TIF to be requested for new health facility

McCOOK, Neb. - Elevate Wellness and Physical Therapy is planning to construct a new facility just west of Southwest Nebraska Dental Center on West J Street with the help of tax increment financing.

Elevate opened in February 2021, and has grown “exponentially” owner Emily Young, PT, DPT, CLC told the McCook Planning Commission during a hearing on Monday night. She and her husband, Jeremy, researched existing buildings, but could not find one that the owner was willing to sell and had the desired square footage to meet their needs. So, they purchased a property and plan to build a 10,000-square-foot facility.

Young told the planning commission that the business started as a physical therapy clinic, but always with the mindset to treat the whole mind and body. She said Elevate has just hired five more healthcare professionals to move into McCook to provide services, and once patient caseload capacity is full, they will be out of room. The business will include physical therapy, occupational and speech therapy, nurse practitioner, and physician assistant, as well as wellness services like yoga, pilates, and personal training.

The Youngs are asking the City of McCook to issue a Tax Increment Financing Agreement and Re-development Agreement for the property which is in the city’s Redevelopment Area #3, created in 2013. Other TIF projects included in that redevelopment area include Holiday Inn Express and Cobblestone Inn.

City Manager Nate Schneider told the planning commission that the project “checks all of the boxes” for TIF funding. The amount of TIF-eligible indebtedness is $239 thousand, which will be paid through the payment of future property taxes. The completed project assessed valuation is estimated to be $1.33 million. The planning commission voted unanimously to approve the resolution, which will now go before the McCook City Council on Monday, Sept. 19.