Official: North Downtown Discussion

Garrett · Post by **Garrett** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 4:21 pm

Also, here's the land use

MadMartin8 · Post by **MadMartin8** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 4:52 pm

Garrett wrote:Done! Could probably use a few edits and clarifications in places where I was unsure, but for the most part, it's set.

Can we change the name of the owner of "The Yard's" to "Giant Turd Sandwich LLC" for taking up a prime lot and dooming it to only be parking?

Post by **BRoss** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 5:58 pm

Nice work Garrett!

Post by **Coyote** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 6:35 pm

Nice!

can't wait to see it on a computer (instead of my cell phone...)

S33 · Post by **S33** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 8:35 pm

No kidding; nice work. Surprised how much space Creighton has acquired

GetUrban · Post by **GetUrban** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 8:55 pm

S33 wrote:No kidding; nice work. Surprised how much space Creighton has acquired

Creighton bought all of the former Modern Equipment Co. Property. They had acquired quite a large chunk. You may remember all of their buildings were painted beige with brown trim. They moved up to Abbott Dr. North of the airport into a new huge beige building with brown trim.

I have high hopes Creighton will do something more exciting with it eventually. But it might have had a better chance for quicker incremental development with multiple owners of smaller parcels.

Post by **Coyote** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 9:27 pm

Have we seen an updated CU master plan recently?

SaveOmaha · Post by **SaveOmaha** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 9:52 pm

It's my understanding that it isn't public. I'd like to see it myself.

Garrett · Post by **Garrett** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 9:57 pm

Would someone mind telling me what LLCs are exactly? When I was categorizing I encountered a lot of them with vague names so I wasn't sure exactly what to make of them.

Post by **Coyote** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 10:05 pm

Garrett wrote:Would someone mind telling me what LLCs are exactly? When I was categorizing I encountered a lot of them with vague names so I wasn't sure exactly what to make of them.

You mean explain more than just being a Limited Liability Company... a company formed so that your personal assets can't be involved in any legal actions concerning your LLC?

Garrett · Post by **Garrett** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 10:08 pm

Coyote wrote:
Garrett wrote:Would someone mind telling me what LLCs are exactly? When I was categorizing I encountered a lot of them with vague names so I wasn't sure exactly what to make of them.
You mean explain more than just being a Limited Liability Company... a company formed so that your personal assets can't be involved in any legal actions concerning your LLC?

No I actually just don't know what they are haha

Post by **Brad** » Sat Jan 24, 2015 12:03 am

I heard there is a site somewhere that will actually tell you who the partners are in an LLC, but I don't know what it is.

As far as I know, if anyone wanted to by anything, they can can form an LLC to buy it and it would be its own entity.

Post by **Coyote** » Sat Jan 24, 2015 12:49 am

Garrett wrote:Also, here's the land use

Wasn't Mordor supposed to be an Entertainment District?

jessep28 · Post by **jessep28** » Sat Jan 24, 2015 2:05 am

An LLC (and even an S-Corp) can pretty much be named anything. The Secretary of State doesn't care, as long as the proposed name hasn't been taken already.

LLC's serve a similar purpose to corporations in that they put the company assets and liabilities in a legal bubble. That way if the company say goes bankrupt, for instance, the creditors can't try and take the owner's house or car, as long as they aren't part of the company. LLC's are a little easier to organize and operate than S-Corps. The IRS treats LLC's as either sole proprietorships or partnerships for tax purposes, so depending on the type of income, the earnings could be subject to self employment tax.

Seth · Post by **Seth** » Tue Jan 27, 2015 11:55 am

Very nice map!

Garrett · Post by **Garrett** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 1:03 am

I really enjoyed making that map.... requests for other areas? hahaha

MTO · Post by **MTO** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 10:17 am

Bravo, I'm going to use that as a reference for so many things.

Post by **Coyote** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 10:38 am

Garrett wrote:I really enjoyed making that map.... requests for other areas? hahaha

I wonder if somehow you can piggy back on Stargazer's post of a truer population per mile radius of Omaha from City Hall...

Linkin5 · Post by **Linkin5** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 11:04 am

Garrett wrote:I really enjoyed making that map.... requests for other areas? hahaha

Really good map. Can you do the area around MofO?

Garrett · Post by **Garrett** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 11:16 am

Coyote wrote:
Garrett wrote:I really enjoyed making that map.... requests for other areas? hahaha
I wonder if somehow you can piggy back on Stargazer's post of a truer population per mile radius of Omaha from City Hall...

