Weekly Market Report – June 23, 2022

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Restaurant & Retail Updates

Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen has signed a lease for 7,500 sq. ft. beginning August 11th at 17304 Davenport Street in Village Pointe, according to CoStar. Cheddar’s has an existing Omaha location on the northwest corner of 120th & L Street.

Several restaurants are going into a brand-new retail strip on the southeast corner of 204th & Blondo Parkway. Javi’s Tacos will open its third location on the far south end of the building. Javi’s existing locations are at 180th & Q Street and 171st & West Center Road. Site 1 Brewing and Sunnyside will also open in the building. The original Site 1 is at 2566 Farnam Street. Sunnyside is a breakfast and brunch restaurant at 3528 Center Street.

Construction is underway on a free-standing Starbucks Coffee location with a drive-thru in the Coventry development southwest of 204th & Q Street.

El Arepon Venezuelan Food has reopened at 1021 West 23rd Avenue in Bellevue after closing its Blackstone location. The new location is just west of Old Towne and north Offutt Air Force Base’s Bellevue Gate.

Bawarchi Indian Cuisine has officially opened at 179043 Pierce Plaza in Spring Ridge Shopping Center. Bawarchi is a chain of Indian restaurants with more than 50 locations nationwide.

The Pipeline Tavern has closed at 1300 South 72nd Street.

OFFLINE by Aerie opened this past Friday at Village Pointe. The store sells workout leggings, sports bras, tops, workout dresses, skirts and more made with soft luxe fabrics. OFFLINE is a new concept created by AEO Management, which has the American Eagle and Aerie brands.

Construction has started on a Casey’s General Store on the northeast corner of 144th & Fort Street. Meanwhile, a former Bucky’s BP gas station at 40th & Dodge is being converted into a Casey’s.

The Sarpy County Chamber is planning a ribbon cutting July 14th for a new Shopko Optical location at 8920 South 71st Plaza in The Shoppes at Market Pointe.

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Local Transportation News

For this week’s Big Story, we are sharing several transportation updates.

Progress at the Airport

As work progresses on Eppley Airport’s Terminal Entrance Roadway Expansion project, the next phase of work has relocated the temporary entrance to a new permanent airport entrance from Abbott Drive. The change took place yesterday.

The new airport entrance provides access to the passenger terminal as well as the south garage, south economy, and south cell phone waiting lot. Motorists should follow the directional signs on Abbott Drive to navigate to the new airport entrance, according to the Omaha Airport Authority.

To prepare for Eppley’s future growth – including a $600 million terminal expansion project slated to start next year – the Airport Access and Parking Modernization program is expanding the roadway leading to the terminal and modernizing the south garage.

When complete, these projects will improve customer service by providing enhancements to capacity, efficiency, safety, and security.

Access to the terminal and south garage will continue to be maintained during all remaining phases of construction. Customers may continue to encounter occasional minor detours on the roadway; however, the Airport Authority anticipates no significant delays.

Street Reopening

The stretch of 168th Street between West Center Road and Pacific Street has opened to traffic with one lane available in each direction. The road has been under construction for the past two years. Lane shifts and closures will continue through the summer months on both 168th Street and the side streets abutting the project.

A Regional Metro

Metro, the city of Omaha’s transit authority, is converting into a regional metropolitan transit authority effective August 1st. The move opens the door for Metro to offer public transit services beyond Omaha’s city limits but does not immediately change the organization’s service area.

A press release from Metro said the change will allow the organization to have more flexibility in accessing funding. That will help Metro implement new projects such as improved signage, extended evening and weekend service, permanent K-12 free rides and expanded service to Eppley Airport.

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Groundbreaking took place today for the MD West One Sports Complex planned for 264th & Ida Street, along Highway 275, in Valley. Elkhorn Athletic Association is developing the 142-acre complex. Phase one includes eight turfed baseball/softball fields, six turfed soccer/football fields, a barrier-free field and infrastructure development of concession stands, restrooms facilities and parking for up to 2,500 vehicles. Future phases will include more multi-purpose fields and eight more softball/baseball fields.

Construction is now in full swing on a Porsche dealership going in northwest of 180th & West Dodge Road between an Infiniti dealership and Pinnacle Bancorp’s headquarters building. When completed, the new location will replace the existing Woodhouse Porsche dealership at 66th & L Street

A small public park could be coming to the Old Market, according to the Omaha World-Herald. Omaha by Design is working with a private property owner to turn an underused parking lot into a public green space. The block is bounded by 12th, 13th, Jones and Leavenworth streets. Part of the block is occupied by the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts and a small, historic office building. The remaining 1.2 acres could become a green oasis in one of Omaha’s most dense urban neighborhoods.

Nebraska is ranked #14 on WalletHub’s list of “2022’s Best & Worst States for Summer Road Trips.” WalletHub compared the 50 states based on 32 key metrics to find “the most fun, scenic and wallet-friendly road-trip destinations.” The top 5 were New York, Minnesota, Texas, Louisiana and Maine. The bottom 5 (starting from worst) were Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, Montana and Arkansas.

WalletHub has ranked Nebraska at the 4th safest state during the COVID-19 pandemic. WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across five key metrics: level of community transmission; rates of positive testing; hospitalizations; death; and the share of the eligible population getting vaccinated. Iowa ranked 7th. Kansas, North Carolina and Maine were the only states ranked higher than Nebraska.

