Carson City Capitol Mall North project avoids special use permit appeal

Capitol Mall North, a mixed-use downtown project that includes a hotel and technology center and other buildings, avoided any appeal of its special use permit authorization.

Community Development Director Lee Plemel said Tuesday the special use permit (SUP) issued on May 27 by Carson City’s Planning Commission went unchallenged, so it cleared the appeal process deadline this week. Had an appeal been submitted to his department within 10 days, the Board of Supervisors would have been required to hear issues and serve as final arbiter on the SUP.

The private-sector project, which is expected to cost multi-millions of dollars, is planned in the vicinity of the Carson Nugget casino and envisions a Hyatt Place hotel, a technology conference center/office building, another office building, retailing space, ample parking in garages and a public plaza with amenities.

The city’s governing board at some point will have to take action on leasing the developers a small parcel of city land, now used as a surface parking lot, and closing of Fall Street to accommodate the overall 10-acre project. State land of more than an acre also is involved, which requires eventual state approval of some agreement. The rest and most of the 10 acres is owned by the Hop and Mae Adams Foundation.

Plemel said the SUP authorization now gives developers up to a year to seek the first building permit for the phased project. A developers’ consultant has indicated the entire project could take until 2018 to complete.