Eco Files: HabeRae Investments

When driving through downtown Reno, Kelly Rae and Pamela Haberman don’t see rundown buildings and deserted lots as eyesores. They see opportunities.

HabeRae Investments, a local business, is dedicated to urban infill projects with an emphasis on ecofriendly lifestyles, deserted lots and otherwise overlooked downtown properties.

Some of these downtown drives resulted in such residential projects as 8 on Center, eight lofts on Center Street, and SoDo 4, which were previously four empty brick buildings that are now green micro homes.

After retiring from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Reno natives returned in 1988 with a business plan as urban infill project developers.

As their business grew, Haberman and Rae’s interests expanded, or rather narrowed, to include micro homes, energy efficient homes that are usually less than 500 square feet. Part of this interest in micro homes grew out of their experience from living in a small cottage in Reno when they were saving money to start the business.

“When we stopped working for the federal government, we moved into a 400 square foot cottage on Cheney Street in the alley,” says Rae. “We thought, ‘There’s got to be other people that need that. There’s got to be a need for that.’ ”

The micro homes proved to be a success. Both believe the era of the large house in the suburbs, or “McMansions” as Haberman calls them, will soon pass.

“I think people are tired of the amount of maintenance that comes with a big house, and the amount of money it takes to fill a big house,” Haberman says. “People want to simplify…to scale down and leave a smaller footprint.”

For HabeRae Investments, the future is smaller, not bigger. Even their current project, a firehouse on Morrill Avenue, will contain 300 to 500 square feet efficiency units.

Originally appeared in Insight Magazine on February 2009.