By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
Taking on the task of renovating the upper floors of the Zarah Mall in downtown Great Bend is an extraordinary project, and thus needing extraordinary partnerships to get the job done. That is how Pomeroy Development’s Justin Pregont described the nearly $6 million project to turn the long-time vacant upper floors into 24 apartments.
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In April, the Zarah Apartments project was awarded $1.425 million from the Kansas
Housing Resources Corporation, and this week the Great Bend City Council
approved resolutions for a Rural Housing Incentive District and Industrial
Revenue Bond for the apartments. Dominic Eck with Gilmore Bell told the council
that the Industrial Revenue Bond helps the developer with a sales tax
exemption.
"Any purchases that are made by the developer to rehab this building would be exempt from sales tax," said Eck. "It's not if there are any sales made out of the project upon completion, it's during the construction process when they go make purchases. It's a cost avoidance for them. Any local, state, all sales tax would be affected by this."
The basic premise of the RHID is as new value is created on property, the
incremental property tax generated from the increase in value can be used to
pay eligible project costs.
The rental space will include studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments
ranging from $800 to $1,200 in monthly rent. Pregont noted the moderate income
development aims to provide housing to citizens making between $40,000 - $100,000. The timeline to finish the rehabilitation of the Zarah Apartments is by the end of 2024.