Phelps County Development Corporation, Courtesy
HOLDREGE — In April, Holdrege residents learned that one of its two grocery stores, Holdrege Market Place, would be closing. A few days later, it was announced that Hy-Vee would be coming to Holdrege.
Now, Holdrege residents are anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new grocery store, and the property owner where it is located (Holdrege Plaza on north Hwy. 183) said construction and remodeling will begin soon.
Jay Noddle of Noddle Companies in Omaha said he expects construction and remodeling work to begin in the next few weeks on the Hy-Vee store. He confirmed that the new store will occupy the same space where Holdrege Market Place had been and not the former Shopko building, which has been vacant for several years.
While Hy-Vee has yet to announce which brand of store it will open in Holdrege, Noddle said the Hy-Vee name has the potential to attract other reputable retailers to locate in its vicinity.
“We wouldn’t have made the decisions we made if we didn’t feel like it was in the best long-term interest of the property and therefore the community and our investors,” Noddle said. “Sometimes you have to press the restart button and that’s what happened with this property. If we weren’t committed to Holdrege, we wouldn’t have made these decisions.”
Noddle did not have an estimated timeframe on when the new Hy-Vee would open.
Noddle did not renew the lease for long-time tenant Holdrege Market Place earlier this year, instead leasing the space to Hy-Vee. The Holdrege Market Place closed in July leaving three vacant retail spaces in the plaza.
Noddle said he is actively working to fill the former Shopko space and the former Sail Inn Space. Verizon Wireless, Gourmet House and La Hacienda continue to lease spaces in the development. He said the pandemic and now rising interest rates have slowed the process.
“We are spending a lot of money to help Hy-Vee get into place and to make the rest of the property more desirable,” Noddle said.
The goal is to have the entire development 100 percent occupied, he said.
“When we have something that is far enough along and doesn’t break any confidentiality rules, we will announce those,” Noddle said.
Noddle recently attended the International Conference for Shopping Centers conference in Las Vegas in May as did Phelps County Development Corporation Executive Director Ron Tillery. Noddle and Tillery teamed up to meet with potential retailers at the expo in attempts to bring new business to Holdrege.
“Our investment in Holdrege continues on,” Noddle said. “We are doing everything we can to bring different and bigger and better opportunities to the marketplace.”
Noddle said Noddle Companies was founded in 1971 and has about 170 projects in 19 states. In Nebraska, some of the towns with Noddle properties include Omaha, Bellevue, Lincoln, York, Kearney, Lexington, Holdrege, Chadron, Alliance and Gering. The company also has properties in South Dakota, the front range of Colorado, Iowa and southern Minnesota,
The company was founded by Noddle’s father, and he said the backbone of the company was originally building properties in small towns like Holdrege. Now, it has expanded to larger cities like Omaha and Denver. Noddle said the company has sold some of the properties but still sees potential in Holdrege.
“Holdrege is a community where we’ve chosen not to do that (sell), rather roll up our sleeves and see what an extreme makeover results in,” Noddle said.
