Dream now."

  Gilman gave an example.

  "When we were talking and had all these tech companies coming out here, everybody was rushing to get all these homes built ... well, all the sudden a lot of them came here and they were out in the Dayton area trying to buy ranchettes. And nobody thought they were going to go out and buy ranchettes, but that's what they wanted.

  "So I'm not sure we know what our youth wants at this point," Gilman said. "So our area will change based on what the youth is going to want for their future."

  Record sale: Gilman may hold the record for the amount of land sold to one buyer -- Tract, which plans to build infrastructure on its property to grow the data-storage industry at TRI.

  In two separate deals, Gilman sold about 10,700 acres to Tract. Some have said it is the biggest land sale ever in Nevada. A first deal of 2,200 acres had a sale price of $250 million. The sale price of the other 8,500 acres was not disclosed.

  "Raw land, I believe so," Gilman said when asked if the Tract sale was a record for Nevada. "I believe that is correct."

  Gilman worked on the deal for almost three years before it came to fruition.

  "Amazing," he replied when asked how it felt to complete the deal. "You know,

I had to pinch myself, I guess."

  The celebration of the sale wasn't much.

  "You know, my thinking was the next day I woke up, and I went back to work," Gilman said.

  Famous father: Gilman is the son of Lance Gilman, the original developer of the TRI in Storey County, which has attracted major companies like Wal-Mart, Tesla, Switch and Google.

  Being Lance Gilman's son was not the charmed existence some may think, Donny Gilman said.

  "Anybody who thinks that we grew up with a silver spoon is wrong," he said. "My dad always made us start from the bottom. And if we made a bad decision, he made us live with it and figure out how to dig ourselves out of that hole. And so we did that."

  Being Lance Gilman's son was sometimes "difficult," Donny Gilman said.

  "There were people who loved Lance Gilman and people who hated Lance

Gilman, not really hated him as a person, but as a developer.

  "There are a lot of people that did not want South (Reno) Meadows developed and probably did not want TRI developed," Donny Gilman said. "And so, it depends on where you're at. I remember one teacher in school who I had a really hard time with because he hated development and so in that aspect, it was difficult."

"My father's been in some pretty racy businesses and so that has caused problems, even for my children and that's been a little bit tough," Donny Gilman said.

  "But I would say there's more people out there that love what he has done for our state and especially Northern Nevada, than there are people who are upset with him."