Corvina (Butternut Site)

[eomaha]

Wall damage dimming hopes of saving Butternut Building

The effort to rebuild the upscale apartment complex using the charred brick walls of the former Butternut Building appears to be crumbling.

Christian Christensen, the developer of the $25 million loft complex, told Old Market Business Association members Tuesday that a decision on the building's future would be made within 30 days.

The nearly completed, 138-unit restoration south of the Old Market burned last January. The walls still stand east of the 10th Street bridge.

"We've tried every option we know to save the walls," Christensen said.

He hasn't given up all hope and continues to rate the odds at 50-50. But he was clearly more pessimistic than he had been previously.

The biggest problem is the condition of the remaining walls, Christensen said in an interview after the meeting.

"The smoke damage is not as easy to deal with as you would think," he said.

Christensen, president of Bluestone Development, was much more upbeat about the general downtown housing market. Sales for his row-house development along Leavenworth Street have been brisk.

SoMa - for South Market - has sold all 23 houses in the first phase and will be ready for occupancy by next July, he said. Total sales have reached 40 - nearly half the total 81 units.

Over the next 36 months, Christensen said, nearly 400 condos and townhouses should be occupied in and near downtown.

The condo boom will change the nature of downtown living, he said, which is now dominated by singles in their 20s living in apartments and lofts.

From the initial SoMa sales, he said, the mix of people is varied. Singles, retirees, couples with kids and empty nesters all are represented. About 20 percent of the purchasers are new to Omaha, he said.

The demand for condos and town houses downtown probably will remain strong, Christensen said, but a shortage of buildings and the cost of land could curb the supply.

[DMRyan]

Despite the bad news, a very uplifting article overall.

That last line is something I discussed with a few of you during the forum meet. I don't see the demand going away, it looks like Omaha has plenty of downtown infill in its future.

[almighty_tuna]

I think one of the more important numbers is the assertment that 20% of the SoMa sales have been people new to Omaha. Eight out of the forty SoMa units sold so far are non-natives, which speaks volumes about the clientel (sp?) this type of project has the ability to attract, as well as the outside interest in Omaha.

[DTO Luv]

It has been a long goodbye to for the Butternut Building. If it has to come down at least we will have enough land to do something really remarkable. As good of a job he's done with Soma, I think Mr. Christianson won't disappoint us. I hope he puts up something taller than Riverfront Place. A tall building would have a great view of DT and the river.

[adam186]

I couldn't agree with you more. I think Christianson should make the best of the situation and take advantage of the boom and build a taller building with spectacular views.

Who knows, if he does build something bigger it may bring about similar developement in that area but not taking away any of the historical buildings.

One can only hope.

[projectman]

I hope someone builds a high-rise residential as well but I'm not holding my breath.

[DTO Luv]

I think it'll take one big project to start seeing it duplicated DT. Christianson can set the bar on what DT housing can/should be. I hope he realizes what he has on his hands.

[AZCorey]

Do you have any way of communicating these ideas to Christianson?? I too love the restoration of the warehouses into condos, but, the nice thing about DTO is that there is now beginning to be a mix of renovated old and brand new. Is the worse case scenario for the Butternut building that it will be razed and something else built in it's place?? If so, then a highrise would be a nice addition to the area....maybe someone should put a bug in his ear about that.....

[zefiris]

I spoke with him when i was interested in purchasing one of the SOMA homes. Let me tell you, He is 100% for putting something up there regardless of whether the building could be salvaged. He is a very upbeat guy that is in favor of improving downtown. Im sure he would ENJOY a chance to talk to some of the people on this forum for ideas. As for getting a hold of him, i just setup an appointment about SoMa and he met me onsite.

[AZCorey]

LOL! Well, I couldn't meet him onsite because I'm in Phoenix, but I guess the point was that there are soooooo many great ideas posted here that I'm hoping they get communicated to the 'powers that be'. I love that Omaha has leadership that is now youthful, progressive and visionary....unlike the 80's. Y'all have no idea how much fun it is to see what's happening now that I don't live in Omaha....my prediction is: Omaha will have ONE maybe TWO new skyscrapers/highrises within the next 5-7 years....the reason is because of the condo boom, the new excitement/trend towards downtown, and all over the country every major city is focusing on building up the downtown areas. It's inevitable that Omaha will see more major changes......YEEEHAWW!!

[windsor]

When will we ever hear about plans for the former butternut site?

[almighty_tuna]

Whoa...

[Big E]

Wow.

DTO was still a gay teenage Republican when he posted that.

[Ben]

there's a backhoe and several vehicles at the old Butternut site today.  Anyone have any idea what's going on?  Is there something in the works we haven't heard about?

[StreetsOfOmaha]

Well, with the 9ines wrapping up, maybe Bluestone has the next big development in the queue. Let's hope!

[Globochem]

I'm almost positive it's for drainage work only.

[cdub]

Hes working on some things down by Lil Italy but nothing here that I know of.

[Coyote]

Found in a CWS story about DT employee parking:

Downtown Workers Cry Foul Over CWS Parking Crunch

Some wonder if property at 9th and Jones where the old Butternut Coffee Factory burned down could be another answer. It's a two-level parking garage that has sat empty for nearly seven years, but it's locked up. According to tax documents found online, that piece of property is still owned by South Butternut LLC. Phone numbers listed for South Butternut LLC have been disconnected.

[iamjacobm]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20131101/M ... -and-jones

A $22.5 million plan to build a 125-unit apartment complex in downtown Omaha will go before the Planning Board next week.

