Grow Omaha
Projects

Exterior glass walls are now in place for Olsson’s future office building at Heartwood Preserve. The 4-story building is part of The Row at Heartwood Preserve southwest of 144th & West Dodge Road. Olsson, an engineering and design firm, will house its 300-plus Omaha-area employees in the building when it’s complete in 2026. The building will also have street-level retail space. Additionally, two adjacent buildings — a multi-family residential building and a boutique hotel — are planned.

Downtown Omaha has yet another tower crane. Crews assembled the crane along the east side of 16th Street between Douglas and Farnam Street. The crane will be sued to build a 12-story building that will be part of The Duo, a full-city-block complex that also includes the Central Park Plaza twin towers. NuStyle Development is converting the twin towers from office space into hundreds of apartment units. The towers are located on 15th Street between Farnam and Douglas streets. Sullivan’s Steakhouse, a tenant in the south tower, will remain. The Mill Coffee & Tea plans to open a shop in the north tower’s former Starbucks space in 2027.

The new 12-story building will rise on the site of the now-demolished Park Fair Mall. When the new building opens in 2027, it will have seven levels of parking (open to the public) and five multi-family floors with 150 apartments. Altogether, the three buildings will have more than 700 apartment units. The west building will have approximately 12,500 sq. ft. of street-level retail space and will also feature a rooftop swimming pool. The complex will be strategically located right next to a future streetcar station.

Steelhouse Omaha plans to convert its existing outdoor space into an outdoor venue. Currently, the performance venue has a concrete patio on the southwest corner of the building. Based on a building permit, the $92,000 project consists of three decks, two shipping containers, outdoor seating, turf and landscaping. – Isaiah Ang

Crews continue to add floors to Mutual of Omaha’s future headquarters building at 14th & Farnam Street. The shear tower core is now 41 stories tall on its way to 44 stories eventually. The skyscraper will eventually be 677 feet tall, making it the tallest building in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and the Dakotas. Completion is planned for the late 2026.

Photo by Brad Williams

Workers poured the concrete surface for the new Harney Street bridge over Interstate 480 late last week. Hawkins Construction is reconstructing the bridge to accommodate the future streetcar. Completion is scheduled for late this year. The Farnam Street bridge, one block to the north, will be demolished and rebuilt next year.

Photo by Brad Williams

Construction is in full swing along the RiverFront for the CHI Health Center expansion. Omaha voters last year approved a bond issue for a $146 million project to increase the number of meeting rooms at the 21-year-old convention center. The expansion will add 94,000 sq. ft. and 25 meeting rooms spread across the third and fourth floors. Additional common space and restrooms will also be added. The addition will help Omaha compete more effectively in the lucrative convention industry.

The east side of the building has long served as a behind-the-scenes area with loading docks and massive, emergency-exit, external stair towers. Crews are now removing those stair towers to make way for the new construction. When completed in 2027, the east face of the CHI Center will be a sprawling glass wall with panoramic views of the RiverFront.

Construction is pretty much topped out on the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s first student residence hall near 39th & Dewey Avenue. The building is framed, and most of the wall structure installed. The $66 million, 200,000 sq. ft., 6-story building will accommodate 300 students. Occupancy is scheduled for August 2026.

Photo by Brad Williams

The foundation and lower-level concrete walls are now in place at the future Walter Apartments, a 5-level, 58-unit apartment building at 50th & Leavenworth Street. The site was the long-time home of a laundromat and drycleaner. The Walter will have 44 indoor parking stalls on the first level, which is mostly subterranean. The building will have 46 one-bedroom and 12 two-bedroom market-rate apartment units.

Photo by Brad Williams