By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
More steps were taken Monday night at the Great Bend City Council meeting to keep progress rolling for 24 downtown apartments. The upper floors of the Zarah Mall, at the intersection of Main Street and Lakin Avenue, are getting renovated after sitting vacant for decades.
The council adopted an ordinance establishing a Rural Housing Incentive District for the development plan. Dominic Eck, with Gilmore Bell, told the council the RHID’s premise is to create new value on the property creating incremental property tax generated from the increase in the value, which can be used to pay eligible project costs for the contractor.
"The district is the final step in the process," said Eck. "The development agreement was approved at the last step when you called for this public hearing. That agreement will take effect upon this approval."
The space will include studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments ranging from $800 to $1,200 in monthly rent.
Last April, the Zarah Apartments project was awarded $1.425 million from the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation to assist with the development.