Weekly Market Report – July 14, 2022

Jul 14, 2022 | 0 comments

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Restaurant & Retail Updates

Hokkaido Ramen House plans to open in the former Okra African Grill space at 1303 South 72nd Street in the Shoppes at Aksarben Village. Okra recently moved to 608 South 72nd Street just north of Nebraska Furniture Mart. Hokkaido is a chain of authentic Asian ramen houses. Existing locations are in Montana, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois and Texas.

Copps Pizza is holding a soft grand opening today for its new location at 2829 South 181st Street in a renovated former Applebee’s building. The company has also closed its original location at 72nd & Jones Street. The new west Omaha location has a substantially expanded menu. The Copps in Shadow Lake Towne Center remains open.

A free-stranding PepperJax restaurant is under construction on the northeast corner of Interstate 80 & Highway 50 between a McDonald’s and Scooter’s Coffee.

The Baking Flamingos, a home-based bakery business, has signed a lease for its first bricks-and-mortar location in a former dentist’s office near 168th & Harrison Street. Baking Flamingos will open soon in a 1,875 sq. ft. space at 16919 Audrey Street, suite 40.

Legacy Gyros has opened at 6307 Center Street in Aksarben Place. The popular Greek restaurant’s original location is at 169th & West Center Road.

Twisted Cork Bistro has reopened at 10730 Pacific Street in Regency Landing, a major redevelopment area northeast of Interstate 680 & Pacific Street.

Sickies Garage Burgers & Brews is now hiring to fill multiple positions at its future restaurant under construction in the former Joe’s Crab Shack building at the Westroads. Sickies is a garage-themed restaurant founded in 2012 in Fargo, N.D. Other locations are in South Dakota, Nevada, Florida and locally at 1203 Cornhusker Road in Bellevue.

Hy-Vee is converting its drugstore at 8404 North 30th Street into a Dollar Fresh Market, which will open tomorrow morning (Friday, July 15th). Dollar Fresh Market is a Hy-Vee concept, focusing on value and low prices.

Originally designed for smaller communities, this will be the first Dollar Fresh Market in a metro area. The 18,000 sq. ft. store will carry a full selection of grocery items, a bakery section, take-and-heat home meal offerings and specialty items as well as an adjacent wine and spirits store. The new store will continue to have a pharmacy with no disruption of patient services.

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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

The Big Story

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Upgrading the Metro Area Freeway System

To many drivers, it feels like the Council Bluffs interstate highway system has been under construction forever. Indeed, it has been underway since 2013, but much of the $1.5 billion project is already done. Most of the east-west section – the dual-divided stretch, in which Interstates 80 and 29 share the same roadway – is complete as are the massive interchanges on both ends of that stretch.

Now crews are working on widening Interstate 29 between Interstates 80 and 480. That project includes the complete reconstruction of the I-29/I-480 interchange just east of downtown Omaha.

The good news is that the three-year I-29/480 project has passed the half-way point according to WOWT. Frontage roads are in place, and work is progressing on several ramps on and off the interstate. Within the next few weeks, a traffic signal will activate at the new interchange at 40th Street and another section of frontage road will open. By the fall, the ramps from I-480 to both northbound and southbound I-29 are expected to open.

Meanwhile, on the Nebraska side of the metro area, a potential interstate construction project is in the early planning stages.

Metropolitan Area Planning Agency, in coordination with Sarpy County and the cities of Gretna and Papillion, is developing the Sarpy County I-80 Interchange Planning & Environmental Linkages (PEL) Study. The study will help determine the need and location of new Interstate 80 exits.

The PEL study will evaluate the need for transportation improvements along I-80 from the Pflug Road overpass to just south of the Highway 370 interchange. Once the study is completed, future work may involve preparing National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents, an Interchange Justification Report (IJR), design and construction.

The public is invited to view and comment on potential improvement alternatives for six I-80 locations: Pflug Road; Platteview Road; 204th Street/Fairview Road; 192nd Street/Capehart Road; 180th Street; and 168th Street/Schram Road.

The overall purpose and need in the study area will be addressed by the proposed improvement strategies. Specific project needs, along with several additional project goals, will be used to develop, analyze and compare the various alternative strategies.

The Environmental Review Area includes all of western Sarpy County and was used to collect relevant social, economic, and environmental data.

The Alternatives Study Area has been centered along I-80 from just west of Pflug Road to just east of the N-370 interchange. The Alternatives Study Area also includes a small buffer both north and south of I-80 to encompass any necessary roadway connections.

For more information or to view/comment on potential improvements, click HERE.

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Grow Omaha Snippets

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A tower crane is now in place on the southwest corner of 44th & Douglas Street near the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The crane will be used to construct a 6-story Hampton Inn.

