By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
The Great Bend City Council approved a memorandum of understanding and a public hearing for a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District at Monday’s meeting to get the process moving for an 80-room hotel costing approximately $14 million. The hotel’s location is requested at 3017 10th Street, next to the Events Center.
Great Bend Economic Development purchased the previously vacant hotel in August 2022 with hopes of getting a developer to build a new hotel after the former Highland Hotel was closed for more than six years. Demolishing the deteriorating hotel last winter, Economic Development Director Sara Arnberger said the project will include one or two restaurants or retail stores.
"The understanding does read one or more restaurant or retail facilities," said Arnberger. "All of these retailers and restaurants have different requirements for what they're going to need for square footage and parking. So we can't tie them to two facilities when maybe it's one really great one that we want but they need more parking. We did leave it open for the developer for one or two."
To make the project financially feasible for the developer, Great Bend Lodging LLC, development incentives are needed, including a TIF District for a period of 20 years. The ad valorem property tax increment generated within the TIF District will be used to reimburse the developer for eligible project costs.
Great Bend City Administrator Logan Burns said the property tax only applies to the hotel property and does not affect citizens.
"The increment is generated by segregating the assessed values of real property located within a defined geographic area, which is just the hotel itself," said Burns. "I think there were some comments it was outside of that boundary, but it is just the hotel lot."
Other incentives include a Community Improvement District (CID) collecting an additional 2% sales tax from the property for 22 years to reimburse the developer. An Industrial Revenue Bond (IRB) will enable a sales tax exemption on construction materials. Using the city’s leftover funds from the Loft Grant project, a $500,000 grant will be awarded to the developer.
A public hearing to create the TIF District is set for Nov. 18. The preliminary opening date for the hotel is September 2026.