Nugget Project report to be delayed, again
It appears that the report on the City Center/Nugget Project slated to be presented at the end of this month will be delayed another 30 days.
According to an email from City Manager Larry Werner, the city and P3 Development need more time to look at issues "related to parking garages, ownership, land use issues, utilities and a myriad of other questions."
The plan is to push the presentation to the citizens advisory committee until the end of September, with the issue to be discussed by the board of supervisors in early October. This comes after the original planned date for the presentation at the end of July was extended by a month.
This move comes after an exchange in letters between the Hop and Mae Adams Foundation, owner of the land for the planned project, and the governor's office, over the issue of moving three state agencies to the new development.
Earlier this year, project consultant for the foundation Mark Lewis said getting those three state agencies to move was a "critical" part of the project.
The letter from Lynn Hettrick, deputy chief of staff to Gov. Jim Gibbons, claims that the developers have not made the case that moving these agencies is feasible. Any move to lease this new space for these agencies would have to be approved by the Board of Examiners, of which the governor is the chairman.
Among other items, Hettrick's letter disputed the feasibility study's contention that the Department of Health and Human Services could operate with 75,000 less square feet of space. It also questioned whether there was adequate parking.
Our examination of this issue showed that the savings being presented can be quickly eclipsed by renegotiating the current leases for these agencies.
A source revealed to Carson Now that one of the state agencies in question has just recently renegotiated one of its leases for a rate far lower than what was used in the feasibility study, further bringing into question its conclusions.