A viewer wrote in asking about a new development project just south of the Reno-Tahoe International Airport. It turns out the property used to be a well-established neighborhood known as Home Gardens, which was located off of South Mccarran Boulevard. Back in the late 1970's the city of Reno owned the airport. A total of 146 properties around the airport, many in the Home Gardens subdivision, were condemned to make way for expansion of the airport.

Now work is underway on a new business park in that same location. The project is called the Airway Commerce Center and its being built on 893,000 acres of land.

According to airport officials and the Federal Aviation Administration, residential development is generally not allowed so close to the airport and that's why those homes were cleared back in the 1980's. Commercial/industrial projects are generally allowed in those areas under FAA regulations.

Airport spokesman Brian Kulpin says for years there was no interest in developing that property and that's why it remained vacant. That changed when Tolles Development came up with a plan for the business park that the Airport Authority supported.

The Airport Commerce Center is expected to generate about 350 jobs once its complete.

Thanks to our viewer Bekki Butler who wrote in to ask about this. If you have questions you'd like to ask, send me an email at jhart@mynews4.com and just put "Ask Joe" in the subject line.