Grow Omaha
Projects

The Bay is planning an Omaha location in Benson. The Lincoln non-profit offers free or pay-as-you-can services for youth to participate in skateboarding, art, fashion, music, workforce training and career exploration. The Lincoln location is inside a 20,000 sq. ft. warehouse converted to an indoor skate park with community and office space.

The Omaha location would be an adaptive reuse of a 3-story, 34,110 sq. ft. warehouse at 6120 Military Avenue. The first floor will have an indoor skate park with street skating elements and a vert. The second and third floors will feature multiple classrooms, office space, a performance stage, fashion room, sound production studio and an esports room. The project site is currently under consideration for rezoning from general industrial to neighborhood business district.

The Military Avenue & Hamilton Street intersection is coming alive with development. On the northeast corner, the Papio NRD has started construction of the Beltline Trail entrance. The trail uses an abandoned Missouri Pacific Railroad right-of-way that cuts through North Omaha from this intersection to Adams Park. The trail has been under development since 2021, with the first two phases near Adams Park and the North Omaha Transit center being completed in 2022 and 2023. Phase 4 will connect those two portions and is currently under construction and expected to be complete by October 2025. The new trailhead at Military & Hamilton is Phase 3A of the project and is also anticipated to be completed by October 2025. Future phases will connect the trailhead to the trail at the southwest corner of Adams Park.

Across the street, plans call for the redevelopment of the long-vacant, Johnson Sash and Door building at 1412 Military Avenue. The company closed permanently in 2018. According to a planning department application for rezoning and a Planned Unit Redevelopment Overly District, the structure will be transformed into a mix-used building with ground floor commercial space and eight residential units on the second floor. The first floor will be a commercial bakery, coffee shop and café with an outdoor patio. – Isaiah Ang

Work on the NOVA Apartments has topped out, meaning crews have installed all the structural elements. The project is under construction southeast of 12th & Nicholas Street in North Downtown. NOVA will be a 5-story building with 74 apartment units. The building will include 20,000 sq. ft. of street-level retail space for lease. The first floor has been framed with steel beams. Floors two through five are wood framed. It’s one of several new buildings planned for the Millwork Commons district north of Charles Schwab Field. The ground level will have a sports bar from Baton Rouge, La.

At least four businesses have signed leases for a mixed-use development under construction on the northeast corner of 180th & West Maple Road. The site is north of Costco and south of Elkhorn North High School. White Lotus Development has not announced an official completion date for the project, but construction is on schedule.

OrthoNebraska’s West Maple Clinic will occupy a 2-story building under construction on the east side of the development. OrthoNebraska has existing locations near Oakview Mall and in Aksarben Village, Elkhorn and Council Bluffs.

The western portion of the development will be a retail center consisting of a handful of buildings. Announced tenants include Kros Strain Brewing, Smoothie King and L’Vinci Nails. The Smoothie King store will be the franchise’s fifth in the Omaha metro area. L’Vinci has the same ownership as Queen Pearl and a couple other local salons. Kros Strain plans to open a food-and-beverage concept on the site.

Not much remains of Eppley Airfield’s central terminal building. Crews have been demolishing it to make way for construction of the future main entrance, security area and central pavilion.

Earlier this year, Eppley temporarily split into two terminals to accommodate this part of the $950 million expansion and modernization project. Part of the future, new concourse is visible in the in the background of the accompanying photograph.

When it’s completed in 2028, the terminal expansion will increase Eppley’s building space by 72 percent from 375,000 sq. ft. to approximately 646,000 sq. ft. The new terminal will feature a centralized TSA security checkpoint, new restaurants and retailers after security, two gates capable of international flights and expanded restrooms.

Eppley served more than 5.2 million passengers in 2024 and is the busiest airport in Nebraska or Iowa. Seven airlines provide approximately 70 departures per day to 34 nonstop destinations from Omaha.

By Isaiah Ang

Lincoln-based developer, Hoppe Development, continues to make waves in the Omaha housing market. Recently, we reported their partnership with Habitat for Humanity to develop 600 units in the Oak Leaf subdivision near 72nd & Capehart Road and their plans to redevelop the former 401 Hotel at 2211 Douglas Street into a 73-unit senior housing community.

Now Hoppe Development is seeking Tax Increment Financing to redevelop the Chambers Court apartments and surrounding lots in North Omaha. Generally, the project site is bounded by 16th and 18th streets as well as Willis and Burdette avenues. The project will be completed in four phases. Phase 1 includes renovation of 70 existing units in the historical buildings at Chambers Court and construction of 61 new units spread across eight new buildings.

The first phase is partially financed by Low Income Housing Tax Credits and will be reserved for households making at or less than 60 percent of the Area Median Income. Phases 2 and 3 include 61 market-rate apartments and a 6-unit stacked townhome building. Phase 4 will rehabilitate a two-story warehouse across the street from Chambers Court, called Strehlow Garage. The warehouse will be transformed into a commercial space to serve the neighborhood.

The total project construction cost is $54 million. The developer is seeking a $4.7 million TIF loan. Construction start is planned for October 2025 with all phases to be completed by the beginning of 2028.

Clarkson College held a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday to celebrate the beginning of a $10 million construction project that will include a new welcome center, a skywalk connecting two existing buildings and a large outdoor digital video board. The 137-year-old, private college specializes in healthcare education and is located at 42nd & Dodge Street.

The welcome center will move the college’s “front door” to the south. The outdoor, wrap-around, digital board will be installed in front of a 4-story scrim (screen) on the northwest corner of the 6-story main building. The digital board will display information about healthcare with a goal to attract more students to healthcare careers.

Chief among the improvements is the remodel of the college’s south building, formerly used as a daycare in addition to housing classrooms and offices. Campus visitors will arrive through a new glass lobby at the south end of the building. Upgraded state-of-the-art learning spaces within will feature the 3D Printing and Training Center of Excellence, professional development for community learners, and renovated Physical Therapist Assistant program spaces. An ornamental arch, to be installed at the south entrance of the campus courtyard, will serve as the entry point of an expanded Clarkson Service League Heritage Garden.

The architectural plans were designed by RDG Planning & Design. The general contractor is MCL Construction. Nebraska Medicine is providing project management consulting services. Completion is scheduled for summer 2026.

Construction on The Frame has reached the second floor in North Downtown. The $44 million multifamily apartment building is rising on a previously vacant lot west of the Ashton Building at 13th & Nicholas Street. Plans call for a 5-story, 146-unit building consisting of 55, 2-bedroom units and 94, 1-bedroom units. The ground floor will have a single 10,000 sq. ft. retail bay and 65 covered parking stalls. The building will also have two large decks on the second-floor roof.

It is just one of several construction projects planned or underway in the Millwork Commons district, which is north of Charles Schwab Field. Those projects include the Dizzy Mule (which is about done), The Millwork Hotel, NOVA apartment building and a city-owned parking garage.