Weekly Market Report – August 10, 2023

Five Guys Burgers and Fries will open a location soon at Cornhusker Pointe, a retail center at Cornhusker Road & Fort Crook Road in Bellevue, according to The Lerner Company.

J’s Smokehouse has opened inside the American Legion building at 230 West Lincoln Street in Papillion. The family-owned restaurant was previously located near 66th & Cornhusker Road.

J. Crew Factory store is coming soon to Regency Shopping Center. The apparel retailer has an existing store at Nebraska Crossing.

Rowan has opened its first Nebraska or Iowa store at Village Pointe. The New York-based company does ear piercings, all of which are conducted by licensed nurses. The closest existing locations are in Minneapolis and Chicago.

Dollar Tree has opened a store in a former Valentino’s restaurant space at 5022 South 108th Street.

Dundee Bank is renovating a storefront space at 6073 Maple Street in downtown Benson that will serve as its fourth branch when it opens around October 1st. The bank has existing branches in Dundee, Blackstone District and Little Bohemia.

West Omaha Dermatology will be the first tenant in a new retail space at 11717 Bryan Street, just off Highway 6 in Gretna, according to Investors Realty. The medical practice will occupy 3,929 sq. ft.

Nails of Grace plans to open a nail salon soon at the new Waterford Crossing retail strip at 15450 Ida Street, according to Oak Investment Real Estate. Waterford Dental has already opened in the same building.

The parent company of Tip Top Tux abruptly closed all 100 of its stores in 13 states without any advance notice, including Omaha stores at Village Pointe and Clocktower Village. Gentleman’s Choice Formal Wear at 4232 South 50th Street has said it will try to serve Tip Top Tux customers, many of whom are suddenly without formal wear for upcoming weddings.

The “Restaurant & Retail Updates” section is sponsored by Anderson Convenience Market, featuring Quality AMOCO Fuels and serving Omaha since 1952, and proud to announce the return of Quality Amoco Fuels. Look for changes this Summer at Anderson Convenience Market – 8 Omaha area locations!

Learn more about Anderson Convenience market at www.Anderson1952.com

A Groundbreaking at Children’s Hospital

The Mental Health Innovation Foundation, led by community leader and philanthropist Ken Stinson, kicked off the construction phase of the Behavioral Health & Wellness Center at Children’s Hospital & Medical Center with a groundbreaking ceremony last week.

As the mental health needs of Omaha area youth increase, the vision of the center is to create a beacon of hope for children and families providing a collaborative world-class model of comprehensive behavioral and mental health services, co-located with medical health needs.

The need for more mental health services for area youth is clear and sobering. Even before the onset of COVID-19, one in five children was experiencing a mental illness, and the pandemic has led to increased mental health challenges and suicide risk among children.

Nebraska exceeds national trends for number of suicide deaths in adolescents ages 15 to 19.

The new comprehensive mental health facility is scheduled to open in early 2026 in a 107,250 sq. ft., 4-story building with 38 inpatient beds on a 7-acre lot on the Children’s Hospital & Medical Center campus. The project budget is $110 million, funded by private donors and the State of Nebraska through the American Rescue Plan Act, the City of Omaha and Children’s.

“It is exciting to break ground and begin the construction phase of the Behavioral Health & Wellness Center at Children’s,” Stinson said. “The collaborative nature of this project and the support of our generous donors have led to innovative plans that will serve the mental health and wellness needs of our children extraordinarily well.”

The Behavioral Health & Wellness Center at Children’s will offer a seamless continuum of care for children, teens, and families, offering services to address a wide range of mental health challenges. The world-class features of the Center include:

– 38 single-occupancy hospital inpatient beds that will more than double the capacity in our community.

– A 10,000 sq. ft. assessment center that will be a screening and crisis stabilization center for children and families who are facing a broad range of mental health challenges. It will be one of a small number of similar centers in the country and will be the first of its kind in this region.

