Planners Recommend Approval For 78-Unit, 4-Story Apartment Building

    The Chadron Planning Commission last night gave a unanimous recommendation that the city council approve a proposed 4-story, 78-unit apartment building on Maple Street between 6th and 8th Streets. 

      The council will consider the nearly $11-million-dollar Heartland Flats Apartments from developer Park Street Apartments at its regular meeting next Monday night.

      Park Street is part of REV Development, which built Chadron’s Holiday Inn Express Hotel and proposed a nearly identical apartment building near Wilson Park last fall. 

     That project was rejected by the planning commission for multiple reasons, a move REV spokesman Mike Works says turned out to be better for the company.

Heartland Flats totals 77,000-square feet on 2.3-acres already with a 20,000-square foot L-shaped apartment building, a 2,400-square foot garage, and about 130 paved parking spots. The developers will seek $1.9-million dollars in TIF bonds from the city.

       The only objections raised last night came from a member of the public, architect Jerry Moss, who told the planners he didn’t think they had enough information about the building’s livability and its impact on the livability of the community.

     Moss said the 4-story proposal was too big with too many occupants, and asked why the developers couldn’t build 4 smaller buildings in different parts of Chadron. 

     Works says Heartland Flats fits the location, just west of two Chadron Housing Authority facilities – West Hills Villa and Royal Court.

Works also says Heartland Flats is the right size to meet Chadron’s housing needs and the economics of such projects.

Works says REV Development has had great success with nearly identical buildings elsewhere in Nebraska, including Columbus – which has had virtually a 100% occupancy rate since opening.

    He sees the primary market for Heartland Flats as young professionals, a group Northwest Nebraska Development Corporation Director Deb Cottier told the planners has been hard to attract to Chadron because of a lack of upper-range rental options.

2 thoughts on “Planners Recommend Approval For 78-Unit, 4-Story Apartment Building”

  1. $1.9 million dollars in TIF financing the “nearly $11 million Heartland Flats Apartments” equates to roughly 18% of the total financing required that is going to an out of area company that recently received 11% of reported total project cost financed by local TIF dollars. Chadron represents 64% of Dawes County population (5,206 out of 8,199) but only 28% of Dawes County’s taxable value ($274,632,972 out of total county value of $979,344,579). TIF is not a sound economic development tool especially in the state of Nebraska where property taxes are leaned on heavily for government funding. I urge council members to deny TIF funding to nonlocal company who will feel none of the burden by increased demands for services without funding that TIF will create.

  2. > He sees the primary market for Heartland Flats as young professionals, a group Northwest Nebraska Development Corporation Director Deb Cottier told the planners has been hard to attract to Chadron because of a lack of upper-range rental options.

    Young professional here. I left Chadron due to a lack of opportunities! Not due to a lack of “upper-range rental options”. Most of my classmates from CHS and CSC left for the same reason. I would be interested to see the paperwork behind Deb’s claim. Is there any evidence to back it up?

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