News Briefs
NU Regents Approve $67.5 Million Athletics Facilities at UNO
The NU Board of Regents yesterday approved the next phase of the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s athletics campus masterplan located south of Center Street. It includes the a training facility that will be attached to Baxter Arena and a baseball/softball clubhouse. The $67.5 million project is privately funded. Construction will begin next year with occupancy planned for 2028.
Frontier Airlines Announced Nonstop Flights to Phoenix
Frontier Airlines will offer nonstop flights between Omaha’s Eppley Airfield and Phoenix Skyharbor International Airport starting March 25th. The seasonal nonstops will operate three times per week. Frontier will be the third airline to offer direct flights between Omaha and Phoenix. American and Southwest airlines offer daily, year-round service. Allegiant Airlines offers nonstops between Omaha and the nearby Mesa Gateway Airport. Frontier already offers direct flights between Omaha and Atlanta, Denver and Orlando.
Copal Reopens as Benjamin’s Neighborhood Kitchen
Copal Mexican Cuisine is reopening under new ownership as Benjamin’s Neighborhood Kitchen. The former restaurant at 3623 North 129th Street closed on November 30 before transitioning to an American-style dining concept. – Nicole Buntgen
Featured Project
Black Elk Flex Building in Papillion
Construction has gone vertical on the Black Elk building at 138th & Highway 370 in Papillion adjacent to Amazon’s regional distribution center. The 25,000 sq. ft. flex building will have two dock doors, 4 drive doors and 24-foot ceilings,...
Featured Stories
Drury Hotels Purchases Second Downtown Omaha Site
Drury Hotels purchased another developable lot in Downtown Omaha adjacent to the lot the company already owns Last year, Grow Omaha reported that Drury purchased the surface parking lot at 322 South 10th Street on the northwest corner of 10th & Harney Street from an entity affiliated with Embassy Suites. The purchase came with several restrictions including limitations of 252 hotel rooms, 4,000 sq. ft. of meeting space and an opening date no sooner than 2029. Embassy Suites operates a hotel one block to the south. At the end of last month, Drury closed on a $5.8 million purchase of a largely greenfield site at the southeast corner of 10th & Harney Street. Purchased from Conagra Brands, this 1.4-acre parcel has a paved trail, but otherwise has no other improvements. Currently, there are no recorded restrictions similar to the property across the intersection. The deed does include a restriction that no hotel under the upper midscale as defined by the STR Chain Scale can be...
Planning Board Considers Two Development Projects
The Omaha Planning Board considered two proposals this week for redevelopment projects in the city’s northeast quadrant. On the North 24th Street Historic District, Mount Moriah Baptist Church, the oldest predominantly African-American Baptist church in Omaha, is developing an 18,470 sq. ft. parcel of land on the northeast corner of 24th & Ohio Street. This parcel is just north of a planned multi-use development project headed by Carmen Tapio, founder of North End Teleservices. Mount Moriah plans to build a 15,000 sq. ft., 3-story, multi-use building called the Moriah Intergenerational Centre. According to a Tax Increment Financing application, the first floor will have two commercial bays and a multipurpose space that can be used as a basketball court or accommodate banquets with up to 185 seating or conferences with up to 250 seating. One commercial bay will be a 1,500 sq. ft. restaurant space for a fast-casual concept. The other commercial bay will be reserved a major retail...
Bellevue Bay Water Park Teams Up with Famous Toy Maker
The City of Bellevue is entering in a sub-licensing agreement to use Mattel branding in the Bellevue Bay Indoor Waterpark Park under development northwest of the U.S. Highways 34 & 75 interchange. According to a Bellevue Times article, the Bellevue Mayor Rusty Hike signed the agreement with the license management company yesterday. Under the agreement, the city will incorporate Mattel branded attractions, programming and merchandise at the $60 million waterpark. Popular Mattel brands include Barbie, Hot Wheels and Thomas & Friends. In November, Mattel announced that the brand would develop several Mattel Wonder Indoor Waterparks. The first is in Orlando, Fla., in collaboration with Martin Aquatics. Martin Aquatics’s portfolio includes Orlando’s Volcano Bay and The Ritz-Carlton Naples. Mattle is also working on bringing small-scale amusement parks incorporating branded attractions and rides. The brand is currently working on locations in Glendale, Ariz., and Bonner...
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Grow Omaha
Sports
The December 4th Sports Report
The World Boxing Council has stripped Terence Crawford of his super middleweight title, revoking his claim as the undisputed super middleweight champion of the world. Crawford unified all four major belts (World Boxing Association, World Boxing Council, International...
Visit
Omaha
Visit Omaha Showcases Meetings at Chicago Event
Omaha is taking its growing meetings industry presence to Chicago this week as four team members from Visit Omaha and two partners join more than 700 meeting professionals at Holiday Showcase. The two-day gathering from December 3 to 4, hosted by Association Forum,...