– A dramatic increase in the current capacity for outpatient partial hospitalization treatment in our community. Partial hospitalization services are a hybrid between inpatient care and periodic outpatient care. Kids in partial hospitalization would come to the center five days a week for around eight hours a day to receive both therapy and educational support. The facility will have a capacity to serve up to 40 kids at a time.

– An experiential kitchen for patients and families dealing with eating disorders.

– More than 14,000 sq. ft. for general outpatient therapy and pediatric care.

– Nearly 8,000 sq. ft. of shell space to expand or accommodate new programs in the future, including added inpatient beds should the need arise.

“There is no doubt the Behavioral Health & Wellness Center at Children’s will be world-class and have significant value with mental and medical services co-located on the same campus,” said Chanda Chacón, Children’s president &C hief Executive Officer. “We are proud to partner with the Mental Health Innovation Foundation to make comprehensive pediatric mental health care a reality for families in our community.”

Kiewit Building Group Inc. is the design-builder of the center, with HDR as its design partner.

Bluestone Development plans to build The Nook, a $45.6 million housing development with 250 rental units near 8th & Pine Street, according to Nebraska Examiner. The units would be contained in 10 three-story buildings that would form a U-shape around the new Pine Elementary School. The buildings would be constructed on empty lots that were once part of the former Grace University campus.

Bluestone is seeking $6.1 million in Tax Increment Financing for the project. Plans call for 264 parking spaces for the 250 units, which would contain a total of 293 bedrooms.

The baby boom continues – A fourth baby elephant was born at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium last Sunday. The newest calf was born to a 30-year-old African elephant mom named Jayei.

Lutheran Family Services held a ribbon cutting for its new headquarters last week at 7929 West Center Road. The organization has reduced its administrative office space by two-thirds. LFS continues its downtown presence with its existing office at Kountze Commons at 27th & Douglas Street, in addition to locations at 30th & Lake Street, 120th & Q Street, Bellevue and elsewhere across the state.

Another new location, the old Literacy Center at 324 South 72nd Street, is under renovation. It will house additional programming, including Refugee and Immigration Services and select behavioral health programs. The 24th & Dodge Street property, the Dunklau Building, has been sold to developers. Some client services will continue at Dunklau through the next few months.

The City of Omaha will hold a Victory Parade and Celebration for our own Terrence “Bud” Crawford, the undisputed welterweight boxing champion of the world, this Saturday. The event will take place downtown from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. The day will begin with a victory parade from 19th & Farnam Street to the Gene Leahy Mall

The first six families will officially move into their new homes August 11th, launching Habitat for Humanity of Omaha’s 85-home, multigenerational Bluestem Prairie development on the former Wintergreen Apartments site near 52nd & Sorensen Parkway. Habitat Omaha and its partners broke ground on the Bluestem Prairie project in May 2022.

More than 12,000 people helped the Maha Festival say goodbye to its longtime home at Aksarben Village last month. The annual event moves to The RiverFront next year. The 15th annual Maha Festival attendance totaled 4,900 people on Friday and 7,100 on Saturday. More than a fourth of attendees traveled from out-of-state.

Grow Omaha Snippets are brought to you by Omaha Car Care with four metro area locations – 131st & Dodge, 58th & Center, 85th & L and 144th & Harrison.

Omaha Car Care “We’ll be along for the ride.”

Google has started working on a $350 million expansion of its massive data center campus east of Interstate 29 in Council Bluffs, according to KETV. The Mountain View, Calif.-based tech giant has other data centers under construction in Papillion and northwest Omaha. Google has already invested $5 billion in the Omaha metropolitan area.

Woodhouse Auto Family has acquired the Edwards Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership at 7713 South 19th Circle in Bellevue, according to the Omaha World-Herald. It’s Woodhouse’s 21st dealership.

Berkshire Hathaway reported a solid increase in second-quarter operating earnings, while the cash hoard at Warren Buffett’s conglomerate swelled to nearly $150 billion, according to CNBC. The Omaha-based giant’s operating earnings totaled $10.043 billion last quarter, 6.6 percent higher than the figure from the same quarter a year ago.

