LINCOLN — After months-long resistance by Gov. Jim Pillen, a state board he leads on Thursday approved the use of a state sales tax incentive to help build an Omaha professional soccer stadium and a Lincoln volleyball complex.
The action of the Sports Arena Facility Financing Assistance Act Board drew excitement from representatives of the two urban projects. However, nine other proposals from groups and cities across the state were rejected. A few had been waiting for a board decision for nearly 18 months.
The pair slated to benefit from the so-called turnback tax:
- A $140 million open-air downtown Omaha soccer stadium, a partnership of the City of Omaha and Union Omaha professional soccer franchise. The 6,500-seat facility is to be surrounded by a privately developed district of housing, retail and entertainment venues.
- A $17 million volleyball-centric youth sports complex in Lincoln, a partnership of the City of Lincoln and nonprofit Nebraska for Volleyball (N4VB). Up to 12 indoor courts are envisioned near 30th Street and Folkways Boulevard.
“It’s an exciting next step for us,” Union Omaha general manager Alexis Boulos said following the meeting. Like a soccer ball, she said, the group will be moving “fast and furious” to break ground in the fall on the project that will serve its existing professional men’s team and a new professional women’s team.
‘Sounds like politics’
Thursday’s board meeting in a conference room of the Governor’s Office was brief, lasting less than a half hour, with no public comment.
It’s unclear how many of the other projects — spanning the state from rural Valentine to suburban La Vista — will materialize without a boost from the turnback tax…