DHHS signs lease in Hastings Theatre District, progress made on construction

HASTINGS, Neb. — With the namesake amenity now open in the Hastings Theatre District, developers are turning their full attention to what’s next.

Perry Reid Properties is handling the redevelopment of the former Imperial Mall, which includes a shuttered department store and closed grocery store. President Craig Reid says renovation work is ramping up on the old K-Mart building 

“The K-Mart building has moved ahead of everything else. I’ve had a ton of interest in the K-Mart renovation that we’re doing, so we’re excited about that," Reid said. "We’re hopeful to get a grocery store out this direction on the development so we’re working down that pipeline too.”

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services has signed the first lease in the building. DHHS plans to move up to 75 employees to the space.

The developers are now leasing a standalone commercial building with six bays, exterior renovation is in progress on the old Sun Mart, and the 78-unit apartment campus is scheduled to be finished in December.

Reid describes the Theatre District as a live, work and play development.

“We want activities to be all day, so employees here during the day can bring people out, so you have food service and stuff that comes out here. Then we have housing that’s out here and then we have nightlife that will take place," Reid said. "We want people to live here and then have something to do in the evening, too.”

It took the movie theatre about 2.5 years to open but Reid says the next phases will move quicker, and deliver a big payoff for Hastings.

“I think it’s different than anything that’s been in Hastings," Reid said. "You don’t have to go to another town, is our goal, to give people something to do with their children, families and adults.”