Weekly Market Report: December 19, 202

Nicole Buntgen, Contributing Writer

The Platypus, a wine-focused bar, has opened at 1409 South 13th Street in Little Bohemia, next to Tiny House Bar and under the same ownership. The concept features a curated wine list, classic cocktails and paninis from Block 16. Platypus is described as “vintage 1970s design meets a modern, welcoming atmosphere.”

Masa Luna Tamaleria, a sister bar to Fizzy’s Fountain & Liquors, is set to open a brick-and-mortar location in the Little Bohemia neighborhood in spring 2025. Masa Luna will be located in the former Muchacho’s space at 1258 South 13th Street and will offer a variety of tamales and agave-based cocktails.

The Salty Dog Bar & Grill has opened its second location at 3401 South 72nd Street in MH Landing northeast of 72nd & Grover. Its existing location is at 2411 South 24th Street in Council Bluffs. The new building will be shared with Wienerschnitzel, which is expected to open soon.

Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen will open on February 3 at 17373 Chicago Street in Village Pointe. The 7,500 sq. ft. building is east of Firebirds Wood Fired Grill and west of Scheel’s. Cheddar’s operates an existing Omaha location near 120th & L Street.

The Grove Juicery & Wellness Café is adding a second location inside the Inner Rail Food Hall at Aksarben Village. Construction is now underway. Opening is planned for March. The Grove’s existing location is at 2401 Farnam Street downtown.

The former Red Lobster restaurant building at 3040 Dial Drive in Council Bluffs’ Lake Manawa Power Centre is being renovated into an IHOP restaurant. Hiring is now underway.

The Still Fine Wine & Spirits Superstore is under construction near 204th & V Street in the Coventry development. The retailer’s existing location is in Lincoln at 6820 South 70th Street. The Still is Lincoln’s largest liquor store and has been in business for 35 years. When it opens next fall, it will join a crowded Omaha market, which earlier this year saw the arrival of liquor superstore chains Total Wine and Macadoodles.

Fore Seasons Golf Simulator & Sports Bar will officially open its doors December 18 in a 4,500 sq. ft. space at 19150 Pacific Street, according to owners Matt Lentz and Craigan Metcalf. The venue boasts six state-of-the-art golf simulators, a 5,000 sq. ft. outdoor patio and a sports bar with 16 televisions. Fore seasons allows customers to golf more than 285 simulated PGA courses.

Three new tenants plan to open in the retail strip at 17205 Evans Street on of the south side Maple. The Loft Pilates filed a permit to finish a 1,900 sq. ft. space in the building. Scissors & Scotch, a high-end men’s grooming shop, also plans to open in the building. Finally, construction is underway of Talus Spirits and Sustenance which will open its second location in 4,000 sq. ft. space in the building. The original Talus opened in Papillion in 2022.

Crunch Fitness will open a new Maplewood location at 2650 North 90th Street in the former Family Fare space. Tentative opening date is spring of 2025. The $5 million, 40,000 sq. ft. fitness center will also offer kids babysitting, hydromassage, UV tanning and more. Crunch also operates a location near 138th & Q Street.

Modern Love, the vegan restaurant at 3157 Farnam Street in Midtown Crossing, is closing permanently on Sunday, December 29th. The restaurant announced last month that it planned to shut down in summer 2025. No reason was provided for the accelerated closing timeline. Modern Love has been at the location for about 10 years.

Which Wich Superior Sandwiches has closed its location at 307 North 114th Street. The only remaining Which Wich in Nebraska is seven hours away in Scottsbluff.

Coolgreens is closing its healthy food restaurant at 8990 West Center Road in Loveland Centre tomorrow – Friday, December 20.

The Steve Madden Store at Nebraska Crossing plans to close permanently this week – Friday, December 20. The New York-based footwear and accessories retailer has approximately 255 stores. The Nebraska Crossing location is the only Steve Madden store in the region.

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

‘Avoli Osteria’ is a Quintessential Italian Gem in Historic Dundee

Dario Schicke was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and left during the war in the 1990s, settling in Germany, where he worked in various Italian restaurants. That’s where he met his wife and business partner, Amy, a Nebraska native. They were married in Germany in 1995 before moving to New York, where they opened a Greek-style deli. That eventually led Schicke to advance his skills at the French Culinary Institute in New York.

