Uncertainty piles on Gretna good life district as Yates pulls out of current deal

LINCOLN — Rod Yates, the approved applicant for Gretna’s good life district, has notified the state that he believes the transformational Nebraska tourist magnet project he envisioned is no longer viable under existing terms with the state.
Yates had told the Nebraska Examiner he was considering terminating his application. On Monday, the Department of Economic Development confirmed that he had filed the paperwork to do so.
“Rod Yates has notified DED that he believes the project is no longer viable under the Good Life Transformational Projects Act and will not be developed as proposed in the application and approved by the Department,” spokeswoman Kate Ellingson said in a written statement.
The impact of Yates’ move is not totally clear, Gretna attorney Mike Rogers said. Yates has indicated that he will not give up on his mega vision for the site, but would pursue tweaks in state law to better target the state incentive toward his vision for the property.
City and state officials said that Yates’ latest move does not automatically dissolve the approved 2,000-acre good life district and its eligibility for the type of large-scale state incentives the Legislature provided under the act.
The Gretna good life district boundaries approved by the state early last year, based on Yates’ application, include and surround the Yates-owned Nebraska Crossing shopping center near Interstate 80 and Highway 31.

In light of Yates’ decision, Ellingson said the agency now will hear from Gretna city officials and “other interested parties” including multiple property owners and potential developers within the approved district boundaries.
“DED has the authority to terminate the good life district if the department determines the approved project is no longer viable under the act and that termination of the district is in the best interests and economic welfare of the State of Nebraska,” Ellingson said.
Gretna Mayor Mike Evans said he received notification Monday of Yates’ decision and was “disappointed that the initial applicant of the proposed district could not fulfill his obligations as he submitted.”
But Evans said the City of Gretna will continue to work with the DED to show the potential value of other developers’ projects to the state — “which will provide evidence for the continuation of the district.”
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“We do feel there are multiple developers within the district that are capable of delivering a transformative project to this district by the state’s guidelines,” Evans said.
Yates did not return a reporter’s requests for comment Monday. He had told the Examiner previously that he would not stop seeking a way to fulfill the idea he has been working on for more than two years. He said he likely would pursue new legislation that would allow his project to materialize at the site but with a partner other than the City of Gretna.
Over a few years, Yates’ vision has grown to, potentially, a $5 billion youth sports-focused campus he hopes will span up to 4,500 acres. At least one sticking point to his idea was that he owned only a slice of the proposed project site.
Yates’ notification to the DED is the latest twist in the ongoing drama regarding the state’s largest and highest-profile good life district. It comes after a stalemate between Gretna officials and Yates over the terms of his mega proposal, in the wake of criticism by the Nebraska lawmaker who sponsored the good life districts law — and as a Jan. 14 special mail-in election wraps up related to the usage of the state incentives.
Under an update to the Good Life Transformational Projects Act, voter approval is required to create an “economic development program” that guides the district and essentially creates a way to recapture state sales tax revenue that the state gave up to help develop and grow good life districts. State law allows for five such districts across the state.
Lawmakers, as part of the good life legislation, cut the state sales tax within good life district boundaries from 5.5% to 2.75%, the idea being that the difference would be used to help development efforts within the districts.
Gretna officials have said the Jan. 14 special election is not an endorsement of any specific project or developer. Rather, they have said, it is so the city can recapture the reduced state sales tax to reinvest in the district.
