Carson downtown stirring

It's a great time to buy real estate in downtown Carson City.

"The city is supportive," says Jenny Lopiccolo, broker/owner of Coldwell Banker Best Sellers real estate.

She and husband Mark Lopiccolo own three downtown buildings and are reviewing two more potential acquisitions.

The financial end of the city's support comes largely from the Carson City Redevelopment Authority, which provides incentives for renovation of downtown buildings.

The Lopiccolos,whose current downtown holdings include their recently acquired St.

Charles Hotel across from the Capitol, applied about $50,000 in redevelopment funds to their earlier renovation of the Old Ormsby building.

The Lopiccolos are eligible to apply for grants for the St.

Charles building, too, says Joe McCarthy, director of the redevelopment authority.

The city looks for property renovations that add value to the area, he says.

He recalls the early 1990s when 29 buildings in downtown Carson City were dark.

"Now we have two," he says."We actively encourage people to apply for redevelopment grants."

The Carson City Redevelopment Authority, as one of nine redevelopment districts in the state, gets its grant funds from incremental property tax increases within the district.

But the funds it's been doling out over the last three years have come from the coffers created by a 2001 bond for approximately $2.2 million against those increases.

Of that, about $1.2 million is still unspent, says McCarthy.

Some of the grant money has gone toward the renovation of the St.

Teresa Catholic Church, to the Sweetland building (home of Garibaldi's Restaurant), to street improvements, and to the Old Ormsby building.

The moneys are reimbursable grants (awarded upon proof of promised improvements, as reimbursements) and are awarded to properties that could not be completed without them.

Future uses for the $1.2 million sitting in the sidelines? The city is looking at a variety of possibilities, says McCarthy - including improved infrastructure, better sidewalks to encourage pedestrian traffic, and maybe a residential component to enhance downtown living.