Omaha
Transportation
Grow Omaha Streetcar Topics: Public Open House December 11
The Omaha Streetcar Authority is hosting an open house to share updated information about ongoing utility relocations, upcoming track construction and other information on the new transit service. The open house will be on Thursday, December 11, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m...
Local
History
The Baum Iron Building Marks 145 Years in the Old Market
The three-story-tall, hand-painted Baum Iron sign facing 13th Street in the Old Market has been a local fixture for more than a century. Constructed in 1880, the building it adorns has housed only three businesses in its 145 years. Located at 1221 Harney Street, the...
Grow Omaha
Arts & Culture
The December 4th Arts and Culture Report
Omaha Performing Arts has announced the opening date for the Tenaska Center for Arts Engagement. It will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 19th, as well as a free open house March 22nd from noon to 4 p.m. The center is the final part to be added to the Dick and...
Greater Omaha
Chamber
Chamber Launches Fund for Midtown
The Greater Omaha Chamber has launched a business resiliency fund to support targeted small businesses during streetcar construction. The Midtown Small Business Resiliency Fund will distribute about $1 million, to qualifying businesses that have been most...
Non-Profit
News
The December 4th Non-Profit News
Giving Tuesday results are in! This year’s #GivingTuesday402 campaign raised more than $5 million for local nonprofits, fueling vital programs and services for over 500 nonprofits across the metro. More than 1,300 donations were made by donors who gave to a...
Omaha Community
Foundation
How Local Giving Powers Omaha
Trenton Magid and guest cohost Dave Fanslaw, the City of Omaha’s director of planning, sit down with Vanessa Denney, vice president of donor and philanthropic services at the Omaha Community Foundation. Their conversation explores Giving Tuesday, trends in charitable...
New Restaurants
Coming Soon
Benjamin’s Neighborhood Kitchen
3623 North 129th Street
Opening soon
Golden Turtle
3910 Harney Street
Now open
Revival House
16939 Wright Street
Now open
Very Important Pizza
2502 Farnam Street
Coming soon
New Retailers
Coming Soon
Shoeman’s Liquor & More
3737 Farnam Street
Now open
Westlake Ace Hardware
Shadow Lake Towne Center
Interior build-out underway
Vino Mas
2835 South 170th Plaza
Opening November 2026
Tee Box
Miracle Hills Plaza
Opening first quarter 2026
Restaurants Closing
Don & Millie’s
4430 Farnam St
Closing December 27
Pink Poodle
633 Old Lincoln Hwy, Crescent
Closed
Shaheen’s Afghan Cuisine
6121 Maple Street
Closing December 7
Pizzeria Davlo
14220 Fort Street
Closing December 6
Retailers Closing
Edens Preserve
Shops of Legacy
Permanently closed
Wall to Wall Wine & Spirits
12977 West Center Road
Closing October 13
At Home
Council Bluffs
Closing soon
CVS Pharmacy
8315 West Center Road
Closing August 19
Grow Omaha Eats
Grace Pizza and Shakes Holds Court—with a Verdict of Darn Good Pizza
Grace Pizza and Shakes opened in October 2024 in the historic Sarpy County Courthouse, built in 1875. It later became a bank and then an auto repair shop. According to business partner Joe Gomez, legend has it a man tried to burn the courthouse down in its early…
Pivot Prime Started As a Love Story, Now Serves Its Own
The story of how Pivot Prime came to be begins with a first date. Gregg and Ashley Young dined in a booth at Mahogany Prime several years ago. It’s a place they kept returning to over the years, making Friday date nights an important staple in their…
Inkwell Pours a Mix of Literature, Legacy & Liquor
Tyler Schaeffer opened Inkwell with his brother, Jonathan, in April 2017, after the owners of a scissors-and-scotch-style barbershop in Countryside Village decided to cut their space in half. The Schaeffer brothers stepped into the former barroom…
Grow Omaha Flicks
Rental Family Finds Warmth in Make-Believe
★ ★ ★ Rental Family is a heartwarming story about a struggling actor named Phillip Vanderploeg (Brendan Fraser), who’s been living abroad in Tokyo for two years, waiting for a big break. He’s been working in gimmicky commercials—his most recent as a tube-of-toothpaste, super hero who fights off cavities. It might pay the bills, but Phillip is feeling the pangs of desire for…
Eternity Doesn’t Last Forever, Thankfully
★ ★ Eternity takes a comedic, alternate look at the afterlife, in which the newly dead are transported to a large city where they’re given seven days to decide what “eternity” they want to live in forever. They’re given “afterlife coordinators,” AC’s for short, whose jobs are to help people pick where they’re going to go. This is a place where brochures are handed out and salespeople pitch…
Sisu: Road to Revenge Is a Brutal Blast of Pure Action
★ ★ ★ ★ Sisu: Road to Revenge is the sequel to the 2022 word-of-mouth hit Sisu. In the first film, Aatami (Jorma Tommila) has just left World War II and is mining near a riverbed with a pickaxe. He finds a massive vein of gold, breaks it into chunks and puts it in his satchels. He gets on his horse and begins the ride…
