Qualla: Sundowner Hotel and Casino

Sundowner Hotel and Casino: Introduction

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Xnatedawgx, CC BY-SA 4.0. The city told Pete Karadanis no. He installed the plumbing anyway. It was 1978, and the Sundowner's 19-story tower was under construction in downtown Reno. The developer had approval for casino space on the lower floors and offices above, but Karadanis wanted hotel rooms instead. So he had plumbing roughed in on the upper floors without permission. The city ordered construction to stop. "At the time I didn't think putting the plumbing in was such a serious offense," Karadanis later admitted. This pattern of pushing boundaries and facing consequences would define the Sundowner's entire existence.

Image: Xnatedawgx | CC BY-SA 4.0

Sundowner Hotel and Casino: Rise on the Ruins

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit AJFU, CC BY-SA 4.0. Before the Sundowner, the land at the corner of downtown Reno held Central Junior High School, which closed in 1966 and was demolished two years later. In 1973, Karadanis and his partner Maloff announced plans for a hotel on the site. The 11-story tower opened on May 23, 1975, wi...

Image: AJFU | CC BY-SA 4.0

Sundowner Hotel and Casino: The Price of Defiance

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Scott Schrantz, CC BY-SA 3.0. The plumbing incident was just the beginning of Karadanis's conflicts with city hall. The Reno City Council denied his requests for additional hotel space multiple times. Councilmember Bill Wallace did not mince words: "We said no and you, in effect, said we don't care. Your orga...

Image: Scott Schrantz | CC BY-SA 3.0

Sundowner Hotel and Casino: A Slow Decline

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Barry Smith, CC BY-SA 3.0. The opening of the Silver Legacy resort in 1995 marked the beginning of the end. The new mega-resort drew customers away, and profits fell. The Sundowner invested $2 million in upgrades and new casino games starting in 1999, but the bleeding continued. Charter buses, which once d...

Image: Barry Smith | CC BY-SA 3.0

Sundowner Hotel and Casino: The Unfinished Tower

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Rick Cooper, CC BY 2.0. California developer Siavash Barmand purchased the property in 2004 with plans to convert it into condominiums called Belvedere Towers, named after his hometown in the Bay Area. The north tower reopened in 2007 with 177 units, though only a dozen residents had moved in by 2008. T...

Image: Rick Cooper | CC BY 2.0