Omaha’s Eppley Airport is receiving a $20 million grant as part of the $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure law passed last year. The money will go toward a $50 million project to add an extra drop-off lane in front of the terminal. As part of the project, the drop-off area will be covered by an expansive, 94,500 sq. ft. overhead canopy.

That’s not the only improvement project coming to the airport. Eppley will kick off a $600 million terminal expansion project in 2023.

Construction has started on a 12,500 sq. ft. retail building on a 1.84-acre lot on the southwest corner of 156th & State Street, according to Spencer Morrissey of NAI NP Dodge. Available spaces range from 2,500 to 7,500 sq. ft. Completion is planned for this fall.

Five low-income housing projects in Omaha and Fremont, totaling 231 housing units, will share $10 million in federal funding. It’s part of $109 million the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development sent to Nebraska to recover from flooding in 2019, according to Nebraska Examiner. HUD set aside about $26 million of that relief money for affordable housing in communities impacted by the “bomb cyclone” floods in March of 2019. Douglas, Sarpy and Dodge Counties were deemed the “most impacted” counties by the flooding.

Residential and commercial space is set to rise along 30th Street near north Omaha’s Highlander Accelerator project, according to the Omaha World-Herald. The project is planned for 6 acres of land where the Spencer Homes public housing apartments now sit as well as a vacant parking lot to the north.

The developer would tear down the Spencer Homes complex, an Omaha Housing Authority property dating to the early 1950s, and construct mixed-income housing in its place. Spencer Homes has 111 apartment units in 23 buildings.

Darland Construction has broken ground on a 3.62-acre site for a CHI Health clinic in Elkhorn. The 28,700 sq. ft. building is located near 205th and Main Street. Construction is expected to be completed next summer.

The Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium is expecting yet another baby elephant. Two were born earlier this year. Two elephants are now expecting calves next year, one in March and one next fall. The four Omaha elephant calves will likely account for half of the expected African elephant births in the United States during a two-year period. After both calves are born, the Omaha elephant herd will grow to 10 members.

Dozens of buildings/spaces will open their doors to the public as part of Open Omaha, a metro-wide showcase of unique places. The free event is August 6th and 7th. Facilitated by Omaha by Design, Open Omaha offers a behind-the-scenes look at museums, creative workspaces, religious buildings and performance spaces. Open Omaha was inspired by similar concepts in cities like Denver and Chicago. Click HERE for more info.

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.”

Eagle Mortgage Home Loan Services

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Eagle Mortgage is a locally owned, full-service mortgage company helping you with Conventional, VA, FHA and USDA loans in both Nebraska & Iowa, including the Omaha-Council Bluffs area.

Whether you are buying a home or looking to refinance an existing loan, Eagle Mortgage can help you realize your dream of homeownership or help you save money by obtaining a lower monthly payment. Eagle has plenty of experience with first-time home buyers too.

Learn more HERE!

Business News

Local Business News Sponsored by FranNet of The Heartland:

Real Estate News from CoStar – Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc.’s nearly $1 billion acquisition of rival chain Main Event is expected to save the combined company millions of dollars by cutting overlapping costs, including consolidating its two Dallas-area headquarters, and create a leader in the fast-growing family entertainment business.

The $835 million deal closed at the end of June with the combined company having more than 200 locations (including one in Omaha near 132nd & West Center Road) and nearly $2 billion in net revenue. Executives plan to add up to a dozen Dave & Buster’s locations and up to eight Main Event locations in the next 12 to 18 months.

Union Pacific Corporation will release second quarter 2022 financial and operating results on Thursday, July 21st at 7:45 a.m. Eastern. The company’s management team will host a conference call and live webcast at 8:45 a.m. Eastern.

Interior build-out is underway for a Chase Bank branch office in the eastern, end-cap bay at Beverly Hills Plaza near 78th & Dodge Street.

Razor Consulting Solutions will occupy Suite 104 at 11515 South 39th Street in Bellevue. Razor is known for contracting professional services including software development, project management, and IT management, according to Gabrielle Estivo and Harley Gordman of NAI NP Dodge, who represented the landlord in this 1,665 sq. ft. office lease.

Redwood Living, an Ohio-based real estate developer has entered the Omaha market, according to Investors Realty. Redwood has purchased 26.9 acres near 25th & Cornhusker Road and 25.8 acres near Sorensen Parkway & Wenninghoff Road. Redwood builds, owns and manages 13,000 townhomes in 11 states.

U.S. consumer inflation accelerated to 9.1 percent in June, according to the Wall Street Journal, a pace not seen in more than four decades. It was the fastest pace since November of 1981. A big jump in gasoline prices—up 11.2 percent from the previous month and nearly 60 percent from a year earlier—drove much of the increase, while shelter and food prices were also major contributors. The June inflation reading exceeded May’s 8.6 percent rate.

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!”