Applied Surety Underwriters, a division of Omaha-based Applied Underwriters, has joined forces with SiriusPoint Ltd. in an exclusive partnership aimed to maximize their joint impact in major markets across the world. Applied Surety Underwriters is based in Houston. SiriusPoint is an international underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance from Bermuda.

Werner Enterprises, Inc. has reported results for the second quarter ended June 30th. Total revenues for the quarter were $811.1 million, a decrease of $25.2 million compared to the prior year quarter, due to a $43.4 million decrease in Truckload Transportation Services revenues, partially offset by Logistics revenues growth of $20.7 million or 10 percent.

Green Plains Inc. announced financial results for the second quarter of 2023. Net loss attributable to the company was $52.6 million, or ($0.89) per diluted share, compared to net income attributable to the company of $46.4 million, or $0.73 per diluted share, for the same period in 2022. Revenues were $857.6 million for the second quarter of 2023 compared with $1.12 billion for the same period last year.

Instafreshener has expanded their space at 10235 Wiesman Drive, according to Ed Petsche of NAI NP Dodge. Known for their custom air fresheners, the company will now occupy an additional 4,400 sq. ft.

U.S. shoppers return 24.4 percent of apparel purchased online, according to Coresight Research. The total online apparel/footwear market in 2023 was $155.8 billion. Returned products added up to $38 billion plus an $25.1 billion in processing costs. The top three reasons for returns: size/fit (53%), color (16%) and damage (10%).

The Drive-Thru Reigns Supreme – A line from the 1989 movie Lethal Weapon 2 has been recited countless times over the years: “They f*** you at the drive-thru! They know you’re gonna be miles away before you find out…They know you’re not gonna turn around and go back; they don’t care.”

Well, apparently few people believe that anymore, because U.S. customers consume only 14 percent of their fast-food orders inside restaurant dining rooms, compared with 22 percent back in 2015, according to the Wall street Journal. At McDonald’s, dine-in customers now represent less than 10 percent of visits.

This section is sponsored by FranNet of The Heartland, the local, trusted franchise experts. They are “in the business of helping you get into business!”

Omaha Real Estate Numbers for July

By Joe Finlay

Douglas County Existing Homes
There were 640 existing homes that went under contract in July, down just 2 percent compared to June. The median sold price in July was about $291,000 which is about even compared to June.

Interesting to note, 18 homes listed for over $1 million went under contract in July. That’s the most ever in one month in Douglas County. The luxury market in Omaha is doing well.

Douglas County New Construction
About 80 new construction homes went under contract in July, including lots and completed homes. The median sold price in July was about $490,000, up about 4 percent compared to June.

Sarpy County Existing Homes
There were 194 existing homes that went under contract in July, down about 20 percent in June, but the median sale price was about $325,000, more than 10 percent higher than Douglas County.

While the median home price in Sarpy County is currently higher than in Douglas County, there was only one million-dollar home that went under contract in July in Sarpy County.

Sarpy County New Construction
About 70 new construction homes went under contract in July, including lots and completed homes. The median sold price in July was about $425,000, down about 8 percent compared to June.

Bottom Line
It may be time to go back to school, but houses are selling. Let’s connect to get your house ready before the holidays.

Grow Omaha Residential is developed and sponsored by Joe Finlay, REALTOR with NP Dodge Real Estate.

LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT

There are five ways to get your team on board with a big decision, according to Inc.: 1. Get grounded in your principles; 2. Work backwards from your organizational vision/strategy to the decision in front of you; 3. Know what you want; 4. Establish your non-negotiables; 5. Be clear on what the group really wants.

Looking to motivate your team? Be enthusiastic about new initiatives. Make employees part of the process. Acknowledge effort. Listen. Give rewards.

Another Buzzword – “Loud laborers” are co-workers who talk an awful lot about work but seem to produce next to nothing, according to Insider. They are the noisier cousins of “quiet quitters.” The loud laborer likely spends more of their time discussing work than actually doing it.