Schicke is a 2010 James Beard best chef semifinalist for his previous restaurant, Dario’s Brasseire. Though the brasserie had earned incredibly positive publicity, he chose to keep himself grounded in his work.

“I stayed in the kitchen and did my thing,” Schicke said. “You know, I just liked to do what I was doing and keep my family tight because the restaurant business is crazy. I wanted to make sure I could have balance.”

The success of Dario’s eventually led to Avoli Osteria, a restaurant concept designed to fill a void Schicke felt was missing in Omaha.

“Avoli was created out of pure necessity for pasta in Omaha,” Schicke recalled. “At that time, there really weren’t too many homemade pasta-focused restaurants. We had great Italian restaurants, great pizzerias but nothing was really elevated and updated to today’s version of an Italian restaurant.”

Schicke did his research, traveling to Italy and New York to work at Italian restaurants with top chefs to learn the cuisine. He’d hone his focus on Northern Italian pasta, and that’s what drives the menu and pasta dishes at Avoli to this day.

In 2013, he and Amy opened Avoli Osteria in Omaha’s historic Dundee. In the spirit of the familial atmosphere they work hard to cultivate, Avoli gets its name from the combination of their daughters’ names, Ava and Olivia.

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New Developer Controls Crossroads Site

Woodbury Corporation, the Salt Lake City company now in charge of developing of the Crossroads site, officially took ownership of the high-profile property this week. The closed transaction allows the first phase of construction to begin this spring.

Woodbury became a partner in The Crossroads redevelopment in 2023 and was under contract to purchase the remaining Crossroads property from KJ Ventures.

The redesigned development is now estimated to cost $900 million.

“We believe this is the best piece of real estate in all of Nebraska,” said Jeff Woodbury, senior vice president of development and acquisitions for Woodbury Corporation. While it might not technically be the busiest intersection in the state (that honor belongs to 90th & Dodge), Woodbury said 72nd & Dodge is the region’s most important “retail intersection.”

Woodbury described Omaha as “a city that continually reinvents itself” and also praised the city’s leadership: “Omaha’s commitment to progress and innovation is unique, and we are honored to be a part of the ongoing transformation.”

Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert said the closed real estate transaction is a major milestone in the long Crossroads redevelopment journey.

“Woodbury’s proven record in mixed-use development around the country ensures they will deliver a spectacular destination development,” she said. “We are underway!”

The first phase of construction will include a 92,000 sq. ft. entertainment venue that will be operated by a major national chain. Woodbury is already in negotiations with that yet-to-be-named company. Phase one will also include the construction of residential, retail and office buildings as well as a public plaza and public parking facilities.

Back in December 2020, KJ Ventures began demolition of the vacant Crossroads Mall. The company also completed infrastructure such as sewers, utilities and streets. KJ Ventures is a partnership between Chip James of Lockwood Development and Century Development, owned by the family of the late Frank Krejci, who died in 2022. Krejci bought Crossroads in 2010.

The City of Omaha will build, own and operate multiple public parking facilities within the Crossroads development. Those facilities will not include the existing garage at the corner of 72nd & Cass Street, because it will eventually be demolished to make way for later phases of development.

The Omaha City Council has approved more than $105 million in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and the establishment of an Enhanced Entertainment Area, which allows an increase in local sales tax within the development. The first phase of TIF will go toward paying for construction of the public parking structures and additional public infrastructure improvements.

The next focus will be the selection of the local construction manager-general contractor. Woodbury hopes to announce the first tenants within the next couple months. He said he has letters of intent with multiple tenants and expects to sign the first leases soon. Groundbreaking remains on schedule for this spring.

With $5 billion in assets under management, Woodbury Corporation’s portfolio includes a diverse range of properties across 16 states. The company completed a project in downtown Lincoln several years ago.

“I have great confidence in the Woodbury team and their timeline, and so can the citizens of Omaha,” Stothert said. “I look forward to watching the plans become reality very soon.”

At nearly a billion dollars, Crossroads will be one of the most valuable real estate developments in Nebraska history, but it’s not the only big project at 72nd & Dodge Street. On the southwest corner of the intersection, construction is progressing on the $158 million Omaha Central Library.

Apparently, there’s yet another project on the drawing table.

