Weekly Market Report – February 17, 2022

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A Deli for the Old Market – Interior build-out is underway for Phyl’s Deli, which is expected to open soon at 1006 Howard Street in the Old Market. Phyl’s Deli will be located in the former Ahmad’s Persian Cuisine space next to Mister Toad’s.

Speaking of the Old Market – Godega Market & Coffee Bar opened last week on the northeast corner of 11th & Howard Street. The store has an exterior entrance from 11th Street and an interior one from the Passageway. Godega Market has grab-and-go food, an extensive alcohol selection and a number of vegan items.

Chipotle has opened a location with a drive-through in front of the Menard’s home improvement store near 204th & West Dodge Road.

Construction is underway on a new Runza restaurant that will open later this year on the northwest corner of 144th & Ida Street.

Main Street Cellar is now open at 2714 North Main Street in Old Town Elkhorn. The wine-bar offers “a relaxed atmosphere to enjoy wine by the glass/bottle” and offers charcuterie boards, wine lockers, a membership program and a three-season rooftop patio.

Craft Sliders + Beer’s final day of operation at 1213 Harney Street will be Saturday, February 26th. The landlord is looking for a new restaurant to take the space. A related business, Harney Street Tavern will remain open in the building’s basement.

Madewell opened for business today at Village Pointe Shopping Center near 168th & West Dodge Road. Located between the Apple Store and Lush Cosmetics, Madewell sells jeans and “all the things you wear with denim like effortless tees, keep-forever bags, cool jewelry and compliment-worthy shoes.” Madewell has 144 locations. Closest previously existing locations are in Kansas City and Minneapolis.

Construction is officially underway on the 25,000 sq. ft. REI store scheduled to open this summer at Nebraska Crossing near Interstate 80 and Highway 31. REI will be located in a free-standing building just east of Under Armor.

The “Restaurant & Retail Updates” section is sponsored by Backlot Pizza + Kitchen located near 204th & Q, where you can enjoy Detroit-style pizza, classic favorites and craft cocktails!”

Chamber Annual Report: $1.5 Billion in Capital Investment in 2021

The Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce has released its 2021 annual report. The Greater Omaha Economic Development Partnership expanded to eight counties, the region saw more than $1.5 billion in capital investment, landed 44 new projects while securing 4,533 new and existing jobs with an annual payroll of $89.4 million.

The region continues to generate interest from our industries of strength: finance and insurance; logistics and manufacturing; agribusiness; medtech and biosciences. Big names in these areas once again drove the Chamber’s landed project success, led by announcements from Amazon, Facebook, Fiserv and Novozymes.

The Chamber’s focus has not only been on new projects and established business expansion, it is also activity supporting startups and local entrepreneurs. The Chamber’s REACH program continued to develop its Spanish-language program, providing education and opportunities to more business owners in our community. The Startup Collaborative worked with FNBO on a Future Fellows program that provided some early funding for new founders. They also piloted a First Customer Network as a way to connect startups with established business clients.

During 2021, Omaha was also recognized in the following rankings:

#2 Best City For Renters – Forbes

#2 Best State for Millennials – Mental Floss

#4 Best City For First-Time Homebuyers – Smart Asset

#5 Best City For Work-Life Balance – Smart Asset

#9 Best City For Young Professionals – Smart Asset

By the way, the Greater Omaha Chamber reports that the Omaha metro area is a number-one ranked up-and-coming-tech hotspot, a “top 10 best place to live on a $60,000 salary” and one of the “best cities for young professionals” according to SmartAsset. Greater Omaha is home to more than 30 communities and nearly 1 million people.

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The Hotel Indigo has opened at 1802 Douglas Street downtown. It’s the first Hotel Indigo in Nebraska or Iowa. The 90-room boutique hotel will eventually have a restaurant and speakeasy bar, but those won’t open for another 6 months. Part of Intercontinental Hotels Group, Hotel Indigo is a chain of 120 boutique hotels with locations around the world.

