Sorensen Park Plaza project advances
The proposed Sorensen Park Plaza development is moving forward - again - despite continued threat of a lawsuit.
But this time, the project aiming to replace the vacant Vickers plant with commercial development appears to have stronger legal backing.
Representatives of an existing development nearby, Benson Park Plaza at 72nd Street and Ames Avenue, contended in a lawsuit that the City of Omaha was wrong to declare the plant blighted. That declaration cleared the way for Sorensen Park Plaza, at 72nd Street and Sorensen Parkway, to receive $8.5 million from a property tax break.
In an order Tuesday, Douglas County District Judge Joseph Troia ruled in support of the city's use of Nebraska's tax increment financing law. He said the law "was not illegally applied in this matter."
"This is huge," said Jim Otis, a Sorensen Park Plaza developer.
After Troia found problems with other parts of the initial approval, the developers withdrew their original proposals and have resubmitted plans.
Tuesday, the City Council reiterated its initial support, approving a package of items to implement the project plans. The council voted 6-1, with Franklin Thompson against, to change Omaha's master growth plan, authorize the preliminary project layout and declare the Vickers plant blighted and substandard.
Jim Sherrets, a lawyer representing Benson Park Plaza and the Seldin Company, continued to question use of the tax increment financing law, saying the area's vitality didn't fit with a blighted label.
Sherrets assured a legal challenge if the city approved the Sorensen Park Plaza plans. He also said he would be challenging Troia's Tuesday ruling.
Said Randy Lenhoff, Seldin's president, "This judge isn't the Supreme Court. There's a long way to go on this."
Sorensen Park Plaza gets green light under legal threat
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