Carson City Mayor given high marks by proposed Nugget project developer

The state of the city speech delivered Wednesday by Mayor Robert Crowell played to good reviews, including one from the man working on a private sector development downtown.

“Excellent,” said Bruce Robertson, who is in commercial real estate and a point man for the private development still in the formative stage on Carson Nugget casino parking lot land. “Very upbeat.”

Robertson was asked about the mayor’s brief reference to the prospective development on which he and others are working. “It’s still in it’s due diligence stages,” he said, but didn’t quibble with Crowell’s assessment that it looks good at this point.

“It’s promising,” he said of progress, adding there’s interest in the project from prospective tenants. The mayor said the project would likely include a hotel, technical and other office space, a parking garage and the like. The Nugget casino is located at 507 N. Carson St.

Stan Jones, a former chairman of the Carson City Chamber of Commerce that held the luncheon at which Crowell spoke, called the speech informative.

“He brought up both the good and the bad, which is the way it should be,” said Jones, co-owner and operator of The Purple Avocado retail outlet.

Joel Dunn, executive director of the Carson City Visitors Bureau, called the mayor an outstanding advocate for the community. He said Crowell was pointing in the right direction.

“The overwhelming feeling of positive change in our community will continue to drive us in that right direction,” Dunn said.

“I found,” said Maurice White, who serves on the Airport Authority, “it was a pretty good recap of what’s gone on and what’s going to go on in the future.”

“Incredibly positive,” said Chet Burton, president of Western Nevada College. Jed Block, chairman of the city’s Board of Equalization, agreed.

“He touched on a lot of positive things,” said Block, adding at other times focus on the community can tend toward the negative.