Carson flex projects under way

Driving down the hill into Carson City - an ever-changing vista - soon will include a view of two new business parks in addition to the new WalMart shopping center slated for the area.

Both parks are already under way.

Research Business Park, 102,000 square feet of flex space at the end of Research Drive just off Highway 395 is under construction and slated for June 2005 completion.Another center, tentatively named College Parkway center, with 150,000 square feet, is right behind the business park,with a second or third quarter completion target.

Kevin Coleman, owner of California-based Net Development Company / K& S

Properties is developing both projects.

Research Business Park has frontage to the freeway, says Coleman.

Its concrete tilt-up buildings, being built by Shaheen Beauchamp Builders LLC,will include glass entries, large windows, the possibility of freeway-facing showrooms and overhead truck doors.

Coleman says its zoning allows retail, commercial, manufacturing or restaurants.

"You can do anything you want," he says.

The flex spaces - all independently wired for sale or lease - will be divvied up into 15 individual spots, the largest one measuring 11,000 square feet and the smallest 4,900, all brokered by Sperry Van Ness Gold Dust Commercial Associates.

Prices range from $115 to $125 per square foot - a price point that has already drawn two takers, one a development contractor and the other a sporting goods retailer.

Retailers have shown interest, too, says Coleman, some of them attracted to the freeway visibility.

The College Parkway center is similarly developed as flex space, but with a retail orientation.

Also to be built by Shaheen Beauchamp and brokered by Sperry Van Ness, the spaces there will be as small as 3,000, and up to 14,000, square feet.

Price points are higher, says Coleman, projected to range from $200 and up per square foot.

The center will be on the freeway offramp, just east of Highway 395 and across from the WalMart center.

That, plus its higher parking count for retail usage, accounts for its higher pricing, says Coleman.

Designers will try to create an "intimate, relaxed" shopping experience, says Coleman.

Possibly, he adds, by using a Frank Lloyd Wright-ish design - something along the lines of the Minden Village commercial center he also currently has under construction.

That project, though just half-framed, is already sold out.