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Grow Hays reports progress on Grove community center, housing and RHID application
Summary
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams told commissioners construction has begun on the Grove community center, bids for necessary infrastructure were lower than expected, a greenhouse grant is pending, and the organization has an RHID application with the city to finance infrastructure for new housing.
Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams briefed the Ellis County Commission on several development initiatives in Hays and surrounding communities, including progress at the Grove, housing plats and a proposed retail project.
Williams said construction on the Grove community center started Aug. 21 and the contractor’s 330‑day contract would put completion around next July if the schedule holds. He reported engineer estimates for residential street, sewer and water work were about $5.4 million but bids came back a little over $3 million; Sporer Land of Oakley won the bid roughly $300,000 less than the local alternative.
Williams emphasized the importance of including a storm shelter in the community center as a nonnegotiable safety feature and said the next visible work will be poured‑concrete shelter construction.
Williams also described several other projects: the micro‑factory coworking space for manufacturers has interest but no tenants yet; Wheatland Drive infrastructure is complete with 12 homes built and sold and another six to start in November; a 21‑acre plat to the north could yield about 97 lots; and Grow Hays purchased 9.1 acres north of Home Depot for a proposed 60,000–70,000 sq. ft. build‑to‑suit retail center, with letters of intent but no signed leases yet.
On housing incentives, Williams explained the Reinvestment Housing Incentive District (RHID) process and financial mechanics: the RHID can capture property tax increment created by improvements and return a portion to the developer over a 25‑year period to recoup infrastructure costs. Using The Grove as an example he described a scheme where raw‑land taxes of about $500 annually could become $200,000–$300,000 annually at full build‑out and the RIHD would allow some portion of that increment to be repaid to the developer to recover roughly $3.4 million in infrastructure investment.
Williams said Grow Hays is pursuing grant funding for a greenhouse adjacent to the community center intended for intergenerational programming and expected a decision on that application in two to three weeks.
Commissioners asked about pricing for new house lots (Williams cited ranges from about $2.25 million in earlier phases to $3.25 million on Wheatland Drive for specific homes, with most in the $2.5–$2.75 million range) and whether retail units would be built only with executed leases (Williams confirmed a build‑to‑suit approach). He closed by thanking the commission for past support and asking for continued backing on RHID and related initiatives.
