OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — We sat down with Avenue One developer Curt Hofer to talk about the project and its future. Voters will decide if Avenue One will receive funding to become a Good Life District.
- The project has already been approved by the state and city to become a Good Life District.
- Voters will decide whether to approve a program allowing the city to channel tax revenue towards the development.
- A Good Life District is a development that the state hopes to bring in new stores and jobs to cities.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
There is a question on the ballot for Omaha voters about establishing rules around what's called a good life district.
If it passes, it will be a big win for a local developer and they say for the whole city.
"What we call the gateway to West Omaha."
That's what Curt Hofer, the developer of Avenue One, calls this project.
"Really true first mixed use development of its kind in Omaha," said Hofer.
Avenue One has already been approved by the state and city of Omaha to become a Good Life District.
A Good Life District is a development that provides a tax incentive to developers to build and then continue to invest in large projects that bring new stores and jobs to the area.
For shoppers, the bill is the same: you'll pay the regular 5.5% state sales tax. The state keeps half of that money and sends the other half to the builder.
"It is not any new tax for any residents in Omaha. We have an opportunity to take advantage of those dollars and create something that's really spectacular," said Hofer.
Hoffer says current plans would use the Good Life money to pay for a bridge to connect this area to Lawrence Youngman Lake.
"There's no way us as a developer could afford to put like a $20 million bridge like that if the state wasn't gonna be willing to help us create those types of amenities," said Hofer.
The question for Omaha voters now is a technical one: whether to approve the program that would allow the city to channel the tax revenue toward the district.
"Folks that we're visiting with right now because of the Good Life District are now showing tremendous interest in coming to a city like Omaha where previously we were just a flyover city," said Hofer.
Hofer says if the initiative doesn't pass, they'll still develop Avenue One but it won't receive the funding for it to keep tax dollars created here directly in Omaha.
