State Officially Approves ‘Good Life District’ for Bellevue Bay Waterpark Area

The City of Bellevue announced today that their application for the Nebraska Good Life District under the Nebraska Good Life Transformational Act has been approved.

The establishment of the Good Life District, near the intersection of Highway 75 and Highway 34,  will center on the new-to-market, regionally unique, City owned, Bellevue Bay Indoor Waterpark. The 100,000 square foot indoor, retractable roof, water park will be connected to adjacent hotels, dining, retail, and other recreation venues by a climate-controlled walkway. This will be the region’s first year-round all-inclusive aquatic attraction. The Good Life District will also include commercial and other retail opportunities around the REACH or NC3 project, focusing on local and regional visitors.

Bellevue Director of Economic and Community Development Harrison Johnson said, “The Good Life District’s approval will allow the City to fund infrastructure and provide tax relief from revenues gained by recreation and tourism in the District. The District’s boundaries include the land owned by the City just Northwest of Highway 75 and 34. It also includes the surrounding agricultural land on both sides of Highway 75. The District’s anchor project is the City-owned Bellevue Bay Indoor Waterpark, and we’re planning to start construction this year.”

According to a statement from the city of Bellevue, “The Bellevue Good Life District is the State’s only Good Life District where the City is the applicant. The City plans to use funds from occupation fees from the Good Life District to fund infrastructure, and recreational development within the District itself, and will be the primary source of funding for the Bellevue Bay Indoor Water Park. Finally, the City plans to use revenue generated from the Good Life District to provide much-needed property tax relief to Bellevue residents.”

In a Bellevue Times interview with Bellevue Mayor Rusty Hike earlier this year, Hike explained the tax benefit of being a designated Good Life District, “Once we are a Good Life District, the state of Nebraska will drop the sales tax that they normally collect in half – which would amount to 2.75%. That money, instead of going to the state, will be used to pay the waterpark bonds, in addition to waterpark profits,: said Hike. “The ‘Good Life District’ is a zone – a defined area that would basically end up being the four corners of Highway 75 and Highway 34 and then the port authority, which would be around where Highway 34 meets the river.”

The full interview from February 8, 2024 with Mayor Hike can be found HERE.

The city said it is working with many business partners to build a unique entertainment and recreation location for Nebraskans and visitors alike.

[Editor’s Note: Here is a link to the 47 page waterpark agreement between the city of Bellevue and American Resort Management: CLICK HERE]