Carson Auto Mall still a possibility

Carson City's top redevelopment official said city staff and business leaders are trying to find ways to keep a potential Carson Auto Mall deal afloat, but no official deals have been worked out.

One deal to group the city's auto dealers into a retail center in northern Carson near Hot Springs Road fell through after supervisors rejected a $27.5 million incentive package in May.

"We have a work group looking at ways to see if we can keep that project alive," said Joe McCarthy, Carson's economic development and redevelopment manager. "We don't know any more at this point."

The work group, made up of supervisors Richard Staub and Shelly Aldean, Director of Community Development Andy Burnham, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Larry Osborne, Greg Nixon and McCarthy, formed after the incentive package decision fell through.

McCarthy said the group is hoping to keep the auto dealers grouped together, either at the south end of Carson along Highway 395 or in another location.

Monday's decision by the U.S. Department of the Interior to allow the Bureau of Land Management to sell 146 acres of land in northern Douglas County may not change city's pace in dealing with the auto mall.

"To be very honest, it doesn't change anything from my perspective," McCarthy said. "We will work with auto dealers to make sure they understand we appreciate their incredible contribution here. They are good citizens."