City strikes deal for 48th & O

 No comments  
 E-mail Story
 Print Story
  Share

 digg it!
 Facebook
 del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit

Text Size: 

Tools Sponsor

By DEENA WINTER / Lincoln Journal Star

City officials announced Thursday that an agreement has been reached to redevelop an abandoned car lot southeast of the 48th and O streets intersection into a Walgreen’s, West Gate Bank, Braeda Fresh Express Cafe and Runza.

Mayor Coleen Seng said the $10 million project will bring life back to the area, which has deteriorated into vacant, crumbling expanses peppered with light poles. Where's it at? Renderings: 1 | 2

This is just one more step in the process of redeveloping the area. The first step was the City Council’s vote in August to declare blighted a 42-acre area around 48th and O, the city’s second busiest intersection. That opens the door to tax increment financing and city-guided reinvigoration. TIF allows the portion of taxes generated from the increased value of the property to pay off bonds that are used to finance city improvements to the site.

[+]Enlarge

Seng

Seng

Carl Sjulin, president of West Gate Bank, said a joint venture comprised of West Gate Bank, Runza National, Inc. and Village Development, LLC has reached an “agreement in principal” to develop the site, investing more than $9 million. It will be Lincoln’s 12th Walgreen’s, fourth Braeda, eighth West Gate branch and 14th Runza.

The agreement calls for the development group to pay the appraised value of the property and for the city to use the estimated $500,000 in TIF generated by the development to make public improvements to the area, such as sidewalks, utility work, driveways, entrances and possibly demolition of buildings.

Real estate developer Tam Allan said virtually every development company in Lincoln and several in Omaha has tried to put together a deal on that corner, without success.

“Virtually everybody has taken a pass on this,” he said. “No one could put it together.”

Allan has developed several Walgreen’s in Lincoln, and said Walgreen’s has been repeatedly contacted over the years about building a store there, but he said his company had given up on the corner. Once the area was blighted, the city had the power to use its condemnation power if negotiations with the property owner failed. Eminent domain won’t be necessary, however, since the property owner agreed to sell for the appraised value of the property, Allan said.

“It just simply would not have happened,” without the city, Allan said.

He said if all goes well, the development should be open by spring of 2007. The redevelopment plan first must get the blessing of the City Council, which will hold a public hearing on the proposal Nov. 28.

48th and O street development

What happened? The mayor announced that the city has signed a purchase agreement with Julius Misle to buy nearly four acres southeast of the intersection of 48th and O streets, and then sell it to a development group that plans to build a Walgreen’s, West Gate Bank, Braeda Fresh Express Cafe and Runza.

What does it mean? The city’s help — and ability to use eminent domain if negotiations had failed —appears to have broken a logjam that prevented other developers from putting together a deal with Misle.

What’s next? The Lincoln City Council will hold a public hearing on the redevelopment agreement during its Nov. 28 meeting, which begins at 5:30 p.m.