North Platte City Council to consider mall renovations

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) - As plans to redevelop the Platte River Mall move forward, shoppers may be asked to pay a little extra to help finance those upgrades.

It’s part of REV development’s plan to designate the mall as an ‘Enhanced Employment Area’ allowing the city to institute a 1.95 percent occupation tax on top of the city’s 7 percent sales tax on non-grocery purchases. The designation would be restricted to the mall district and could generate between four to seven million dollars over a 20 year period.

Mike Works with REV Development of Lincoln says the 49-year-old building is in need of infrastructure work.

“What people are finding is there is a certain level you can get to on a tax where people will change their shopping, but in reality, people don’t change their shopping ideas where they shop based on couple percent; that just isn’t going to change things,” said Works. “If you are giving them what we will be doing, a better shopping experience and a mixed use development and if our tenants and retailers aren’t worried about it, then we’re certainly not worried about it changing people’s shopping habits. We expect this to be a place where people want to shop, hang out and live and everything else.”

The funding mechanism is used by cities such as Omaha, Lincoln and Norfolk to help pay for their projects. The proposal will be presented to the city council on April 6.