Kmart building sold

Vacant since 2003, the old Kmart building in North Carson City will soon have a retail tenant, a real estate agent involved in the deal said this afternoon.

"I sold it, it's off my hands," said Aiman Noursoultanova, vice president of CB Richard Ellis in Reno. "I'm really excited."

She declined to disclose the buyer and the purchase price. As of 1 p.m. today the sale had not yet been recorded with the city.

"At this time the buyer is not talking," Noursoultanova said.

She said a retail developer will take control of the property. The company plans to keep it in retail.

Verizon Communications bought the 169,000-square-foot building in 2004, and has been looking for a tenant ever since. Verizon spokesman Jon Davies was not available at the time of this posting.

This sale could transform the north end of Carson City, where the big-box store has been an empty reminder of the retailer's Chapter 11 bankruptcy more than three years ago. Many store fronts in the shopping center remain vacant because of the absence of an anchor retail tenant.

City officials have hoped for a new tenant after a buyer backed out last November.

Carson City Economic Development Manager Joe McCarthy has said the Kmart was a difficult sale because it's sitting on a land lease, and it can be difficult to find another big-box retailer to fit into another company's footprint.