Meaning?

Garrett · Post by **Garrett** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 11:16 am

Linkin5 wrote:
Garrett wrote:I really enjoyed making that map.... requests for other areas? hahaha
Really good map. Can you do the area around MofO?

On it.

Post by **Coyote** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 11:19 am

Garrett wrote:
Coyote wrote:
Garrett wrote:I really enjoyed making that map.... requests for other areas? hahaha
I wonder if somehow you can piggy back on Stargazer's post of a truer population per mile radius of Omaha from City Hall...
Meaning?

Population by precincts? Then add up within radius by 1 mile, 2 miles... from City Hall.

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 7:35 pm

Coyote wrote:
iamjacobm wrote:"Sporting News Grill" going into the retail bay in the Holiday Inn formerly occupied by Union Pizzeria and Sports Bar.
They are adding 1500 sq ft here and making a $300k remodel...

Looks like a pretty substantial expansion from the street. I actually think that will help make the restaurant space pop out of the hotel making it a lot more visible.

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 11:58 am

ULI is back in town to work on plans for North Downtown.

http://uli.org/press-release/rose-cente ... rosecenter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

RNcyanide · Post by **RNcyanide** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 12:28 pm

iamjacobm wrote:ULI is back in town to work on plans for North Downtown.

http://uli.org/press-release/rose-cente ... rosecenter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I can't wait to hear all the things that we already knew.

GetUrban · Post by **GetUrban** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 12:56 pm

iamjacobm wrote:ULI is back in town to work on plans for North Downtown.

http://uli.org/press-release/rose-cente ... rosecenter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I wonder if they invited representatives from MECA and Creighton to attend. They seem to be the biggest players (impediments?) in the area.

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Mon Feb 09, 2015 3:38 pm

GetUrban wrote:
iamjacobm wrote:ULI is back in town to work on plans for North Downtown.

http://uli.org/press-release/rose-cente ... rosecenter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I wonder if they invited representatives from MECA and Creighton to attend. They seem to be the biggest players (impediments?) in the area.

I wish I could go to the public presentation this Thursday to see what they are looking at. I think it will be nice to get some outside eyes with a different perspective than we are used to into the city. Could help Omaha market itself toward out of town developers too.

Greg S · Post by **Greg S** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 8:45 am

They bring up a lot of the points we've been talking about for years here:

http://www.omaha.com/seek-out-world-cla ... 953bb.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Greg

Post by **Brad** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 8:57 am

Greg S wrote:They bring up a lot of the points we've been talking about for years here:

Exactly...

Roseann Moring / World-Herald staff writer wrote:Murphy, the former Pittsburgh mayor, said the bridge is one of the best he’s seen, but added: “It’s a bridge that goes from nowhere to nowhere.”

Roseann Moring / World-Herald staff writer wrote:One longer-term focus should be parking, said John Hodgson, a developer based in Sacramento, California.
North downtown has lots of parking, he said, “but maybe not in the right places.”

RNcyanide · Post by **RNcyanide** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 9:05 am

It's nice to hear it from outsiders, but I'm sure it's nothing the people in charge don't already know at this point. It could be a nice push in the right direction, however.

A change of topic, but I drove by one of the suburban hotels down there and saw there was some draping and construction equipment around the first floor. I can't remember which hotel. Anyone know what they are doing down there? Hopefully offering something at street level?

NEDodger · Post by **NEDodger** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 9:05 am

In regards to having some notable attractions in North Downtown, I always thought it was unfortunate that SAC didn't wait a few more years to build their Air and Space Museum. I think that would have been incredibly great situated somewhere next to CenturyLink.

RNcyanide · Post by **RNcyanide** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 9:09 am

NEDodger wrote:In regards to having some notable attractions in North Downtown, I always thought it was unfortunate that SAC didn't wait a few more years to build their Air and Space Museum. I think that would have been incredibly great situated somewhere next to CenturyLink.

Oh lawds that would have been amazing... Maybe if they put it where CLC's parking lots are now - mixing outdoor exhibits with indoor exhibits, possibly putting the SR71 in the main concourse of the CLC. Holy cow.

GetUrban · Post by **GetUrban** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 9:16 am

Greg S wrote:They bring up a lot of the points we've been talking about for years here:

http://www.omaha.com/seek-out-world-cla ... 953bb.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Greg

We can talk all we want, but is anyone listening? Many of these thoughts and ideas have also been brought up by architects and planners working on projects on the riverfront and north downtown areas for decades, but there seems to be a lack of cohesive vision everyone is working toward and strong leadership to pull it off.

