An extreme blight designation would allow homeowners in the Belmont area to qualify for $5,000 state tax credits.
City officials are seeking to blight two large swaths of northwest Lincoln in an effort to help homeowners and possibly spur more residential development.
The Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Commission last week recommended approval of both blighted and extremely blighted status for about 2,200 acres in the Belmont area and approximately 1,750 acres in the Air Park area. The proposals will go in front of the City Council sometime next month.
The extremely blighted status, which can be applied to blighted areas where the unemployment rate is at least twice the state average and 20% or more of residents live in poverty, opens up additional tax incentives for both developers and homeowners.
Homeowners in extremely blighted areas qualify for a $5,000 state property tax credit if they live in their homes.
“That was the driving force,” in the city seeking to blight the two areas, Urban Development Director Dan Marvin said.
In most cases, blight designations are driven by developers who are looking to build a building or redevelop an existing property and want to be able to use tax-increment funding to cover some of the costs.
The city has occasionally in the past sought to blight an area to spur redevelopment, as it did about 15 years ago with a large portion of West O Street.
But Marvin said this is the first time to his knowledge the city has sought new blight designations specifically to help homeowners.
The move was made possible by a 2019 change in state law that created the extreme blight designation, opening up the $5,000 tax credit.
Last year, the City Council approved blight designations in some areas that were already blighted, including downtown and the North 27th corridor.
In addition to the tax credit for individual homeowners, the extreme blight designation also allows developers building affordable housing projects to get preference for Nebraska Affordable Housing Trust Fund grants and loans.
Developers doing projects in extreme blighted areas now also qualify for 20-year payback periods on tax-increment financing instead of the normal 15 years.
That can generate extra funds to pay for approved costs such as site acquisition, demolition and energy-efficiency improvements.
Both areas under consideration include mostly older homes and buildings, although the Air Park area does include Arnold Elementary School and some areas that have homes that were built more recently.
Marvin said the biggest complaints he’s heard from people is that they worry that a blight designation will lower their property values, but history shows that isn’t the case.
“We haven’t seen property values go down in areas that are blighted,” he said.
The 10 tallest buildings in Lincoln
10. Wells Fargo Center
The Wells Fargo building is listed at 148 feet tall by Emporis, although a 1976 Journal Star article lists the height at 173 feet.
9. Terminal Building
The Terminal Building at 10th and O was built in 1916. It is 10 stories and 150 feet tall.
8. Georgian Place
Georgian Place (pictured facing northeast) houses a portion of the downtown YMCA at 11th and P Streets. The apartment building is 11 stories tall and 152 feet. It was built in 1926.
7. University Towers
University Towers, originally known as the Stuart Building, is 13 floors and 158 feet tall. It was completed in 1929. It stands at 13th and P streets.
6. Abel Hall
Abel Residence Hall at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is estimated to be 161 feet tall.
5. Sharp Building
The Sharp Building, 206 S. 13th St., is 16 floors and 166 feet tall. It was built in 1927.
4. Graduate Hotel
The Graduate Hotel at 9th and P streets is an estimated 198 feet tall.
3. U.S. Bank building
The U.S. Bank building was built in 1969 at 13th and M streets. It is 20 stories tall and 220 feet high.
2. Lied Place
Developers plan to build the $30 million Lied Place Residences, a 20-story retail, office and residential project, on the north side of the Que Place Garage at 12th and Q streets. The building would be 240 feet tall.
1. State Capitol
The Nebraska State Capitol dominates the skyline in Lincoln, including looking west from 28th and J streets. The Capitol has 15 floors above ground and is 400 feet tall. It was completed in 1932 after 10 years of construction; the cost was $9.8 million in 1932 dollars.
The Capitol stays Lincoln’s tallest building because the Lincoln Municipal Code puts height restrictions on structures within the Capitol Environs District.
Reach the writer at 402-473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com.
On Twitter @LincolnBizBuzz.