Stothert revealed that a new mixed-use development could be in the works for the northeast corner of 72nd & Dodge. A group recently purchased the current Petco retail building and is planning major changes for the site. Details have not yet been announced.

Isaiah Ang, Contributing Writer

The 2024 U.S. Census state population estimates revealed that Nebraska surpassed the 2 million mark for the first time in history. Nebraska added 17,601 people, with 13,000 attributed to international migration. Nebraska’s .9 percent annual growth rate, was below the 1.0 percent national average, but tops among surrounding states, except for Colorado. Local population estimates will be released in March.

Progress may be on the horizon for the long-vacant, former Famous Dave’s site southwest of 120th & L Street. Burger Detour has been advertising a location there, but no apparent site work has started since the Famous Dave’s was demolished a few years ago. Last week, Burger Detour filed a permit for a 2,200 sq. ft. building on the site. Burger Detour is a locally owned hamburger concept with two current locations at 18308 Evans Street and 1220 South 203rd Street.

Hausmann Construction has assembled a tower crane to help build the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s first student residence hall near 39th & Dewey Avenue. The $66 million, 200,000 sq. ft., 6-story building will accommodate 300 students. Occupancy is scheduled for August 2026.

Construction is progressing on Broadmoor Development’s 550-unit apartment project at 144th & Blossom Avenue in Heartwood Preserve. The project sits on 14 acres immediately north of Millard North High School. When complete, the apartments will surround and mostly hide the large parking garage that has already been built on the site.

Crews started tearing down a former KFC restaurant this week at 4358 Dodge Street. The old fast-food restaurant will be replaced by a 4,275 sq. ft. Bank of America branch building with two drive-thru ATM lanes. This will be Bank of America’s third location in Omaha; one is located at 13255 West Center Road. The first branch is at 86th & West Dodge Road.

Omaha Airport Authority officials expect approximately 277,000 travelers to pass through the Eppley Airfield terminal between December 19th and January 6th, a similar level of activity to 2023. Eppley’s four busiest travel days of the holiday season are expected to be Friday, December 20; Monday, December 23; Friday, December 27; and Monday, December 30.

The Holland Foundation is making a $2.1 million gift to support University of Nebraska priorities that were of personal importance to its founders, founders, Richard “Dick” and Mary Holland. The gift will create a presidential chair in cardiovascular sciences at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and support the Healing Arts program at UNMC and Nebraska Medicine. At the University of Nebraska at Omaha, a new chair in industrial organizational psychology will be established and named for Dick Holland’s brother, John Lewis Holland.

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First State Bank Nebraska has opened in the DLR building at 6457 Frances Street in Aksarben Village. The Lincoln-based bank has 19 locations in southeast Nebraska. Other branches in close proximity to Omaha are in Plattsmouth and Yutan.

Heartwood Preserve will welcome a new nail salon at 248 North 144th Street. That building is currently occupied and bookended by Little King and First Watch. The permit filed for a new tenant finish for Heartwood Nail Spa indicates the new tenant will occupy 2,200 sq. ft.

Carollo Engineers, a water/wastewater engineering firm, relocated its Omaha office from Miracle Hills to the Carson 2 Building in Heartwood Preserve southwest of 144th & West Dodge Road. The firm is leasing space from Felsburg Holt & Ullevig, which also recently relocated to the building. California-based Carollo has locations across the country. The new office will allow the firm to add new engineers, project managers and BIM designers.

All Makes, the Omaha-based office furniture and equipment company, is moving its Lincoln showroom from 3333 O Street to the “Telegraph District” near 21st & N Street. The move should take place in May. In addition to Omaha and Lincoln, All Makes has showrooms in Des Moines, Iowa, as well as Kearney, Columbus and North Platte, Neb.

The Greater Omaha Chamber’s November business of the month was Spare Time Omaha, an entertainment venue at 172nd & West Center Road. The December business of the month is Black Squirrel Flats, an innovative housing solution for business professionals and traveling nurses in Council Bluffs.

Mutual of Omaha has announced a relationship with Workday, Inc., known as Workday Wellness, an AI-powered solution designed to connect employers with top benefit providers. Workday Wellness will enable employers to gain insights into which benefits their employees want and use so they can improve programs and add new offerings. With this relationship, Mutual of Omaha gains valuable insights to create better experiences for their customers and their employees.

