Carson City auto dealers handed over a check for $11.9 million, the remaining balance owed on 144 acres in north Douglas County sold to them at auction by the Bureau of Land Management, officials announced Friday.
The payment finalized the $14.6 million sale and a patent was issued to Michael Hohl of Carson Auto Mall LLC, said bureau spokesman Mark Struble at the Carson City Field Office.
"He owns the land," Struble said.
The bureau's Carson City Field Office plans to continue selling off public parcels adjacent to Hohl's property, turning them over for private development opportunities as identified in a plan for north Douglas County. Struble said the bureau has not yet set a date for future land sales.
"We have every intention to go through with those," Struble said.
Hohl and partner Dink Cryer successfully bid on the property at a public auction in August. The contentious sale prompted Carson City to file a federal lawsuit stalling its finalization. City officials feared Carson auto dealers would relocate to an auto mall at the site, taking with them a major source of tax revenues.
Carson officials signed an agreement with Hohl and Cryer in December and dropped its federal lawsuit, allowing the sale to close. The city's agreement stipulates the dealers will not allow auto sales on the Douglas County land for up to two years and will first negotiate with the city to find a suitable place in Carson for an auto mall.
In return, Carson has agreed to put together an incentive package for auto dealers to relocate inside city limits.
Hohl owns Cadillac, Oldsmobile, Buick, GMC, Honda and Subaru franchises and an RV dealership in Carson. Cryer, a Reno resident, owns Carson's Dodge, Chrysler and Plymouth franchises.
Contact Jill Lufrano at jlufrano@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.
