Carson pushes for auto mall within city limits

Carson City may see the development of an auto mall within the next two to three years, officials said Monday.

Details still are being worked out among the city, a land developer and local auto dealers, but plans are moving forward, said Charlie Long, the city's economic consultant.

Carson city officials are working with Princeton Development, the developer of a successful auto mall in Roseville, Calif., which is responsible for securing commitments from auto dealers, Long said.

The auto mall likely would be located somewhere along the path of the future Carson City freeway, offering dealers a better location to be more competitive and successful, Long said.

The developer and the city are looking into putting together incentives for existing auto dealers who already have made substantial investments in Carson, including assistance in relocating the businesses and redeveloping the left-behind land.

"Some have made investments to existing sites that are difficult to walk away from," Long said. "Hopefully, we are pretty far along in working out the details."

Interim City Manager Andy Burnham said the idea to centralize auto sales in Carson was brought up about two years ago during talks between former manager John Berkich and a local auto dealer.

However, the state's delay in finishing the Carson freeway has slowed progress for mall development, Burnham said.

"Once we know when (the state) is going to go to bid on the freeway, I think we can get more serious about putting together a time frame for the auto mall," Burnham said.

City officials estimate, if talks are successful with auto dealerships and all goes well, the development will take place within two to three years.

Maintaining strong auto sales has become important for the city lately as it has seen its sales-tax revenue base quickly erode with the departure of major retail outlets.

The auto mall is "important for economic development," Burnham said. "It can to some degree get us out of some of the problems we're having now," he said.