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One southbound lane on North Carson Street was blocked Tuesday morning, funneling traffic around a fenced-off construction site between Hooten Tire Co. and offices to the north.
Located at 2706 N. Carson St., the previously vacant lot will become a Panda Express serving American Chinese cuisine in a fast-casual space. Plans filed with the city last year show an approximately 2,700-square-foot restaurant, parking spaces and a drive through with two order lanes.
Brett Sandholm, vice president of contractor Pinnacle Construction Inc., was hopeful construction would be completed by mid-summer. He told the Appeal Tuesday he believed any lane closures from utility work or other measures would be temporary.
Carson City Public Works Director Darren Schulz said the current lane closure would continue for 1-2 weeks “depending on weather conditions.”
“The roadway will then be fully opened. The contractor will need to reduce lanes in the future for a couple weeks to complete sidewalk and driveway improvements along the frontage of the property,” Schulz said by email.
Panda Express’ parent company, Panda Restaurant Group, could not be reached for comment. The company entails Panda Express, Panda Inn and Hibachi-San, the latter serving Japanese food.
Presently there is a Panda Express restaurant off Topsy Lane in north Douglas County.
“Panda Restaurant Group operates all of our restaurants with the exception of select locations in airports, universities, military bases, hospitals, casinos, amusement parks and stadiums. We do not offer franchises at this time,” according to the parent company.
Started by Andrew and Peggy Cherng and still family-owned, Panda Express had its first location in Glendale, Calif., in 1983, its first international location in Mexico City in 2011 and its 2,000th location opened in 2020, according to the chain’s website.
The parent company site has more detail: “With more than 2,300 stores, 47,000 associates and $3 billion in sales, Panda Express is the largest family-owned and operated Asian dining concept in America.”
For information, go to pandaexpress.com.