Grin and Heal Counseling has found a new home in a 1,584 sq. ft. office building at 131 North Washington Street in downtown Papillon, according to Brian Thomas of NAI NP Dodge, who brokered the building sales. The mental health therapy practice focuses on Veteran, Military Members and their families.

Frontier Airlines, the Denver-based, bare-bones carrier, is suspending more than 40 routes indefinitely, according to SimpleFlying.com. One of those routes is Omaha to Dallas-Fort Worth. Frontier is a minor player at Eppley Airfield as it carries only 2.5 percent of total Omaha passengers.

After advancing above growth neutral last month for the first time since July 2023, Creighton University’s Rural Mainstreet Index sank below the 50.0 reading in December, according to the monthly survey of bank CEOs in rural areas of a 10-state region dependent on agriculture and/or energy. December’s overall reading plummeted to 39.6 from November’s much-stronger 50.2. It was 11th time this year that the overall reading has fallen below growth neutral.

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LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT

The best leaders have mastered the art of “organizational conversation,” which means they interact with their teams in a more personable way, as if it were two people having a conversation, according to Inc. magazine. Leaders who get this know when to stop giving out tasks and start listening to people’s insights and ideas.

Productivity is no longer about time spent. That’s why we have witnessed the emergence of the “lazy overachiever.” According to Forbes, this kind of worker produces more than other people on your team but invests less time: “Business owners are watching their star players deliver weekly targets by Wednesday, automate processes that “required” 40 hours, and take random Thursdays off while still outperforming peers.”

In what’s dubbed “The Great Detachment,” employees are reporting low rates of satisfaction (18%), and in a cooling job market, struggling to find new work opportunities at the highest rate (51%) since 2015, according to HR Dive. Why? Among the reasons are rapid disruption, remote/hybrid work changes, high customer demands and changing employee lifestyle expectations.

A recent survey of 1,000 workers found that 52 percent felt their company’s efforts to be empathetic weren’t genuine, according to Fast Company. That’s a big disconnect between what leaders think they’re doing and how employees actually feel.

In 2022, the typical renter in the United States had a net worth of $10,400. The average homeowner had a median net worth of $400,000. Homeowners were over 38 times wealthier than renters.

SALES

The typical sales rep thinks the holiday season is a time to refrain from prospecting. That’s a loser mentality. You just have to adjust a little. Sales author Mark Hunter recommends “speed meetings,” because you need to create urgency this time of year. When you call, ask, “Hey, do you have 15 minutes tomorrow?” Or “this afternoon?” You don’t want them to say, “Why don’t we just touch base after the first of the year.” That’s a stalling tactic.

Nearly 50 percent of sales go to the vendor who responds first, according to HubSpot.

Don’t ever ask a prospect, “Do you prefer to communicate over phone or email?” In a HubSpot article, Jeff Hoffman says, “Don’t ask your prospect whether they prefer to communicate over phone or email. Use both forms of communication but know when to choose one over the other — and when in doubt, use the phone.”

WISDOM

“People will always tell you the world’s coming to an end. And they will tell you it’s too late to buy real estate. Neither one will ever be true.” – Unknown

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Did you know Omaha built the first street in the nation to be paved with a composition made up of 20 percent recycled glass? The year was 1971, and the stretch of pavement was 15th Street between Dodge Street and Capitol Avenue. Source: Historian Howard Hamilton

Did you know NuStyle Development plans to convert FNBO’s 53-year-old, 22-story building at 1620 Dodge Street into 300 apartments with retail/commercial space?

Did you know the modern streetcar being developed in Omaha’s urban core will allow developers to construct buildings with less space devoted to parking thus making downtown Omaha more densely populated?

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Lights and Libations on December 20th: Join others at Lauritzen Gardens during Bright Nights as guests are treated to evenings full of lights and libations! Bars will serve an array of cocktails, beers and wines for you to enjoy. Stroll through the indoor gardens, drink in hand, while enjoying the illuminated displays. Great for date night or for a cheerful night with friends and family!

Last-Minute Holiday Boutique on December 20th & 21st: Join in at the Venues at The Granary for their Last-Minute Holiday Boutique! This is more than just a shopping event – it’s a holiday experience you won’t want to miss. Get those last items checked off your list while enjoying festive drinks, discovering unique gifts and supporting a great cause.