Structural steel is now in place for a Mutual 1st Federal Credit Union building on the south side of 183rd & West Maple Road. Opening is planned for late this year. The credit union’s main office is at 145th & F Street.

The Institute of Real Estate Management’s (IREM) Nebraska Chapter is holding its annual golf event Friday, August 12th at Tiburon Golf Club. The event supports Special Olympics Nebraska and the IREM Scholarship Fund. To sponsor or participate in the event, click HERE or email Tiffany Behrens at chapteradmin@iremne.org

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Real Estate News from CoStar – Office use lags far behind pre-pandemic levels in most large U.S. cities, but central business hubs are far from becoming ghost towns filled with financially ailing properties.

The office rent and occupancy declines that followed the pandemic-induced 2020 recession are far less than what occurred during the prior three economic downturns. Total returns for institutional office investors took a minimal hit in the pandemic downturn, dipping slightly negative in the third quarter of 2020. Office loan delinquencies never spiked as some thought they would after the start of the pandemic.

Village Pointe Shopping Center has been listed for sale with Mid-America, a Chicago-based real estate brokerage firm. According to marketing materials released June 21st, the 454,481 sq. ft. outdoor mall is 97 percent occupied. An offering memorandum will be available June 27th to interested buyers who sign a confidentiality agreement. Anchored by Scheel’s, tenants include Apple, Lululemon, Warby Parker, Urban Outfitters, Bentley/Lamborghini, Marcus Theatres and DSW.

Boston Mutual Life Insurance Co. has chosen Omaha as the place to open its first corporate, non-sales office outside its home state of Massachusetts in 130 years, according to Nebraska Examiner. The 5,000 sq. ft. at 18135 Burke Street is to be occupied by nearly 20 employees working on a hybrid schedule.

Werner Enterprises has been named a 2022 Green Supply Chain Partner by Inbound Logistics. This annual list recognizes 75 companies going “above and beyond to ensure their global supply chains are sustainable and their operations are environmentally friendly.”

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

Chase has opened a full-service bank branch 11707 South 73rd Street in Papillion’s Shadow Lake Town Center. The New York-based bank now has four metro area locations with more on the way.

With a flight school in Council Bluffs that serves more than 250 students, Revv Aviation, formerly Advanced Air, is expanding its operations on June 1st to Omaha’s Eppley Airport, according to Aviation Pros. Revv Aviation is leasing offices at the TAC Air fixed-base operator at 3737 Orville Plaza in Eppley’s general aviation area. The expansion allows for advanced aviation training, including multi-engine instruction and tower communications skills in addition to beginning flight lessons.

More Real Estate News from CoStar – Sales of existing single-family homes dropped for the fourth straight month in May, declining 3.4 percent from April and 8.6 percent from May 2021.

Meanwhile, the median price for the 5.4 million U.S. homes that did sell in May was $407,600 — marking the first time the median topped $400,000 and representing a 14.8 percent rise from a year earlier. The inventory of unsold existing homes rose 12.6 percent from the prior month to just under 1.2 million at the end of May, the equivalent of a still-tight 2.6 months of inventory at the current monthly sales pace.

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Leadership & Management

Researchers in Switzerland have found that generosity begets generosity; those who have felt others’ generosity are more likely to be generous themselves, according to a Forbes.

This means that if you’re generous with your clients, partners, colleagues and employees — if you put in that extra effort, spend that extra bit of time on your work with them and offer whatever you can—they’re likely to return the favor. By making generosity one of your top priorities as a business leader, you’ll likely find it will be reciprocated exponentially, and you could end up getting much more than you give.

Approximately 63 percent of millennials believe their companies/employers are not fully developing their leadership skills, and 71 percent expect to leave their current employer within the next two years.

Only 12 percent of employees strongly agree that their companies’ leaders are completely ethical and honest, according to author Keith Rosen. Only 7 percent strongly agree that the actions of senior leaders are completely consistent with their words.

The number one issue in the workplace is a lack of trust, Rosen says. That means you must become vulnerable if you want to become a great leader. If you want to build trust with your team, let go of your need to be perfect or indestructible. Allow yourself to be vulnerable.

Rosen recommends the following actions: honor your word; follow through with your commitments; be consistent as a manager; be respectful; support others’ opinions; align your goals with the team; remember the law of reciprocity; and reset expectations when needed.

Sales

According to HubSpot, high-performing companies are twice as likely to offer personalized training for their sales reps. Just because skill development might not be an urgent priority doesn’t mean it’s not critically important.

Advice for sales reps – Prospecting is NOT optional. If a salesperson’s job is to create new sales opportunities which lead to closed deals, they have to keep the tops of their sales funnels full. Even the long-tenured, experienced reps! Living off of referrals and repeat business or thinking you can get all your business from social media usually leads to disappointment.

Wisdom

“The rare individual who satisfies the heart’s hunger will hold people in the palm of their hand.” – Dale Carnegie

“You manage things; you lead people.” – Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, United States Navy

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

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Dvorak Law Group has added attorneys Timothy Kubert and Skylar Young as new associates in its business and corporate practice group.

Dan Dahl has joined UNICO Group as a benefits advisor. He has 10 years of experience in the insurance industry and most recently worked as a regional director for one of Nebraska’s largest insurance and employee benefits brokerages.

CBRE, a Dallas-based real estate firm, has added Maggie Andrews as senior real estate manager in the Omaha office. Andrews previously worked as a property manager for a different Omaha real estate firm and in facilities management for Union Pacific.

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.

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