The Carson City Board of Supervisors is considering entering into a public-private partnership with the Hop and Mae Adams Foundation to develop a new 60KSF city hall and 300-stall parking garage at East Musser and North Stewart streets.
The new city hall stems from the HMAF wanting to improve the downtown area of the city and is one part of a greater $250M downtown revitalization proposal. The four-story city hall would be constructed alongside the parking garage in Phase One. Frame Architecture is currently working on designing the project.
The city hall is estimated to cost $27.5M, while the parking garage is estimated at $15M. Currently, only $36M has been financed in land contributions by the Carson City Development Corp. and HMAF.
Phase Two projects include a conference center with an estimated value of $11M and a plaza estimated at $10M. Financing needed for these two projects is $14M. Plans are currently in the preliminary stages, which leaves the possibility for the conference center to become part of a privately owned hotel.
Approximately $200M in capital investments will be required for the second and third phases of the revitalization project. This will allow for the creation of hotels, housing, restaurants and retail space.
The City of Carson City is eligible to completely gain ownership of the city hall if it completes its lease term for the entire debt payoff period. The City is expected to spend $2.1M annually on its lease for the garage and city hall. The City has the option to sublease the fourth floor of the garage for an estimated $400K/year.
The overall project is anticipated to have an economic impact of $700M over the next five years. Around 1,500 new jobs are expected to be created, and the development will provide Carson City $2M/year in tax revenue.
While no official action was taken regarding the proposal at the Board’s most recent meeting, staff was directed to further analyze the proposal.
Some locals were not happy with the project, stating it would diminish the local character of the City and that it was “taxation without representation.”
HMAF is trying to obtain a memorandum of understanding from the City to establish a partnership agreement between the City, State of Nevada and itself.
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