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 tenant to meet community needs, like a shipping store. The second floor will have five flexible spaces that can be used for classrooms, training rooms and community meeting spaces. The third floor will have five to seven office spaces that can be used for existing businesses or emerging entrepreneurs.
The third floor will also have an open-air event space. The developer is requesting $1.1 million in TIF to help finance the $6.5 million project, which is estimated to be completed by fall 2027.
The other project is located along North Saddle Creek Road. That’s where a local developer plans Saddle Creek Marketplace, which would dramatically change a retail site currently anchored by a Family Fare store at 820 North Saddle Creek Road.
The developer is seeking rezoning of the property to TOD-MX-2 in addition to applying for a $9 million TIF loan to help finance the $103 million project. In addition to Family Fare, the site includes a multitenant commercial building along the east side 46th Street, north of the Family Fare, and a smaller commercial building along Saddle Creek where Gyro Kings is located.
The project will entail up to five phases. The first phase will be the construction of a multi-family apartment building sandwiched between the backside of the Family Fare building and California Street. The building will have two levels of enclosed parking totaling 108 parking spaces. The upper four floors will have 138 apartment units, including studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units.
The second phase will be the renovation of the Family Fare building into an updated multi-tenant, retail building and resurfacing of the tired surface parking lot. The building would be reconfigured to house three tenants in 18,000-to-20,000 sq. ft. retail bays. Potential tenants have already expressed interest.
Phase 3 will include replacing the commercial retail building along 46th Street with a 4-story apartment building with approximately 74 units and 45 covered parking space. The Anytime Laundry building on the north side of the existing commercial strip appears to be untouched by the development plans.
Phases 4 and 5 will be a mix of updating the commercial building along Saddle Creek and building a drive-thru kiosk type building on the north side of the surface parking lot.
The Phase I apartment building could begin by next summer. The overall project is expected to be completed by 2030.
