Weekly Market Report – June 30, 2022

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Grow Omaha is proud to deliver this market report to your inbox each week. This would not be possible without the support of our sponsor, Eagle Mortgage, Inc.

Restaurant & Retail Updates

3 New Restaurants at Village Pointe – Last week, we reported that Cheddar’s signed a lease at Village Pointe. We have more details. It will open in a 7,900 sq. ft., free-standing building to be constructed east of Firebirds along West Dodge Road. Two additional new restaurants appear to be coming to Village Pointe as well, according to PropertyCapsule. Ika Ramen is slated for the 2,748 sq. ft. bay vacated by Fuzzy’s Tacos. Ancho & Agave is planned for the 10,804 sq. ft. former Pier One space.

Sweet Magnolias Bake Shop opened a couple weeks ago in the Ashton Building in North Downtown’s Millwork Commons district. The restaurant is located near Archetype Coffee and a public commons area known as “The Dock.” Coneflower Creamery and Clean Slate are expected to open this fall. Sweet Magnolias Bake Shop’s original location is at 813 North 40th Street. Coneflower’s original location is in the Blackstone District. Clean Slate is a grab-and-go healthy meal store from Lincoln.

A Pressure Relief Valve – Good news for people who don’t want to wait in long lines at Crumbl Coolies’ southwest Omaha store. The planned opening date for Crumbl’s second Omaha location at 156th & Maple is just around the corner – July 7th.

Construction has started on The Beanery, a coffee shop south of 168th & Giles Road. The building will be constructed out of old shipping containers. The Beanery has existing locations in Papillion, Gretna and Ashland.

The 8-X-14-foot stature of a steer that sat atop the former Anthony’s Steakhouse at 72nd & F Street for 50 years is moving to the T-Bone Truck Stop in Columbus, Neb. The iconic statue sold for $45,000 at auction.

Back in the late 1980s, The Garden Café was one of Omaha’s most popular restaurants. It had several area locations and long lines of people waiting for tables. The original (and last remaining) location in Rockbrook Village will close tomorrow.

Other restaurant closings – Lighthouse Pizza has closed its Capitol District location, but its 74th & Pacific store remains open. Dario’s Brasserie in Dundee plans to close sometime this fall.

New restaurants are coming to Midtown Crossing! See the BIG STORY below for all the details.

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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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Five New Tenants at Midtown Crossing

Midtown Crossing, the seven-building, 16-acre mixed-use campus directly east of Mutual of Omaha’s headquarters is going through a transformation as five new tenants are opening for business. What’s more, part of the retail space on the complex’s north side has been converted into The Offices at Turner Park, an 18,539 sq. ft. office zone with high ceilings, large windows and attached outdoor patios.

The development is experiencing increased traffic lately as same-store sales are, on average, 10-to-15-percent higher than pre-pandemic levels. Midtown Crossing’s buildings have retail/commercial space on the lower levels with residential units on the upper floors. Residential sales have been strong as only two of 300 condos remain for sale.

Here’s a look at the new tenants coming to Midtown Crossing:

Red Claw plans to open a restaurant this October at 3157 Farnam Street in suite 7106. That’s on the south side of Farnam between Modern Love and Chase Bank. The restaurant will serve Cajun dishes, seafood and Boba tea. Fifty percent of the entrees will be seafood. Red Claw’s owner also has Mai Thai in Aksarben Village. The ownership estimates that 70 percent of the business will be take-out, but there will be a nice in-house dining space.

Sofra is coming to the former Grey Plume space at 220 South 31st Avenue. Owner Nils Gjoca is planning to open by the middle of July. Sofra will serve food with a European focus and will be known for plated brunch item plus the usual American favorites of burgers, salads, soups and breakfast items.

Chef Around the Block plans to open around September 1st next to Smokin’ Oak at 220 South 31st Avenue. This will be a pop-up shop designed to help support local chefs with multiple chefs using the space. Chef Around the Block will be open Thursdays and Sundays and will be able to host private dinners.

Milan Laser Hair Removal is planning its third Omaha-area location at 3201 Farnam Street just west of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in the fourth quarter of this year. Milan is a fast-growing, Omaha-based retail chain that started in Papillion and just celebrated the opening of its 200th location in June.