Post by **Brad** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 9:20 am

GetUrban wrote:We can talk all we want, but is anyone listening? Many of these thoughts and ideas have also been brought up by architects and planners working on projects on the riverfront and north downtown areas for decades, but there seems to be a lack of cohesive vision everyone is working toward and strong leadership to pull it off.

Do you think it makes a difference that in the past, its mostly be local advocates of Omaha and this time its a peer group from around the country?

RNcyanide · Post by **RNcyanide** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 9:22 am

Brad wrote:
GetUrban wrote:We can talk all we want, but is anyone listening? Many of these thoughts and ideas have also been brought up by architects and planners working on projects on the riverfront and north downtown areas for decades, but there seems to be a lack of cohesive vision everyone is working toward and strong leadership to pull it off.
Do you think it makes a difference that in the past, its mostly be local advocates of Omaha and this time its a peer group from around the country?

Possibly. The 'bridge from nowhere to nowhere' comment is pretty sobering. Aside from the views, there's not a whole lot to go out of your way for to get to the bridge and cross it.

GetUrban · Post by **GetUrban** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 9:57 am

Brad wrote:
GetUrban wrote:We can talk all we want, but is anyone listening? Many of these thoughts and ideas have also been brought up by architects and planners working on projects on the riverfront and north downtown areas for decades, but there seems to be a lack of cohesive vision everyone is working toward and strong leadership to pull it off.
Do you think it makes a difference that in the past, its mostly be local advocates of Omaha and this time its a peer group from around the country?

That's a good point. Hearing current input from elsewhere definitely helps. They can see things in a different light as an outsider.

There have been people brought in from elsewhere in the past, such as during the design phase of the pedestrian bridge, a group called Project for Public Spaces was brought in by Lively Omaha, (which became Omaha by Design) to make suggestions on how to develop the riverfront areas around the bridge. http://www.pps.org/ There was a national planning / landscape firm called EDAW from San Francisco/Denver who helped with the effort too. (they ended up designing the CLINK parking lots, for better or worse)

I think every time there is a new Mayoral administration there is a bit of a learning curve causing things get re-hashed & repeated. Each admin. tries to make its mark, like Daub/Quest(CLINK), Fahey/MRPB/TDAmeritrade, etc. Hopefully Stothert will make her mark in a positive way too. The big pieces are in place now with CLINK, MRPB, & TD, River's Edge, so the little pieces need to start filling things in now.

Garrett · Post by **Garrett** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 10:01 am

RNcyanide wrote:It's nice to hear it from outsiders, but I'm sure it's nothing the people in charge don't already know at this point. It could be a nice push in the right direction, however.

A change of topic, but I drove by one of the suburban hotels down there and saw there was some draping and construction equipment around the first floor. I can't remember which hotel. Anyone know what they are doing down there? Hopefully offering something at street level?

That's the... Holiday Inn right? I can't remember it's name either. But it used to have Union, and the new tenant is expanding the restaurant space to make it more visible. Right?

RNcyanide · Post by **RNcyanide** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 10:03 am

Garrett wrote:
RNcyanide wrote:It's nice to hear it from outsiders, but I'm sure it's nothing the people in charge don't already know at this point. It could be a nice push in the right direction, however.

A change of topic, but I drove by one of the suburban hotels down there and saw there was some draping and construction equipment around the first floor. I can't remember which hotel. Anyone know what they are doing down there? Hopefully offering something at street level?
That's the... Holiday Inn right? I can't remember it's name either. But it used to have Union, and the new tenant is expanding the restaurant space to make it more visible. Right?

Oh that'll be kinda nice. It'll make it look a lot better from street level.

Greg S · Post by **Greg S** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 10:18 am

I would and have described development in that area as hap hazard. Nothing seems to be planned to fit long term. It's just bits and pieces thrown together. Wish he had one developer kind of running that show in the area, with more long term planning behind it.

Greg

RNcyanide · Post by **RNcyanide** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 10:20 am

Greg S wrote:I would and have described development in that area as hap hazard. Nothing seems to be planned to fit long term. It's just bits and pieces thrown together. Wish he had one developer kind of running that show in the area, with more long term planning behind it.

Greg

Do you think anyone in the planning department or wherever looks at this thread from time to time and just feels awful about this development?