Upscale condominiums are coming to the Old Market.
Sentinel Property Group, which has redeveloped several downtown Omaha buildings over the years, is converting the former Cornerstone Lofts building at 1105 Harney Street into 29 condominiums. The building is now known as Cornerstone The Residences.
The 5-story brick building is located along the future streetcar route, and in addition to residential units, is home to Jams American Grill on the ground level. Just west of Jams, the former Mouth of the South space will soon be occupied by Sakura Ichiban Co., a Japanese restaurant owned by David Utterback, and Anna’s Place, a speakeasy relocating from the Hotel Indigo.
Built in the 1880s as a mercantile warehouse, the building was designed in the Romanesque Revival style and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was constructed by businessman Ezra Millard, a former mayor of Omaha for whom Millard, Nebraska was named. The building is held up by massive Douglas fir timber beams and a series of internal brick arches.
Sentinel Property Group bought the Cornerstone building three years ago and ran it as an apartment until last fall. Once the apartment leases expired, renovations began. The project was designed by DeOld Andersen Architecture. The construction contractor is Echelon Homes. PJ Morgan Real Estate is handling condo sales.
Nine different condo floor plans are available, starting at 1,197 sq. ft. and $590,000. One-, two- and three-bedroom units are available. Many of the units feature exposed brick walls and high ceilings.
“The design if less urban loft in favor of a more sophisticated finish – while still keeping the historic exposed brick,” said Ryan Ellis, CEO of PJ Morgan Real Estate.”
A one-bedroom, fully furnished model unit demonstrates this exposed-brick-and-sophisticated-finish design dichotomy. Though condo sales just kicked off, a buyer has already closed on a penthouse unit.
Multi-family construction has been booming in the downtown area for quite some time, but almost all of it has been rental units instead of owned condos. Cornerstone’s 29 new condo units would be the equivalent of 63 percent of all residential condo units built in the entire Omaha market in all of 2025.
“While there’s been a lot of development in the downtown market, there has not been a condo project of any significant size after the Great Recession,” said Eric Wieseler, owner of Sentinel Property Group. “This building had the location, historic character and parking asset on the lower level that made it a viable condo project.”
Photo by Brad Williams