Travel Update – International airfare is averaging $962, up 10 percent from last year and 26 percent from 2019, according to CNBC. Domestic airfare, meanwhile, is falling. Roundtrips within the U.S. are down 11 percent from 2022 and 12 percent from 2019.

Government Bureaucracy – Atlanta officials demolished a home on Lawton Street, not the Lawton Avenue house slated for razing. Now, the homeowner says the city is suing him $68,000 in demolition fees, according to The Hustle.

SALES

A clearly defined buyer persona is crucial to an effective sales process. You need to have a clear vision of who your clients really are. An effective broker sticks to that persona to generate business. Research prospects to make sure they’re a good fit.

The best time to cold call is between 4 and 5 p.m., according to Spotio. Personally, I think that is the second-best time. Early morning is the best if you’re calling B2B decision makers.

Here’s an effective discovery question you might want to ask a prospect: “What spillover benefits would you like to see from this deal?”

WISDOM

“People who think they’re generous to a fault usually think that’s their only fault.” – Sidney J. Harris

https://www.dundeebanking.com/

Did you know that Omaha’s Eppley Airport has 31 non-stop flight destinations and served more than 4.5 million passengers last year?

Did you know that Omaha’s Loveland neighborhood and Loveland Elementary School are actually named after a person? Archibald Love (1863 – 1941) was the president of Love-Haskell Insurance Company, organized in 1904. He bought a farm in far west Omaha – all the way past 72nd & Pacific Street. He had a hobby of farming. As the city grew west, he developed his land into lots and sold them. The resulting area is called “Loveland.” – from Believe It, Omaha (or NOT) by Howard Hamilton

Did you know that butter brickle ice cream is an Omaha original? It was invented in the Blackstone Hotel, the same place where the Rueben sandwich was invented.

This section is sponsored by Lockbox Storage, an affiliate of Omaha-based McGregor Interests Inc. We provide storage solutions for all of your storage needs. Our facilities have full-time managers and bright lighting to provide superior security for your belongings. In addition to space for rent, we also provide packing supplies, protection plans and locks along with complimentary handcarts and dollies. Visit LockBox Storage and let us help you with all your storage needs.

Links & Lagers on August 14th: Join the Nebraska Craft Brewers Guild for their second annual 18-hole golf scramble, Links & Lagers. Your participation will support the Guild, a 501c6 nonprofit organization whose vision is to facilitate collaborative industry engagement that increases independent Nebraska brewing market share. Registration cost will include a golf, cart, unlimited Nebraska beer, cider and seltzer, water, soft drinks, grab-and-go breakfast and catered lunch. Register today and join others in a fun game of golf.

August Modus Coworking Lunch-and-Learn with Women with Voices on August 16th: Lunch-and-learn is back at Modus Coworking! This month features Sandy Spady speaking about Women with Voices. At this lunch-and-learn, you’ll learn about her background, expertise and how to support Women with Voices. Enjoy the afternoon by connecting with your community and learning more about what individuals are doing within it!

Tempo of Twilight Outdoor Concert Series on August 15th: There’s no better way to spend a summer evening than listening to live music in the garden! Lauritzen Gardens is hosting an outdoor concert series that brings a spectacular lineup of local entertainment to the garden for a harmonious blend of music and nature. Bring your chairs, food, drinks and friends for a relaxing night in the garden!

Sleeping Bag Safari – 21+ Grown-Up Safari on August 12th: Come out for an overnight program where adult guests spend the night at the Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium’s Safari Tent Camp site and experience the exhibits after hours. Program includes a picnic dinner and drinks, an evening hike, movie, snacks, “grab-n-go” breakfast, morning hike and free day at the Zoo. This event is 21 and over only and happening on select dates through October. Make a reservation and save your spot for a night experience at the zoo!

