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Like many cities around Nebraska, North Platte has struggled with housing issues that community leaders say have been around for decades.
And with a new surge in economic development and employers moving into the city, the need for housing has been exacerbated.
But the city of about 23,000 has attempted to be proactive.
The City of North Platte and the North Platte Area Chamber and Development Corporation launched an aggressive campaign eight years ago to improve housing affordability and availability. The coalition created the “shot-in-the-arm" housing initiative, which incentivizes developers of homes.
“What we did is offer an incentive for anyone to build a spec home, and we then modify that later, that anybody (that) would build a multi-unit, apartment complex, they could qualify for funds. If anybody did upper floor housing in the downtown area, they could qualify for some of the funds,” said Gary Person, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce.
Person said the program wasn’t about just building, but rather recruiting more developers to the city to build housing.
In the first phase of the project, 2015-2017, 48 units were constructed in the city. The second phase, from 2018-2020, brought 250 new units. Phase three promises another 175 units.
One of the housing projects in the current phase is being built by Bonneville Homes of Aurora.
The North Platte Chamber and Development Corp. purchased land on the north side of the city using tax incentive money aiming to cut the cost of home prices. The corporation developed infrastructure and sold lots to Bonneville for $1,000 per lot.
“That saved $35,000, $40,000 right off the top. But we had to be guaranteed that the savings went directly for the reduction of the home price,” Person said.
Bonneville Homes has constructed 12 units and plans to build 39 more.
Those new housing projects have come at the right time, as new businesses, including the Sustainable Beef plant and its roughly 900 employees, have moved into the city.
It’s part of what local leaders say is an estimated $2.3 billion in economic development in Lincoln County. Pearson says there is new energy within the city.
“Now all our economic indicators are flying off the charts at an all-time records,” he said. “The community is all pumped up about everything going on here. We got $2.3 billion. New projects on the ground moving forward are in the advanced planning stage. And, so things are, a lot better.”