Visit Omaha, the city’s official convention and visitors bureau, will open in about 6 months in the former Cantina Laredo space, part of the aforementioned Offices at Turner Park. The 3,000 sq. ft. space has a conference room with a nano wall (a glass wall that can move), which opens up to an outdoor fireplace patio overlooking Turner Park.

One last note, Midtown Crossing is in final lease negotiations with a sixth new tenant – a retail service provider shop. Details are expected within the next week.

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Grow Omaha Snippets

Grow Omaha Snippets Sponsored by:

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A mixed-use development is underway in Papillion. The development team joined officials from the City of Papillion, Sarpy County Economic Development, and the Sarpy County Chamber of Commerce this week to hold a groundbreaking for The Tower District Papillion. The Tower District Papillion is a 120-acre, mixed-use development on the northwest corner of 84th & Highway 370.

The project will include a variety of residential options, retail, office, and civic components in addition to greenspace and miles of walking trails that will make it an attractive place for residents to live, work, and play. Grading at the site is currently underway with infrastructure work to begin later this year. Some of the first homes and commercial tenants are expected in late 2023.

The Hello Apartments have opened at 1200 North 12th Street in Millwork Commons. The 5-story, 220,000 sq. ft. building is immediately east of the Mastercraft Building and has 371 apartment units. The ground floor has several commercial bays for lease. One of the bays on the west side is already home to “Spectical” Design Studio & Sunglass Shop. Commercial space on the building’s south side is being marketed to restaurant tenants.

The City of Omaha will pay Cox Contracting Company of Council Bluffs $678,000 to raze the W. Dale Clark library downtown. Demolition can begin after the library’s functions are moved to 1401 Jones Street and 85th & Frederick Street. The library must be removed to make way for Mutual of Omaha’s $600 million skyscraper headquarters building.

The Omaha City Council approved a redevelopment agreement this week that allows the proposed Omaha urban streetcar system to use up to $354 million in Tax Increment Financing.

The next step in the redevelopment of a central library at 72nd & Dodge Street will be reviewed by the Omaha City Council with a public hearing scheduled for July 19th. The council will consider an agreement with Community Information Trust (CIT) to proceed with the proposed project. The city would contribute $20 million by January 2025. Current cost estimates to build the library exceed $100 million.

The agreement also calls for the city to continue annual budget appropriations for the library at or above 2022 levels. The CIT would contract with Heritage Services to raise private funds and to manage the design and construction of the central library. CIT is a 501(c)(3) organization that oversees Do Space, which would become part of the city’s library system. Once the central library is built, CIT would merge with the Omaha Public Library Foundation.

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 – The number of homes under contract to be sold broke a six-month decline and rose 0.7 percent from the prior month in May.

The increase was lopsided in favor of sales in the Northeast, where deals under contract rose 15.4 percent from the prior month. May’s pending sales in the South were up 0.2 percent, while the West was down 5 percent. Sales in the Midwest declined 1.7 percent. Year over year, pending sales were down in all four regions: 19.8 percent West; 13.8 percent South; 11.9 percent Northeast; and 8.8 percent Midwest.

Seim Johnson, an Omaha accounting and consulting firm founded in 1975, is joining Eide Bailly, LLP, one of the top 25 accounting and business advisory firms in the nation. The change takes effect July 25th. Seim Johnson will adopt the Eide Bailly name but plans to remain at its current office near 180th & West Dodge Road.

A familiar-looking logo is coming back to the Omaha market as Anderson Convenience Market is switching its eight metro area locations from the BP to Amoco brand. The Anderson Convenience Market near 180th & Arbor Street is the first location to get the new Amoco signage.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has purchased more than $500 million worth of Occidental Petroleum shares over, according to the Associated Press. Berkshire now owns 16.3 percent of the Houston-based company’s common stock.

Scoular has completed an extensive upgrade to its grain handling facility in western Missouri that triples grain unloading speeds for farmers and expands storage space in time for the wheat harvest. Scoular built the facility in 2012. This expansion is the second major addition since inception, bringing Scoular’s total investment in the facility to more than $15 million.

