Why one retail developer chose northern Douglas County and not Carson

Providing shoppers with a central and convenient location to find books, shoes, groceries, home furnishings and many other items was key to one national developer's decision to build in northern Douglas County instead of Carson City.

AIG Baker, owner of the 325,000-square-feet shopping center under development next to Wal-Mart, sought the site off Topsy Lane because of its attractive location, according to leasing agent Fred Reynolds.

The company's associates actively seek sites like the one in northern Douglas County for its national retail clients. Sometimes retailers ask AIG to locate at a specific site, but in this instance AIG actively pursued the land near Wal-Mart, Reynolds said.

Adding Borders Books, Cost Plus, Michaels, Best Buy, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Petco and Marshall's between retail giants like Wal-Mart and Target will create a better shopping experience than if they were placed by themselves, he said.

From a developer's perspective, the location creates shopping synergy. The variety of stores all relate to each other, giving consumers more reasons to shop and spend money.

"When you think of it, when you drive from Highway 50 south ... between one mile and a mile and a half, you have a very concentrated amount of retail that's just going to kick," Reynolds said.

Carson City, on the other hand, lacks "shopping synergy" or development opportunities for major developers to build centers that feed off other nearby shopping experiences, Reynolds said.

Carson officials tried to market the fairgrounds next to Fuji Park as the site for the AIG development, but efforts failed when residents resisted commercializing the public property.

Carson business leaders and officials also tried desperately to keep Wal-Mart in city limits, but Raley's corporation refused to remove a stipulation that prohibited Wal-Mart from selling groceries at its former location.

If Wal-Mart had decided to stay in Carson and the AIG shopping center built at the fairgrounds, finance director David Heath estimates Carson would have taken in an estimated $3.5 million in sales revenue each year.

Instead, the city is faced with heavy retail revenue losses.

Combining retail sales in Douglas County and Carson City for December of last year, the region has seen a 3 percent overall growth.

Construction is taking shape at the new center. AIG expects to turn the buildings over to its tenants in mid-July.

The stores are scheduled to open between mid-September and Nov. 1, Reynolds said.