The proposal by City Ventures calls for about $3.3 million in tax-increment financing and would be constructed at Ninth and Jones Streets on a city block left largely vacant after a 2004 fire that gutted the former Butternut building that was being transformed into upscale loft apartments.

A new U-shaped structure will emerge under the City Ventures plan, standing four stories on the west side and five on the east, developer Chris Erickson said. It will contain commercial space on the east ground level. A courtyard and heated in-ground swimmng pool would fill the “heart” of the complex, he said.

[iamjacobm]

Yet another incredible infill project.  Pretty safe to say the Old Market is finally having the apartment boom we have been waiting for.

Edit:  Maybe I should of made this a new thread.  The mention of Butternut reminded me that there was a thread about it somewhere.

[Brad]

Great infill, but only 4 or 5 stories?  Won't that barely stick above the 10th street bridge?

Do you think they will use the connection to the old Butternut that was built on the 10th street bridge?

[iamjacobm]

Great infill, but only 4 or 5 stories?  Won't that barely stick above the 10th street bridge?

Do you think they will use the connection to the old Butternut that was built on the 10th street bridge?

I think the 3rd floor of the other Butternut building across the bridge opens up on the 3rd floor.  At least by my very unofficial google maps count.  It might poke up by a floor.

Commercial space on the east is also a little surprising, will be tough to see if you don't know about it beforehand.

[skinzfan23]

Yeah, judging by this picture of the fire, it appears that the 10th St bridge would be around the 3rd or 4th floor.  I hope that they use the bridge connection.  I am excited to hear about this project as I am sure many of you are as well.  A great piece of land to be developed for residential.  Hopefully we can see some renderings of the apartment building soon.  I hope that they work to tie the building into the surrounding brick buildings.

[RNcyanide]

I hope it's taller than 5 floors. Yeah, I know money and all, but lately, everything has been 4-5 stories...

[S33]

10 years from now, once all the squatty infill projects have taken hold, you'll start seeing new high rise development look for cheaper land by Midtown Crossing, assuming there is a market for high-rise development by then. (at least that would seem to be the natural consequence of allowing your prime downtown and old market real estate to be developed by Suburban-style developments)

[MadMartin8]

I'm okay with this only being 5 stories, given the surrounding buildings. If something only 4 to 5 stories went on the Wall Street Tower lot...then I'd be kinda sad.

[RNcyanide]

Confession:

I'm okay with this one particular development being 5 stories, given the surrounding buildings. But pretty much all the residential development has been 5 stories that eat up the whole block with nothing of interest or with no public space to offer whatsoever. At some point, we need to start thinking 'up' instead of 'out'.

As for the old WST site, if it's another Gavilon-esque or UP-esque building that ends up building there, it will be a sad day for Omaha.

[MadMartin8]

I'd gladly take another UP-esque building. It's massive and it looks good (that's also what she said).

[RNcyanide]

I'd gladly take another UP-esque building. It's massive and it looks good (that's also what she said).

It is the best looking chode in town, but as it has been discussed elsewhere in the forum, they need to maximize the usage of the block.

[iamjacobm]

http://www.jrn.com/kmtv/news/ONLY-ON-TH ... 53781.html

The four to five story building will stand tall right next to another complex. The Old Market Lofts at 10th and Jones.

Erickson says he isn't worried about the competition or the congested parking troubles that come with the Old Market.

"Should have 190 parking spaces which will fully park our project so it shouldn't congest the Old Market parking situation, in fact it might alleviate it a little bit as we should have extra spaces to lease."

The empty lot could be called "home" to Omaha folks by the summer of 2015.

"Erickson will meet with city leaders, next week. The company hopes to break ground on this project, this winter."

There is a really quick rendering shot in the video at the link.

[MadMartin8]

Oh oh oh, I saw the phrase "Mixed use". That'll pacify the masses of eomahaforums.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

Oh oh oh, I saw the phrase "Mixed use". That'll pacify the masses of eomahaforums.

I'm actually a little concerned about that part. There's not much traffic at 9th and Jones. Hopefully they're not expecting businesses that rely on high levels of visibility.

[Linkin5]

Finally they have an in ground pool apartment complex downtown, that alone is going to make this place a huge draw.

[iamjacobm]

PDF for the site plan.  This doc does show this building connecting to 10th Street on the 4th floor.  Really glad they put that detail in.

http://www.oci-inc.com/images/9%20and%2 ... 202013.pdf

Another PDF with basically all the info on the project.

http://www.oci-inc.com/images/9%20and%2 ... 202013.pdf

Still no luck finding a rendering yet.

[Garrett]

So... basically.... it's 4 stories and 6 stories.

[iamjacobm]

So... basically.... it's 4 stories and 6 stories.

Yeah they called it 5, but the commercial space is twice as tall as the residential floors.  44ft tall on the west, 73ft on the east.

[Garrett]

So... basically.... it's 4 stories and 6 stories.

Yeah they called it 5, but the commercial space is twice as tall as the residential floors.  44ft tall on the west, 73ft on the east.

Well the commercial space has that mezzanine too, which is sort of like another floor. There was something in the PDF about that being an alternate space... not sure what that means exactly.

[Varsity]

Here's the site plan and rendering from the KMTV video

[Coyote]

Thanks Varsity! I was going to do that today.

[guitarguy]

Looks great! Really enjoying seeing the boom with this style of building.. What's interesting to me too is that this is getting built closer to the river and is hopefully building momentum towards more construction near the river.