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Garden City staff report surge in commercial leads and housing interest; $128M in candidate projects submitted for tax-credit consideration
Summary
Staff reported multiple industrial and commercial prospects and said developers are evaluating Low Income Housing Tax Credit and New Markets Tax Credit opportunities; staff submitted about $128,000,000 in candidate projects to New Markets Tax Credit investors.
Garden City staff told the board on Monday that the city’s economic development office is handling an unusually busy pipeline of leads, including industrial, commercial and multifamily projects, and is working to position several sites for federal tax-credit programs.
Lana, who provided the primary update, said the office is helping industrial prospects identify land and has assisted a commercial prospect that is under contract to buy property. She told the board a Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) developer — the first to consider Garden City in many years, she said — is evaluating two parcels, one of which is oversized and could include some commercial frontage to provide nearby amenities for future residents.
“Those are a very competitive, tax credit to get,” Lana said, noting the developer emphasized proximity to groceries and convenience stores so residents without vehicles would have access to services. She said staff will continue supporting the applicant and preparing data to maximize scoring.
On federal new-market incentives, Lana explained that the New Markets Tax Credit program allows investors to purchase tax credits that effectively function as equity for qualifying projects in distressed census tracts. She told the board staff compiled a set of projects that would qualify for such investment in 2026 and that the total value of those candidate projects submitted to investors was about $128,000,000.
“Totaled, I think, dollars 128,000,000 is what I was able to submit to them in projects,” Lana said.
Board members asked whether the qualifying census tracts were inside Garden City; Lana said most are not currently inside city limits but many are adjacent and could be annexed, and that new residential developments typically require annexation.
Steve Cottrell, introduced as reporting on special projects, said the office had received a Department of Commerce RFP that required an extremely large building and a level of electrical demand the community could not support for that opportunity, and so staff did not pursue it. He also said staff completed a financial feasibility analysis for a proposed Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and Community Improvement District (CID) for a commercial project and assisted a property owner with a proposal for temporary police department offices (the submittal was recent and staff had not yet heard of competing offers).
The board did not take formal action on any specific project at the meeting; staff presentations focused on negotiations, site identification and fiscal-preparation work that staff said they will continue to pursue.
