It was one year ago that I declared the old City Center Motel a “Ghost of Carson“. The doors to this hotel in downtown Carson had been locked, furniture had been removed, and a promised remodel had stalled out. The building had been sitting unused for quite a while, and it was time to call it.

But ghosts have a way of coming back to life. There has been action at the old motel lately. A chain link fence now surrounds the property. Some of the broken windows have been boarded up. A telehandler has been moved onsite to lift materials up to higher floors. It sure looks like the remodel is back on!

A quick look at the Assessor’s Office shows why. There is a new owner of the building. A developer from Reno paid $3 million for the property in November. And a building permit has been applied for. That project review page gives a one-line description of the project: Converting Carson Tahoe Motel to Multi-Family Apartment.

So it seems like things are about to get busy here. Though if I’m reading this right, they’ve already hit a snag. There was a stop work order issued on December 4th: “Demo in hotel without permit.” Jumping the gun a little? But this might be a sign that they’ll be ready to go once the permit is issued, so we should keep an eye on the building for work to start for real.