Pickleball 101 Clinic on December 21st: Are you ready to grab a paddle, get healthy and make new friends? YouTube videos can only take you so far, it’s time to pair up with expert pickleball coaches who will teach you the ins and outs (literally) of pickleball! Safety, basics, score keeping and more will all be covered in this clinic. Make sure to register today to reserve your spot!

Cookie with the Clauses on December 21st: Calling all of Santa’s helpers! Bring the family to Santa’s North Pole and listen to a story from Santa, decorate delicious cookies and learn how to make gifts for the animals in your own backyard. After cookies with the clauses, you can finish this delightful event with admission to the zoo. Reservations required!

ELF Movie Party on December 24th: Don’t be a cotton-headed ninnymuggins this holiday season. Come out to Alamo Drafthouse and spread the cheer at this sugar-fueled, interactive holiday spectacular, packed with games, props, and of course, singing loud for all to hear. This ELF Movie Party features all sorts of fun props, a gift “wrap off” before the film, and of course, your very own elf hat.

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NP Dodge Real Estate has welcomed new residential sales associates including April Buffum and Christie Harth.

Project Control has promoted Caleb Swanson to regional vice president. He will oversee the Texas-based company’s Midwest offices in Omaha and Lincoln. Swanson joined the company in 2011, most recently serving as a vice president.

Andrew Patterson has been named the new chair of the University of Nebraska Medical Center Department of Anesthesiology, effective March 1. He is a professor and former department chair at Emory University and will be returning to UNMC, where he served on the anesthesiology department’s faculty from 2015 to 2018.

Cobalt Credit Union has promoted Carol Carr to vice president of marketing. She was most recently marketing manager and has 12 years of financial industry experience.

In Memoriam – Former Omaha City Councilman and Douglas County Commissioner Marc Kraft has died. He was 77. Kraft was also the long-time operator of Kraft DC store at 16th & Leavenworth Street and an advocate for downtown Omaha.

The Greater Omaha Chamber is a catalyst and connector, advocating for businesses small and large. Learn, share and grow with more than 12,000 professionals from 3,000 member businesses across Greater Omaha. Click HERE to see our latest events.

Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland begins with Alice following an anthropomorphic rabbit down a rabbit hole. Alice then follows the rabbit until she comes to a fork in the road, where she finds a Cheshire cat sitting in a tree.

She asks the cat “Which road should I take?” He replies: “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

At the risk of sounding like a one-trick pony, this brings me back to the curve at the end of a straightaway thing. The response I have been hyping is to move assets from the stock market into the bond market. But before doing so, you must answer the Cheshire cat’s question: “Where are you going? You may be looking for protection from a market downturn, or you may be approaching retirement and searching for income. For the moment, let’s put the income search on the back burner.

The only alternative individual investors have is bond funds, and not individual bonds. Unfortunately, the index fund revolution that has provided 100 million individual investors with reasonably priced returns in the stock market, has not infected the bond market. According to Morning Star, 73 percent of U.S. bond funds are actively managed. That means only 27 percent are passive funds or ETFs.

In order to measure their relative performance and tout their expertise, active bond funds mangers use the Bloomberg Aggregate Bond Index (AGG). It contains a bodacious mix of high-grade, low-grade and no-grade bonds. Fund managers love it, because it’s much easier to beat then the primary stock indexes.

Individual investors who accept AGG as the benchmark for quality will likely be led down a path that is contrary to their goal of protection from a market down turn. If you truly are seeking safety, you want to stick to government bond funds. Be aware that they have a lower yield, but are less volatile than the AGG index.

After Alice and the cat chit chat, the cat’s body disappears and all that is left is the animal’s broad, gleaming smile. I take this strange twist of events as an allegory for Wall Street’s carnivorous bond fund managers. According to Morningstar, bond funds’ expense ratios range between 80 and 120 basis points. In a low-interest rate environment, that’s a big chunk out of the funds dividend yield.

I didn’t finish reading Alice in Wonderland, so I don’t know how it ends. What I do know is that unless you pay attention to the curve at the end of the straightaway, you may end up where Yogi Berra predicted: “Somewhere else.”

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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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