Mark Lewis

One of the things that came out at Monday night's Nugget Project advisory was a setback for the business incubator part of the project.

It was announced by project consultant Mark Lewis that C4Cube, the business incubator in Reno that was considering operating the planned Carson City incubator, was no longer a part of their discussions. We don't know exactly what happened, but not having an experienced operator could threaten this part of the project.

Carson City Manager Larry Werner told the Board of Supervisors today that they are hoping to wrap up work on cost estimates for the city's portion of the Nugget Project by the end of the day.

Werner said that these cost estimates would determine if they had a feasible project or not, compared with the funding that would be provided by a 1/8 cent sales tax increase and tax increment financing.

He told the board that the results would be presented to the citizen's committee, whose next meeting is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 27.

The next Nevada Business Connections’ Monthly Networking Breakfast is scheduled for Wednesday, September 15 at the Gold Dust West casino in Carson City.

One of the topics of discussion will be the Carson Nugget Project, with Steve Neighbors and Mark Lewis. The second topic will be the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center with Len Gilman.

Doors open at 7:30 a.m. and breakfast starts at 8. Cost is $20 for members, $30 for guests.

Please RSVP by calling (775) 882-8306 or email kris@nevadabusinessconnections.com

There is an interesting discussion going on over at the Nevada Appeal site concerning the Nugget Project.

The story begins two week ago when Guy Farmer wrote a rather harsh column that slammed the Nugget Project. In response, last week there was a guest column by Michael Douglass criticizing Farmer's take on the subject.

It's a bit of a challenge to follow the story out today about what's happening with the Carson City Center/Nugget Project.

It starts out saying that Nugget President Steve Neighbors is "encouraged" by the response from the governor's office, after meeting with them to discuss their concerns about the state's role in the project. Those concerns were expressed in a letter from the governor's Deputy Chief of Staff Lynn Hettrick last month.

But later on in today's story, Hettrick said the same issues about providing sufficient space for the Department of Health and Human Services and parking remain. I detailed how this affects the project here, and ran the numbers to show how the state office component of the plan doesn't pencil out.

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."

Last week we reported that the governor's office sent a letter to Nugget Project consultant Mark Lewis taking issue with certain parts of the feasibility study for moving three state agencies into the Carson City Center/Nugget Project.

The one big item missing in that story was the Meridian Business Advisors feasibility study itself, which we now have a copy of.

After yesterday's revelation that Gov. Jim Gibbons' office doesn't like the numbers they are seeing about the Nugget Project, what's next?

What the letter from Gibbons' Deputy Chief of Staff Lynn Hettrick was responding to was a newly completed study from Meridian Business Advisors that looked specifically at the feasibility of moving three state agencies to the new Carson City Center Project, AKA Nugget Project.

The developer chosen for the Carson Nugget Redevelopment Project will be on hand tonight to answer questions about the project.

Rick Oshinski, CEO of Sacramento-based P3 Development, will appear before the Carson Nugget Development Advisory Committee tonight in the Community Center's Sierra Room.

Carson Now plans to show live video of the meeting, as well as hosting a discussion forum.

Many questions are sure to arise, concerning the details on the project and its scope, as well as the developer and how the company was chosen.

As I've been talking to people about this project, I've collected a number of questions, that I put together below.

The Nevada Appeal has uncovered a few new tidbits about Nugget Project consultant Mark Lewis.

Following the piece I wrote on Lewis this week, the Appeal found a grand jury report dealing with Lewis' big project developments as city manager of Stockton, Calif. The report showed that costs associated with development of the the Stockton ballpark and events center swelled from an estimate of $75 million to more than $120 million, and placed the blame for this on Lewis and the lack of oversight by the city's elected officials.

Today's Nevada Appeal has a story about how a developer has been selected for the Carson Nugget downtown redevelopment project.

The story mentioned that the developer, P3 Development, built the $64 million Stockton Events Center while Mark Lewis was that city's manager.

But that understates the ties between Lewis and the developer. Looking at the projects listed on P3's website, a large part of their work seems to stem from the City of Stockton, and happened during Lewis' tenure.

An interesting development in the battle over the Nugget project are the assumptions being made by all sides as to the motives of others.

For instance, many of the opponents or those on the fence assume that Nugget President Steve Neighbors has something up his sleeve. Every time some unanswered question arises, people assume the worst, that this deal is only about enriching the Nugget. Perhaps this comes instinctive to Nevadans, after dealing with our share of casino owners/executives, from Steve Wynn to Bugsy Segal to Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal.

Members of the newly formed Carson Nugget Development Advisory Committee received an extensive briefing tonight on where the project is now, and what still needs to be worked out.

Nugget President Steve Neighbors and project consultant Mark Lewis were on hand to answer the committee's questions about the project before a capacity audience in the Sierra Room at the Carson City Community Center.

Editorial by Dave Morgan

An article in the Nevada Appeal this morning attempts to get new information from the Nugget Project’s “go to guy,” Steve Neighbors. Neighbors, who is now the owner of the Nugget, is quoted as saying that the project still lacks a developer to shoulder the “private industry” half of the project. That’s about all that’s new from Neighbors, that they STILL don’t have a private partner.

Ron: Valid points. Valid points. I’m more concerned about making a $50 million investment in a library while not knowing “where” information management is headed.

Another thing. It is redevelopment guru’s like Mark Lewis who create a contagion that “patience is longer a virtue.” Why wait for sluggish evolution to produce what we want? We want it NOW!

The citizens committee’s “reason for being” as outlined in a recent Board of Supervisors agenda packet indicates that the committee is to assist the forward momentum of the project.

(Click image to play video)
Nugget Project booster Mark Lewis, who has held redevelopment director jobs in California and in Reno, is the subject of yet another examination of his track record while i

Carson City/Nugget Team member Mark Lewis, the former Redevelopment Director of Reno, was referenced in a Reno newspaper story this week as being accused of not providing “clear information” about the

Green light for Nugget projectBy Sandi Hoover shoover@nevadaappeal