Weekly Market Report – July 15, 2021

Jul 15, 2021 | 0 comments

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Restaurant & Retail Updates

Fresh Salads Fast – Lettuce Express is now open at 14505 West Maple Road in the Grayhawk shopping center. A creation of Omaha’s Cutchall Management Company, Lettuce Express sells signature salads for $7.95 and drinks for $1. The restaurant’s tagline is “more flavor for less.” Drive through and dine-in options are available.

Speaking of Healthy Food – Omaha’s first Crisp & Green restaurant is now under construction inside a 3,100 sq. ft. end cap bay in a new retail strip at 80th & Dodge Street. Two-to-four additional locations are planned in the metro area over the next year. The Minneapolis-based, healthy-eating chain has locations in nine states.

All Hail the King – Little King, the sub-sandwich chain that rose to popularity in the 1970s, suddenly has a much brighter future. Chip James, CEO of Lockwood Development, has purchased the Omaha-based company with plans to expand and modernize the brand. Little King currently has five stores in Omaha, plus two in Lincoln and one in Grand Island. James plans to open three corporate-owned stores at 86th & West Dodge Road, 144th & West Dodge Road and near 204th & F Street.

Can Vegans Be Naughty? – Yep. Naughty Buddha Chocolate bar has opened at 703 South 24th Street next door to the Naughty Buddha Burger Bar. It claims to be Omaha’s first vegan ice cream and chocolate bar.

Hair Care All in One Spot – Hairarchy Salon & Studios and Beauty First will open this summer in a co-branded, end-cap bay at 7815 Dodge Street. Beauty First will be relocating from Beverly Hills Plaza across the street. Hairarchy will provide upscale custom-designed hairstyling salons for professionals who run their own private businesses. The space was previously occupied by Beauty Brands.

Nostalgia Lost – After 47 years of serving homemade comfort food, Jack & Mary’s Restaurant has closed. The restaurant experienced a 70 percent decrease in business, resulting in a $330,000 loss in 2020. Business did not come back in big enough numbers in 2021. Before the pandemic, Jack & Mary’s averaged more than 2,200 dine-in guests and 600 catered meals per week. In a public statement, the restaurant’s owner held open the possibility of reopening in the future.

The “Restaurant & Retail Updates” section is sponsored by TR Construction, and Omaha-based commercial and industrial company “building concrete excellence.”

The Big Story

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Medical Construction at Village Point

Nebraska Medicine will soon have a fourth medical building on its Village Pointe campus.

Noddle Development will be the developer and owner of the 115,000 sq. ft., 3-story building. Construction mobilization has started, and the building should be completed in approximately 22 months. Nebraska Medicine will be the building’s sole occupant.

The two existing medical office buildings on the Village Pointe campus will be modified as part of the project. The single-story building on the far west side of the campus will remain as is.

The site has already been entitled for an additional 120,000 sq. ft. if Nebraska Medicine were to need it. Should that future construction project occur, Noddle Companies would construct a modest parking structure to accommodate the additional employees and patients.

Plans call for 175th Street, which runs between the two initial buildings, to be closed. A new roadway with a signalized intersection would be constructed on the west end of the site. The property would also connect to the existing traffic circle and the neighborhoods to the south.

This section is sponsored by SEi. For more than 50 years, Security Equipment Incorporated has been your Omaha owned, trusted security partner. SEI protects life and property by designing, installing, monitoring and servicing your security, fire, video surveillance and access control systems. Learn more HERE!

Grow Omaha Snippets

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Club Car Wash is making a major investment in the Omaha metro. The Columbia, Missouri-based chain of full-service membership car washes has 30 locations in Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa and Oklahoma (coming soon).

The planned metro area locations are Capehart Road in Bellevue, the southwest corner of 108th & Maple Street, the site of a former Village Inn at 6607 North 72nd Street, in front of Menard’s at 72nd & L Street, and 2201 West Broadway in Council Bluffs.

The Omaha locations will be the company’s first in Nebraska. The existing Iowa locations are in Coralville and Iowa City on the eastern side of the state.

Construction appears to be restarting on the stalled Moxy by Marriott Hotel project planned for a very small lot on the southwest corner of 12th & Harney Street. The site had been the long-time home of the Old Market Diner. The Moxy would be a 6-story boutique hotel that appeals to young professional and urban-oriented customers.