Geeks Who Drink Trivia Night at Backlot Taphouse on August 16th: Geeks Who Drink is an authentic homegrown trivia quiz where you can drink with friends, without burning brain cells. And it’s where useless knowledge means everything! The quizzes cover everything from Hungary to The Hunger Games, from science to sports, from the Billboard Hot 100 to Better Call Saul. No reservations needed, just show up! Prize available to win!

Do you have an event you want Vesta to publicize? Share them with us here for free!

This Upcoming Events section is sponsored by Eagle Mortgage Company, is a locally owned and full-service mortgage company in Omaha.

Eagle Mortgage can help you realize your dream of owning a home.

Rolland Johns has joined the Omaha Steaks leadership team as Chief Financial Officer. With over 30 years of finance and accounting experience, Johns brings strong strategic, tactical and financial expertise as well as a wealth of knowledge in corporate development and operational management.

Jan Starman has been promoted to senior vice president of human resources at Mutual of Omaha. She joined Mutual in 1998 as a human resources consultant and has served in various roles in human resources supporting the enterprise and its affiliates such as Mutual of Omaha Bank and Mutual of Omaha Mortgage.

Starman earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Creighton University.

Candias C. Jones has been named executive director of Girls Incorporated of Omaha, starting August 21. She has been working as executive vice president of people, talent & culture at Community Health Development Partners.

Frontier Bank has promoted Sara Barnes to treasury management specialist. She has served many roles at Frontier Bank, most recently she served in the bank’s operations department.

The “People in the News” section is sponsored by Baird Holm LLP. Baird Holm’s dedicated team of real estate lawyers has extensive experience in all aspects of real estate law, including purchases, sales, zoning and land use, leasing, and dispute resolution. Click HERE for more information.

Okay boys and girls, it’s time to have THE talk. No, not the birds and bees thing. We need to talk about beta. Beta is the correlation coefficient between a stock or mutual fund and the market. English translation: Beta quantifies the movement between a stock and the market.

The S&P 500 is the proxy for the market. For example, if a stock or mutual fund has a negative beta, that means it moves in the opposite direction of the S&P. The bigger the negative beta, the bigger the difference between the movement of the stock and the market. If a stock has a beta of one, they move together in lock step.

Wall Street broker types and stock jockeys love beta. To them it’s not a mathematical measurement; it’s a marketing tool. For example, back in the day, when I was a broker and the subprime crisis was unfolding right before my eyes, I justified my fees by telling my clients that I constructed portfolios that consisted of a “scientific combination of positive and negative beta positions.” Which theoretically meant that if the market had a major negative decline, there were positions in the portfolio that would move in the opposite direction and thus provide downside protection.

These negative beta positions were such things as commodities, gold and real estate. Problem was…When the fit hit the shan, all the betas went to one, and the portfolios collapsed along with the market.

In a recent Wall Street Journal edition, the largest internet brokerage firm ran a full-page ad touting their customized portfolios. The gist of the ad was that they build custom index funds based upon your risk tolerances and personal preferences. What they are doing is removing the volatile stuff – Nvidia and Tesla – from existing indexes in order to reduce volatility, which is the academics’ definition of risk. Bottom line, they are creating a portfolio with a beta of one and charging you for it. Or you can buy an S&P 500 index fund and get the same thing for free.

I am not saying that the aforementioned, unnamed largest internet brokerage firm in the world is evil wicked, mean and nasty. What they are doing provides a useful function, as long as those who purchase this type of investment understand that there is a cost involved and a high probability that the resulting returns will mirror those of the market, minus the management fees.

Related theorem: In today’s electronic world we are accustomed to having computers do our thinking for us. Computers are smart, but not smarter than Mr. Market.

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The Grow Omaha radio show broadcasts live every Saturday morning at 9:00, but now you can watch videos of each episode instead of just listening.

Grow Omaha’s brand-new website features video footage shot inside the radio studio during each week’s show!

Videos include News of the Week, Lightning Round, guest interviews, and “Grow Omaha Uncut,” a behind-the-scenes look at what happens during commercial breaks.

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