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East of 16th was pretty industrial. Plus, after the riots of the 60s the area was pretty rough. The Doubletree (which I believe was initially a Hilton) was built and/or financed by Brandeis in whole or in part, and they were looking at making the area from the Hilton to the Orpheum a semi self contained retail corridor. Now I could be wrong about this whole thing given my advanced age but I do remember the powers that be not really caring about anything north of the Hilton. If there was complaining at all it was ignored.

Bottom line: It didn't work and it did cut off North Downtown and North Omaha from downtown. AND those who pushed for it are dead now so they don't care.

So are they going to tear down the Doubletree someday and reconnect 16th St? That would be great!

HR Paperstacks wrote:So are they going to tear down the Doubletree someday and reconnect 16th St? That would be great!

Maybe 50 years from now, if we don't get sentimental over it.

RNcyanide wrote:

HR Paperstacks wrote:So are they going to tear down the Doubletree someday and reconnect 16th St? That would be great!

Maybe 50 years from now, if we don't get sentimental over it.

I think I remember reading in Vision 2025 or some similar study that a Doubletree demo could be on the plate as early as 2030. Trying to remember which one it was in...

The assertion that the Hilton/First National complex was built over 16th to keep black people out is laughable. It's one street. Taking a right and then a left literally gets around this "wall" to take you to downtown. It's akin to saying that Creighton University's expansion was done to keep people from north Omaha out of downtown.

Louie wrote:

RNcyanide wrote:

HR Paperstacks wrote:So are they going to tear down the Doubletree someday and reconnect 16th St? That would be great!

Maybe 50 years from now, if we don't get sentimental over it.

I think I remember reading in Vision 2025 or some similar study that a Doubletree demo could be on the plate as early as 2030. Trying to remember which one it was in...

Vision 2025?

They poured $20 million into a renovation a couple years ago so it has plenty of life in it.

Demo the Double Tree look how many lost their shįt over the three little buildings by Holland. Couldn't they just go under?

I'm assuming that there's something under there that's important structurally that would preclude hollowing out a part of the the hotel. I think it'd be too messy and expensive in the end and if they really wanted to reconnect 16th they should just demo the place when it outlives its usefulness. Maybe, when it's not as competitive as a hotel anymore, they could convert it to residential.

RNcyanide wrote:I'm assuming that there's something under there that's important structurally that would preclude hollowing out a part of the the hotel. I think it'd be too messy and expensive in the end and if they really wanted to reconnect 16th they should just demo the place when it outlives its usefulness. Maybe, when it's not as competitive as a hotel anymore, they could convert it to residential.

There is an underground tunnel that connects the first national data center with the first national center west of the doubletree. If 16th went below the hotel they would be destroying the tunnel.

That tunnel is between the first national buildings and anyway you wouldn't even have to go down that far. I'm sure the hotel could be carved out at the base but it would cost millions.

The tunnels are below street level. The hotel lobby is at second floor level with a ramp up from 16th & Dodge, so 16th could run under the lobby if the ramp was removed, with tunnels intact below that. Might have a few columns in the way, but nothing that engineering and money couldn't fix.
Lopping off the east side of the hotel has also been mentioned in other threads.

Because of the renovations, the hotel probably has a good 15-20 years of use left, but after that my favorite plan would be to keep the western 2/3rd of the building and convert that to apartments or condos, and only tear down the part of the building that blocks 16th street.

I wish they hadn't done those renovations though, because I would really like to see 16th street re-connected once The Yard apartments, Lot B, and the Cass St. apartments + Tetrad (hopefully...) are all completed. 15th, 14th, and 13th streets are not good north-south connections because of the 480 ramps.

Elevated interstate highways where there are ramps are really bad barriers. No way 480 is going to be taken down anytime soon though. Thankfully at least the portion over 10th street is easy enough to cross under. But when that elevated portion of 480 reaches the end of its usability and would have to be re-built, I hope they strongly consider just taking it down and making it a boulevard.

RNcyanide wrote:

Louie wrote:

RNcyanide wrote:

HR Paperstacks wrote:So are they going to tear down the Doubletree someday and reconnect 16th St? That would be great!

Maybe 50 years from now, if we don't get sentimental over it.

I think I remember reading in Vision 2025 or some similar study that a Doubletree demo could be on the plate as early as 2030. Trying to remember which one it was in...

Vision 2025?

You know what, that didn't look like the right year when I typed it but it sounded close. I was think of Heartland 2050 Vision. Just to lazy to google the legit name earlier haha.

The gravel lot on 15th and Cuming looking to go surface parking. Referred to as Yard West.

iamjacobm wrote:The gravel lot on 15th and Cuming looking to go surface parking. Referred to as Yard West.