Mutual of Omaha has been recognized for its workplace culture. Quantum Workplace has awarded the company an Employee Voice Award in the Excellence in Engagement category. The award recognizes Mutual’s commitment to seek and respond to the inclusive perspectives of its associates.

Streck, Inc. has announced the commercialization of the Streck Viral Extraction Kit with partner Ceres Nanosciences. Streck developed a viral extraction kit utilizing Nanotrap technology “to shorten hands-on time and simplify the workflow of the isolation of SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza A from clinical samples.” Established in 1971, Streck develops products for clinical and research laboratories.

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

The more genuine you are with staff members – the more you allow them to get to know and see the real you – the more they will be drawn to reciprocate and become more loyal to the enterprise, according to MindSet, an Omaha-based leadership training and consulting firm. Life is just a lot more rewarding when you don’t have to play a role every day.

Here are the 7 Keys to Becoming a Remarkably Effective Leader according to Inc.:

  1. Delegate wisely.
  2. Set goals.
  3. Communicate.
  4. Make time for employees.
  5. Recognize achievements.
  6. Think about lasting solutions.
  7. Don’t take It all too seriously.

Sales

If your prospecting calls exclusively target executives, your results are likely to be frustrating, according to Harvard Business Review. Approximately 90 percent of executives will ignore our calls and won’t bother responding to your emails either. What’s the key to succeeding in such a situation? Be persistent by making many calls over a period of time (your prospecting cadence), use client-centric value language and vary your messaging.

According to an ATD report, U.S. companies spend $20 billion yearly on sales training.

Here are the keys to successful selling during a recession:

  1. Double down on your prospecting efforts – Keep prospecting during good, bad and regular times.
  2. Resist negative and fearful thinking – Refusing to participate in fatalistic thinking just might make you immune to recessions.
  3. Go back to the fundamentals – When you feel stressed, go back to what has worked for generations of sales pros: diligent customer service, timely communication, proactive prospecting, an early start to the day, making “just one more call” before going home, etc.
  4. Rediscover the networking game – While face-to-face networking opportunities evaporated during the pandemic, most of them are now back. Get out of the office and off your couch!
  5. Reassess your target audience – During periods of economic difficulty, it is sometimes advantageous to change your target audience (or at least tweak it). This depends on your industry and company policy, but there could be customers who are more or less likely to buy during recessionary periods than during normal times.
  6. Pent-up demand from non-traditional buyers – Look for clients/buyers who have pent-up demand. Certain buyers spend less during good times, preferring to save their money for when times are bad and good deals are to be had. These cash-rich buyers could be the perfect medicine to what might ail you during economic downturns. Be sure to look carefully and thoroughly for these people, because they are sometimes hard to notice at first glance.

Wisdom

“I supposed leadership at one time meant muscles, but today it means getting along with people.” – Mahatma Gandhi

“Many years ago, I was hired as a human resources manager for a retail convenience store chain. There were seven people in our department. We served 350 stores in three states. My boss was a rather gruff gentleman named Dave. The day I started he said to me, ‘here’s your office, and I’d better not ever see you in it.’” – Rick Gibbs, Performance Specialist, Field Service Operations / New York, N.Y.

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

Joe Thornton has joined Scooter’s Coffee as president, a new role at the rapidly growing, Omaha-based, drive-thru coffee chain. With more than 38 years of retail and restaurant experience, Thornton has worked for Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Blockbuster, and most recently, HMSHost.

North End Teleservices’ director of human resources, employee and community relations, Keisha Thomas, was appointed to the Heartland Workforce Solutions board of directors in Omaha.

Jim Nicholas is the new vice president of sales at FNTS, which provides multi-cloud, mainframe and managed security services. Nicholas will lead the company’s long-term sales and business development vision. Before joining FNTS, Nicholas held a variety of leadership roles with FNTS’ technology partner, IBM.

Equitable Bank has hired Jana Wheatley as a financial consultant in the bank’s Elkhorn branch. She has more than 15 years of financial services experience and will be spearheading the newest branch of the Equitable Wealth Management division.

Foundation One Bank has promoted Lynn Paul to president & Chief Operating Officer. She most recently served as executive vice president and Chief Financial Officer

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?

Jeff Beals, Trenton Magid and a guest in the KFAB 1110 Radio Booth

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.

Support the Grow “O” Mission

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