By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
The Great Bend City Council scheduled two public hearings for March 17 in regards to an incentive package to develop a new hotel on 10th Street.
The previously vacant and deteriorating hotel at 3017 10th Street was purchased by Great Bend Economic Development in 2022. With the building now torn down, a private developer named Great Bend Lodging, LLC has plans to build a new 80-room hotel.
City Administrator Logan Burns said part of the incentive package for the developer is a community improvement district sales tax. The 2% sales tax would help fund a portion of the $22.9 million project.
"The developer estimates that the CID sales tax will generate $3,406,401 over the maximum term of 22 years of the CID," said Burns. "I do want to emphasize that this CID sales tax would only be for the property as outlined which is just to the east of the Events Center, the vacant lot currently."
The public hearing on March 17 will receive public comment on the proposed project plan.
The project will include one or two restaurants or retail stores. The preliminary opening date for the hotel is September 2026.