Construction has started on a new warehouse on 3.21 acres at 11741 Centennial Road in La Vista. When completed later this year, the 45,000 sq. ft. building will have 36-foot ceilings and a combination of dock-high and drive-in doors. Click HERE for more info.

A local developer plans to construct The View on 39th, a $27 million multi-family development project on the northwest corner of 39th & Dodge Street. The site was once home to the notorious Travel Inn, which was demolished about 15 years ago. The View on 39th would have 136 apartment units in a 4-story building with underground parking.

The Scoular Company recently moved its headquarters to 136th & California Street in Bank of the West Business park. That means the company’s former building at 20th & Dodge Street is empty. Kentro Group, a real estate developer based in Denver, plans to buy and renovate the 90,000 sq. ft., 100-year-old building. The $8.3 million project is intended to attract new office users.

Nebraska is planning two international trade missions in 2022 – United Arab Emirates and Jordan later this month plus the United Kingdom and Ireland this summer. Secretary of State Robert Evnen is leading the Middle East trip, which will include 25 delegates from Nebraska government and private entities. Gov. Pete Ricketts will lead the summer trip to the British Isles.

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Real Estate News from CoStar – Last year, multifamily property developers pulled construction permits for 550,400 units for complexes containing five or more units, a 24% increase over the previous year and the highest number of permits pulled for new apartments in 35 years.

Historically, rising unit permit counts in the five-or-more-units category would signal more multifamily construction in the short term. However, the pandemic has created a disconnect between the number of permits being pulled and the number of projects starting construction. Also, recent changes in the type of multifamily buildings being constructed have contributed to shifting delivery times much further into the future. READ MORE

First National Bank of Nebraska has completed its purchase of Wyoming-based Western States Bank, which had $542 million in total assets and $486 million in deposits.

Forbes magazine has ranked Mutual of Omaha 25th on its list of America’s Best Large Employers for 2022. The Forbes ranking also recognizes the company as the top large employer in the insurance industry as well as the top large employer based in Nebraska.

According to NP Dodge Real Estate, there were 765 single-family homes listed in the Omaha area as of January 31st. That’s a 13.1 percent drop from a year earlier. The number of Omaha home sales closed in January was 771, down 8.6 percent from the previous year. The median sale price for a newly constructed house is up 15.7 percent from last year to $427,001. The median sale price for existing houses is $240,000, up 14.3 percent from last year.

Green Plains Inc. has announced financial results for the fourth quarter 2021. Net loss attributable to the company for the fourth quarter was $9.6 million, or ($0.18) per diluted share compared to a net loss of $49.6 million or ($1.43) per diluted share, for the same period in 2020. Revenues were $802.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2021 compared with $478.8 million for the same period last year.

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Samantha Mosser has joined Bankers Trust as Nebraska Market President and member of the bank’s management committee. Mosser has more than 20 years of banking and leadership experience in the Omaha marketplace.

FBG Service Corporation has appointed Andy Petersen as president. He has been with the company since 2015. Omaha-based FBG Service Corporation provides janitorial, facility maintenance and facilities management services throughout the United State and Canada.

Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium executive director Dennis Pate announced he plans to retire in early 2023. During his 13-year tenure, the zoo has grown in its national stature and has added several blockbuster exhibits. A national search for his replacement will take place over the next year.

Millard Public Schools has chosen John Schwartz to be its superintendent, replacing the retiring Jim Sutfin. Schwartz is currently superintendent of Norris Public Schools in Nebraska. He has also held leadership positions in the Bellevue and Papillion-La Vista school districts.

Mack La Rock has been appointed executive vice president and Chief Banking Officer at ACCESSbank. La Rock previously served as Omaha market president at Arbor Bank.

Thompson Dreesen & Dorner Inc., and Omaha-based civil and structural engineering firm, has announced that three of its professional engineers have become ownership partners: Bradley Huyck, Joseph Dethlefs and Andrew Johnson.

Tom Murphy, a member of Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway’s Board of Directors since 2003, has resigned from the board effective February 14th. The 96-year-old Murphy is the former head of Capital Cities/ABC and a longtime friend of Warren Buffett.

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.

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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