Council approves up to $827,591 in TIF for South Omaha Global Market renovation

The Omaha City Council approved a tax-increment financing (TIF) request of up to $827,591 to support rehabilitation of a vacant commercial building at 5125 South 20th Street into the South Omaha Global Market, a food-business incubator and indoor market.

Don Seton of City Planning described the project as a roughly 18,000–19,000-square-foot building rehabilitation that will create a business incubator for food-service entrepreneurs, with about 16 leasable indoor vendor spaces, an indoor event area for weekend markets, and parking for up to four food trucks on site. City staff said the total private investment for the project is approximately $9,400,000 and that the developer is GPA Properties, LLC, managed by Gloria Patricia Avalos.

Seton said the project meets the city’s TIF criteria, serves small and emerging businesses, is consistent with the city's master plan and will reinvest a large vacant building in a neighborhood commercial core. On the record the council heard a brief public comment from a resident who raised concerns about flat-roof design and snow loading; the speaker asked whether engineers should return to answer structural questions. Planning staff and the developer did not identify structural issues in the hearing record; council members approved the TIF allocation during the roll call recorded in the meeting.

The council’s approval authorizes TIF support up to the amount stated in the agenda item and advances the developer’s plan to rehabilitate the building for mixed indoor food vendor use and event programming. Staff noted the project aligns with the city’s goals for neighborhood commercial revitalization in South Omaha.