Employees have stated moving into the 6-story Carson Group building on the southwest corner of 144th & West Dodge Road. In addition to Carson Group, JE Dunn Construction Company will also be an occupant.

Two retail buildings of 10,000 sq. ft. and 5,000 sq. ft. are planned for a 1.84-acre lot on the southwest corner of 156th & State Street in northwest Omaha. The site is located in a fast-growing area currently experiencing extensive single-family housing growth. It is also located just north of the new Omaha Public Schools high school.

First Management, Inc. plans to demolish two single-family houses on a 2-acre lot at 94th & Pacific Street, making way for a new development. Pacific Rows would be a 21-unit townhouse development.

This section is sponsored by Midtown Crossing, an energetic, eclectic destination in the heart of Omaha. Be sure and stay connected to all the new retailer announcements, food and drink specials and the lively line-up of events in Turner Park by clicking HERE!

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!

Local Business News

Local Business News Sponsored by FranNet of The Heartland:

The University of Nebraska system once again ranked among the top 100 academic institutions worldwide in earning U.S. patents to protect the research and discoveries of its faculty.

The National Academy of Inventors and Intellectual Property Owners Association lists the NU system as tied at Number 77. The ranking reflects the 38 patents granted in 2020 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to NU’s technology transfer offices: NUtech Ventures at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and UNeMed Corp. at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

McGrath North is offering a seminar titled “Recent Changes to Nebraska Condominium Law Which Will Opoen the Door to Condoiminium Development” August 11th from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the First National Tower 7th Floor Conference Center. If interested, RSVP to rlauver@mcgrathnorth.com by August 4th.

Civil engineering firm Kirkham Michael is celebrating 75 years in business this year. The company’s headquarters is at 127th & West Dodge Road. The firm has branch offices in Nebraska, Kansas and Iowa.

Applied Underwriters has acquired the US Specialty Lines Division of Generali Group, which includes Generali Warranty Services, LLC, a fully licensed obligor. This is the latest in an ongoing series of Applied acquisitions. Applied Underwriters will aggregate the Specialty Lines business into its newly formed Applied Warranty & Insurance Services division. Applied Underwriters is building a headquarters building southwest of 144th & Pacific Street.

Omaha-based Werner Enterprises has opened a 67,500 sq. ft., 28-acre terminal in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. The facility includes truck driver amenities such as showers, laundry, company store, workout facility, lounge and a full-service shop and wash. The terminal has 200 trailer parking stalls and 90 tractor parking stalls. The terminal adds 70 jobs to the Lehigh Valley area.

WoodmenLife’s 2020 financial performance included a total income of more than $1 billion and certificate reserves of nearly $8.3 billion, according to the company’s annual report released last month. At year end, WoodmenLife had total assets of more than $11.2 billion, and life insurance in force increased to $38.8 billion. Benefit payments to members and beneficiaries totaled $853.5 million, while refunds to members were $28.8 million.

For the eighth straight month, the Creighton University Rural Mainstreet Index remained above growth neutral, according to the monthly survey of bank CEOs in rural areas of a 10-state region dependent on agriculture and/or energy.

The overall index for July fell to a healthy 65.6 from June’s strong 70.0. The index ranges between 0 and 100 with a reading of 50.0 representing growth neutral. Approximately, 31.3% of bank CEOs reported that their local economy expanded between June and July.

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!”

People in the News

digital rendering of Flatiron District project buildings

Allan Lozier, philanthropist and former CEO of Lozier Corp. has died at age 87. His foundation has donated more than $430 million since its founding 35 years ago. Omaha-based Lozier Corp. manufactures retail fixtures for use in stores nationwide.

Greater Omaha Chamber president David Brown has announced he will retire in 2022. During his 18-year tenure, the chamber expanded the Greater Omaha Economic Development Partnership from a three-county to a seven-county collaborative representing 44 percent of Nebraska’s population and 60 percent of the state’s GDP.

Omaha authors Eileen Wirth and Carol McCabe have written A History Lover’s Guide to Omaha which was officially released July 12th. For more information click HERE.

Silva Raker has been appointed CEO of the Kiewit Luminarium, the $101 million science and engineering museum under construction on the Riverfront downtown. Raker has been serving as an executive of the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Kiewit Luminarium is scheduled to open in 2023.

Reece Andrews, senior product manager for FieldNET™ and Zimmatic™ Controls at Omaha-based Lindsay Corporation, was named Innovator of the Year by the Irrigation Association.

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