If they use the same theme of the old lot, no need to add West to the name. 99% won't notice it moved.

iamjacobm wrote:The gravel lot on 15th and Cuming looking to go surface parking. Referred to as Yard West.

I believe there was some sort of Nike Experience on this lot for the last CWS. I don't have a current problem with this, especially and because of the development of the Yard, but also because no buildings are being knocked down to make way for this lot (that I know of!)

Busguy2010 wrote:

iamjacobm wrote:The gravel lot on 15th and Cuming looking to go surface parking. Referred to as Yard West.

If they use the same theme of the old lot, no need to add West to the name. 99% won't notice it moved.

Thats just what the planning board document said. Probably just creating less confusion through that process, would make sense if they moved their signing and kiosks to this lot.

iamjacobm wrote:

Busguy2010 wrote:

iamjacobm wrote:The gravel lot on 15th and Cuming looking to go surface parking. Referred to as Yard West.

If they use the same theme of the old lot, no need to add West to the name. 99% won't notice it moved.

Thats just what the planning board document said. Probably just creating less confusion through that process, would make sense if they moved their signing and kiosks to this lot.

Just skip the whole thing and RFP.

iamjacobm wrote:Looks like this building might be getting cleared out. A couple people were moving a lot of stuff out of the building into a storage container.


Really cool potential for a building like this.

There must be a ton of stuff in there. Two 18 wheeler trailers sitting in front of it getting loaded.

I'm hoping demo for a 5er with commercial bays.

MTO wrote:I'm hoping demo for a 5er with commercial bays.

I'm hoping it stays. It's got some potential as a building, with retail options, and so many others around this area have been knocked down. Heck, why not build 5 stories ON TOP of this one (like the Limelight downtown).

Of interest. Kiewit Infrastructure now owns that 1 story building along with the warehouse to the east. Would they have more plans for NDT? Do they need more parking than The Yard redevelopment is going to give them?

iamjacobm wrote:Of interest. Kiewit Infrastructure now owns that 1 story building along with the warehouse to the east. Would they have more plans for NDT? Do they need more parking than The Yard redevelopment is going to give them?

Lots more activity on those lots today. The lot w/ the warehouse has a fence around it now, wouldn't be surprised to see it come down soon.

iamjacobm wrote:

iamjacobm wrote:Of interest. Kiewit Infrastructure now owns that 1 story building along with the warehouse to the east. Would they have more plans for NDT? Do they need more parking than The Yard redevelopment is going to give them?

Lots more activity on those lots today. The lot w/ the warehouse has a fence around it now, wouldn't be surprised to see it come down soon.

At which intersection is this?

On the south side of Burt between 15th and 16th are the two properties.

Demo permit for this building.



Noting on the building on 16th yet.

Not heartbroken over this one, but the one on the corner is pretty nice.

So Kiewit has purchased two adjoining lots near 15/16th streets downtown, has applied for a demo permit for at least 1 of those lots, is currently cramped into an old ten story building off Farnan, with office staff spread out across several states.

I'm no development expert, but if there was ever a company in Omaha I'd put my money on to build a new high rise headquarters (no, HDR's 14 story tower is not a high rise), I'd first day Mutual of Omaha insurance/bank, then Kiewit.

I doubt either happen, but interesting nonetheless.

It's for a parking lot.

OmahaJaysCU wrote:It's for a parking lot.

That's the spirit!

I'm sure it is, and I'm too lazy to sort through the thread to confirm that, but I also think there could possibly be long-term possibilities for that site.

Between those two local fortune 500's, it's probably the last hope for any local corporation to build anything significant downtown/midtown.

asherballa wrote:

OmahaJaysCU wrote:It's for a parking lot.

That's the spirit!

That wasn't a joke unfortunately

OmahaJaysCU wrote:

asherballa wrote:

OmahaJaysCU wrote:It's for a parking lot.

That's the spirit!

That wasn't a joke unfortunately

Two steps forward one step back. Lets hope Kiewit has long term plans for the lot beyond parking.

OmahaJaysCU wrote:

asherballa wrote:

OmahaJaysCU wrote:It's for a parking lot.

That's the spirit!

That wasn't a joke unfortunately

I just died a little on the inside.

MadMartin8 wrote:

OmahaJaysCU wrote:

asherballa wrote:

OmahaJaysCU wrote:It's for a parking lot.

That's the spirit!

That wasn't a joke unfortunately

I just died a little on the inside.

I love the vision of this city.

NDT is getting demo'd at a pretty alarming rate.

Is it to make way for the Crafts District?

Oh are they giving the future parking lots cutesy names now??

The thought of tearing down DoubleTree for better access isn't too far fetched. The city will eventually extend 16th street across the Missouri River where it will connect with I-680. I'd imagine Omaha wanting to turn 16th st into a major gateway to the city.