Council approves TIRZ changes and Chapter 380 agreement language for Grandscape hotel-convention project

The Colony City Council on Dec. 2 approved amendments to the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) financing plan for Grandscape and took steps to authorize a Chapter 380-style agreement framework for a hotel and convention center proposed by LMG Ventures LLC, an entity associated with Nebraska Furniture Mart.

Tim Miller, who presented the TIRZ supplement, described the amendment as a two-part change: it sets aside $2,500,000 in capital repair funds for the Grandscape site, to be provided as $500,000 per year once bonds are satisfied, and it updates terminology used in the financing documents (changing references from “master development agreement” to a Chapter 380 agreement). Miller said the set-aside is meant to address larger capital rehabilitation needs — ‘‘the bridges, the roads, the striping’’ — that are not covered by the property owner’s PID maintenance program.

Miller also outlined the year’s recommended payments from excess sales-tax revenues tied to TIRZ 1: Type B payment of about $1,289,000; Type A payment of about $1,293,000; and an LDC/TIRG payment near $5,235,000. He said those excess sales tax dollars will be applied to private financing reimbursement and the newly created repair set-aside. "This does not cost the taxpayer anything," Miller said, noting the payments come from site-generated revenues.

Council also considered a Chapter 380-style agreement with LMG Ventures LLC for a hotel and convention center on a 13.6-acre tract (Lot 3R, Block A). Staff described the anticipated structure as one in which the municipality would own the land (the transcript used the phrase "own the dirt") and may own the convention center building while a private developer would own the hotel and operate the connected facilities under lease or other arrangements. The agreement contemplates state economic incentives — including directing the 6.25% state sales-tax rebate for qualified establishments in proximity to a furniture store to the developer and applying 70% of certain state sales-tax receipts from connected development to the project — and is contingent on a private letter ruling (PLR) from the state comptroller.

Staff noted timing benchmarks in the draft: the agreement anticipates a developer will be secured within eight months of a favorable PLR and that the hotel and convention center would be open within 48 months of that PLR. Council members asked questions about operations and management; staff said decisions such as outsourcing management would depend on the final size and scope.

Council moved to approve the ordinance amendment supplement, the related payment resolution, and to authorize the Chapter 380 agreement as revised and subject to final review by the city manager and city attorney. Each motion was seconded and adopted; the transcript records the approvals but does not include a roll-call tally.