Nebraska Crossing owner, John Cook say USA Volleyball considering move to Gretna

The developer behind the 2,000-acre Good Life District near Gretna said Wednesday he’s close to a deal that would bring the U.S. Olympic volleyball program to his development.

He also said he’s attempting to lure a National Hockey League team.

Rod Yates, owner and operator of the Nebraska Crossing shopping center, told a state panel Wednesday said he is “in the final stages” of putting together an agreement to relocate USA Volleyball facilities from Anaheim, California.

“It’s going to be about a $150- to $200-million-dollar facility,” Yates said. “And they’re going to relocate 100 Olympic athletes. You’re going to see all their corporate staff, their training staff, relocate to Gretna and be a big part of our community.”

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Attempts to reach USA Volleyball Wednesday afternoon were unsuccessful.

Yates revealed his plans during a hearing on Legislative Bill 1374, which would refine the tax incentives that developers are eligible to receive when they form a district under a law passed last year.

A Good Life District along Interstate 80 between Omaha and Lincoln was approved by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development this month.

Lawmakers are still fine-tuning the process by which developers and cities would collaborate to use a portion of the state’s sales tax revenue to incentivize new businesses to build in these districts.

The districts are aimed at attracting unique and tourist-oriented businesses.

Yates said that after the law was passed last year, he called John Cook, head volleyball coach at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and asked him how to bring USA Volleyball to Nebraska.

Yates said the coach put him in contact with USA Volleyball CEO Jamie Davis.

Cook also testified at the hearing, saying he helped bring people with the program out for a visit that included the Volleyball Day event at Memorial Stadium, which drew 92,003 spectators and broke the world record for a women’s sporting event.

“We made the call and got them out here,” he said. “They came to the stadium match with several players and coaches and just fell in love with Nebraska.”

Cook described the facilities in California as “abysmal.”

The team doesn’t have places to live, he said. This would be a “one-stop place” for them, where they could buy houses, he said.

“To me it’s just a beautiful opportunity for a USA program. And volleyball, as you know, is pretty big now and getting bigger.”

Yates said he’s also pitching his district as a home for an NHL team.

He said Creighton University economic professor Ernie Goss estimated that the Good Life District in Gretna would draw 16 million to 18 million visitors a year, drive $2.2 billion in annual retail sales, create 40,000 full-time time jobs and have 18,000 full-time residents.

Yates said the two of them worked together on an economic-impact study for the National Hockey League. Goss ranked the existing franchises and all the proposed expansion franchises, and Nebraska ranked “number one and number two in every category,” Yates said.

They provided the information to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who has acknowledged that someone in Omaha sent him a long email expressing interest in a team.

“We shared that with Mr. Bettman, and Mr. Bettman invited us this Friday to come to New York with our team and present the opportunity to be in the Good Life District,” he said.

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