Deal sweetener: Mercedes convertible dangled for Silver Springs transaction

It's like old times in the industrial real estate business in northern Nevada.

The owner of an industrial complex in Silver Springs is offering to give a brand-new Mercedes Benz SLK 250 convertible to the commercial real estate broker who brings a buyer to the table.

If you haven't priced cars lately, that amounts to $42,900 bonus for a broker who can move quickly. To collect the car, the deal that a broker presents the owner must to close by Feb. 28.

Similar deal-sweetening was far more common in the middle of the northern Nevada boom than it is today.

Brad Lancaster of Miller Industrial Properties, who is marketing the property with Brad Bonkowski and Andie Wilson of Coldwell Banker Commercial Premier Brokers, says the trio of brokers hopes the offer of a flashy convertible will get the attention of brokers who otherwise might not want to bring clients to Silver Springs.

The property is a bit under 50 miles southeast of Reno and 35 miles east of Carson City.

"You have to try everything these days," says Lancaster. "The promotion was actually the seller's suggestion, and we agreed that this may help bring more focus to the Silver Springs facility in a market with many properties for brokers to be aware of."

The owner knocked more than $500,000 off the asking price last summer.

The 156,800-square-foot facility on 28 acres previously housed a building-truss manufacturer that was the first major industrial employer in Silver Springs. The complex includes a warehouse, a shop building and an office building.

Th manufacturing facility was built in 2006 and is for sale for $3.99 million. It's also available for lease at 18 cents a square foot.

Because the facility is next to the Silver Springs Airport, it might draw interest from a company's looking for direct access to the airport runways, Lancaster said.

But for the moment, the three brokers listing the property are happy that the offer of a convertible is getting the property onto the radar of the folks who sell and rent industrial properties.

"It's certainly grabbing some attention," Lancaster says.