Nugget Project: I'll trade you some land for a parking garage

One point I think you could get all sides of the debate over the Carson City Center/Nugget Project to agree on is that it's a very complicated deal.

But after spending a good deal of time looking at the newly released feasibility study for this project, it struck me that it's really not that complicated. If you strip away all the extraneous issues about the land leases and who is paying who, it comes down to a simple trade.

It boils down to this: the Carson Nugget is giving the city a piece of land to build a new library and public plaza. In return, the city is building the Nugget a new parking garage for its casino and future hotel/conference center.

I can hear heads exploding on both sides at the thought of this characterization, so allow me to explain.

First off, to get to where I'm at, you have to concede that the Nugget is giving this land to the city. Yes, the critics will point out, the city will be paying a lease on this land to the Hop and Mae Adams Foundation for the next 30 years before it obtains official ownership. But, if what is presented in this feasibility plan is correct and there are no changes in the final agreement, then all of that money is supposed to come back to the city. Yes, there will be restrictions on how it can be spent, and there is the possibility that some funds may be used administering this process.

But at least for the sake of argument, I would ask those critics to just accept this point.

On the other side, the proponents need to look at the proposed layout of this project and admit that the $5.7 million parking garage the city would commit to build is for the near-exclusive use of the Nugget and its planned hotel. It is perfectly situated adjacent to the casino's back door where its valet parking is presently located. And the hotel will wrap around the structure, so that you can't even see it from the new library. And its location on the north boundary of the project area puts it farther away from the core of downtown, where parking is an oft-cited complaint.

The garage would not serve users of the public plaza or library, unless they are going to walk through the hotel to get there. Look closely at how the streets are laid out. You can't even drive directly between the library and parking garage without going around the block.

For all practical purposes, this parking garage is for the Nugget's use, with the city picking up the bill for maintaining it. The city won't even get any property taxes from it, since it's the city that will be paying the lease for 30 years, and will own it after that.

So now you have a pretty simple trade, the land for the parking garage.

It is a very good deal for the Nugget. The parking garage would add significant value to the property, especially after the hotel is in place. The proximity of the public plaza and library will also enhance their property. There's likely to be some tax advantages to be gained from the transfer of ownership of the property as well. And it's possible the Nugget could end up with all this benefit without putting up any of its own money.

But is it a good deal for the city? That's a more difficult question. Certainly, in terms of just the basic trade, I'm sure the piece of land slated for the library and plaza are worth far less than the $5.7 million the city will spend on the parking garage.

However, that's not the only measure of benefit in this equation. You have the jobs that will be created, first by the construction and then by the hotel and other businesses that will be a part of the larger project. There will also be tax revenues coming from these businesses. The plan for the new library is to have it become an essential part of our education system, which helps the whole city. The business incubator portion will also hopefully create new jobs. And the hope is that putting this altogether in what is now an ugly parking lot will create other economic opportunities, and give Carson City a boost into the future.

Some of these benefits are easy to measure, such as jobs created during the construction phase. Others are less measurable, such as what the economic impact would be from the improved education opportunities provided by a new library.

These are the calculations the Carson City Board of Supervisors will have to tackle before deciding whether to go ahead with the project, in addition to finding about $9 million extra dollars to make it feasible.

So, readers, what do you think? Is this a good deal? What would you do differently? Leave comments below.