Grow Omaha University

Leadership & Sales Insights for Ambitious People

Compiled by Grow Omaha co-founder and sales trainer Jeff Beals

Sponsored by MyStaff, Inc.

Leadership & Management

Dissatisfaction with performance appraisals is pervasive, according to Harvard Business Review. Reviews are seen as time-consuming, demotivating, inaccurate, biased, and unfair. A McKinsey survey indicates most CEOs don’t find the appraisal process in their companies helps to identify top performers, while over half of employees think their managers don’t get the performance review right. A Gallup study is more negative: Just one in five employees agreed that their company’s performance practices motivated them.

These attitudes create a self-reinforcing dynamic. Managers do cursory reviews that are really up or down compensation announcements, not feedback. Employees then see the “appraisal” as non-existent or unfair and approach the next review with that attitude. Busy managers facing quarterly goals then try to avoid the unpleasantness and do even more cursory, drive-by reviews, and a downward spiral continues that promotes a culture of underperformance. READ MORE

The best leaders are wise. One way to become wiser is to enrich your life, according to Walden University. Wise leaders do more listening than talking. They seek ways to constantly grow to understand the breadth and depth of the world around them. They have a quest for knowledge that knows no bounds.

The sustained success of your team rests primarily on the talent you bring in. The best leader in the world can only get so far with an employee who lacks the ambition, skills, or cultural fit to thrive and actively contribute to their team.

Onboarding and ultimately letting go of an ineffective hire are massive drains on time, effort, money, and company resources. You need to be able to get ahead of that potentially disastrous process. That’s why sound hiring skills are so crucial to your success as a manager/leader.

Understand the skills and attributes that you want to hire for — as well as the questions you need to ask to uncover them. You can learn those by touching base with and learning from your more experienced colleagues.

Sales

Because of we find ourselves in the middle of this year’s calendar, it’s time for sales professionals to take some very important mid-year steps:

Goal Check – Hopefully, you made some detailed and quantitative goals before the year began. Hopefully, you put a lot of thought into your goals, challenging yourself to move forward both personally and professionally. But if you’re like most people, you put those goals on the shelf as soon as you completed them. Over the past six months, a lot of sales reps’ goals have been collecting dust.

Now’s the time to relook at those goals. Study each goal carefully. Get out your spread sheets and determine whether your production so far this year is on target. Do you need to ramp up your efforts? If you’re ahead of the game, should you rewrite your goals for the rest of this year so that you can accomplish much more than you initially thought possible?

Pipeline Assessment – This is a great time to study your pipeline. How many prospects do you have at each stage? Are too many prospects stuck at one stage and not progressing through the pipe like they should? If you have closed a lot of deals already this year (congratulations), you might want to ramp up prospecting efforts to make sure you have enough pipeline activity to carry through the rest of the year.

Prospecting – The single most important activity a sales professional does is prospecting. You need to constantly be on the hunt for new opportunities. But it’s easy to get caught up in existing deals or to become prospecting-complacent as the year goes along. Do you need to block more time on your calendar to make calls?

Networking – You may have become rusty at in-person prospecting during the pandemic. Depending on your industry and the type of sales work you do, you’re probably missing out on opportunities if you’re not out and about in public.

Dormant Leads – You may have some prospects who showed promise but you lost track of them. Maybe they were unresponsive and you moved on. Maybe they were really interested but went dark on you (ghosted you). Maybe there are some prospects from two or three years ago who might be more amenable now.

Wisdom

“The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes. It is very easy to say yes.” – Tony Blair, former UK prime minister

“Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.” – General George S. Patton

Grow Omaha University is sponsored by MyStaff Inc, a locally owned staffing firm whose purpose is helping Nebraska companies recruit for corporate office positions.

My Staff Inc – Our team helps you find yours!

People in the News

Sponsored by Baird Holm Attorneys at Law

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digital rendering of Flatiron District project buildings

Erin Perry has been promoted to vice president of service delivery enablement at Mutual of Omaha. Perry joined Mutual of Omaha in 2006 as a senior business systems technician. She supported product development processes for Individual Life & Annuity Products until moving into her current position. Perry earned a bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University and a master’s degree from Bellevue University.

Attorney Courtney Pinaire has rejoined Kutak Rock’s national tax credits practice group in the Omaha office. She has more than 15 years of experience acting primarily as an equity investor counsel for major financial institutions, private real estate equity firms and tax credit syndicators in real estate transactions. She has a law degree from Creighton University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Kansas University.

WoodmenLife of Omaha announced that Danny Comeaux, Sr., of Houma, LA, is the 2022 National Fraternalist of the Year. Comeaux was nominated for this honor based on his commitment to his community and his consistent exemplification of WoodmenLife values. The WoodmenLife Fraternalist of the Year award is given to an outstanding member who displays the values and commitments of the organization.

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.

Have You Watched Grow O on Video Yet?

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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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