The same man that developed the Magnolia Village Apartment complex in South Salina, which already has some tenants moving in and others on a wait-list, has another big vision.
Rick Worner is spearheading a group to redevelop the Central Mall. He presented his $146 million “Destination Salina” project to the Salina City Commission during a study session Monday afternoon.
Worner said two of the people in his group, Chad and Ryan Holland, have been successful with similar mall projects, in which they “de-mall a mall”. The group is currently under contract to buy the Central Mall, the out parcels the mall owns, and some of the surrounding vacant land. He said, realistically, the mall is currently 60 percent vacant.
Key to the project is legislation which went into effect in July allowing the use of state STAR Bonds for mall projects like this. In order to qualify, a plan must be submitted to the Kansas Department of Commerce, and be approved by the Commerce Secretary, by December 31st.
Worner has big plans, which include a convention center hotel on the south side. It would be attached to the vacant JC Penney space, which will be turned into a 60,000 square foot convention center. Worner indicated there is already a hotel chain ready to sign-off on the project.
The plan will make use of some of the existing space in the mall, including the AMC Theatres. They will be refurbished with state of the art screens, sound, and seating, which will include recliners.
There are also plans to upgrade the existing Salina District Eat and Play entertainment center that’s already there.
A new addition would be a golf and entertainment facility with climate controlled hitting bays and mini-golf. Worner said though it’s not a done deal, there is already a company interested in doing this. Included also are plans for pickle ball courts and sand volleyball, along with family-style games.
Worner is looking at attracting some new national tenants to the mall, and already has interest from some. He said it’s too early to name them, but said they are “home run names”.
Worner also has plans for five new restaurants, and indicted there are already four that are interested.
A tracking company has completed a study, which found there were 3.4 million visitors to the mall last year. Worner said that number needs to get to 4 million a year to make the mall attractive to the national retailers.
The $146,180,000 project would be a public-private partnership. There would be several funding mechanisms, none of which include money directly from the City of Salina. They include:
- STAR Bonds
- Transient Guest Tax
- Community Improvement District
- Tax Increment Financing
- Sales Tax Exemption on Construction Materials
City Commissioner Mike Hoppock said one of the more appealing things is that other than the sales tax exemption to construction materials, there is really no cost to the City of Salina. “There really is no risk to the taxpayer” he said. He also noted that the intent of the project is not to compete with Downtown Salina, but rather both are sustainable.
City Commissioner Bill Longbine noted “these opportunities don’t come along very often”.
Commissioners supported moving forward with the project. The next step is for Salina City Manager Jacob Wood to work with Worner on the STAR Bond portion of the plan. Wood anticipates a public STAR Bond hearing within the next 30 to 45 days.
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