But as drafted, the project's design reflects a style the city wants to get away from, said Steve Jensen, Omaha's assistant planning director. Plans presented to the Planning Board include major retail sites that sit off large parking lots, with smaller shops and restaurants situated on islands, also surrounded by parking.
Thank god for OmahaByDesign! It sounds like the plan was going to be a cookie cutter development!
Anyway, if its reformed this will be a great project! Ahhh the westward expansion continues...
Last edited by OmahaDevelopmentMan on Thu Jun 02, 2005 2:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Can Gretna and Elkhorn merge to fight off Omaha? ;)
The most amazing quote to me is this:
<<<<Harrison Street is in line to be fully paved that far west>>>>
Amazing. Let's build a bunch of houses and retail someplace that DOESN'T HAVE PAVED ROADS. Then, in about 2 years, complain and whine and b!tch about how long it takes to drive our big fat |expletive| in our SUVs someplace.
But hey, I'm all for development. I just wish the city would include tranportation and sprawl issues in their design standards.
Wow I missed that line. Maybe they'll just make if 4 lanes right off the bat. Hahaha, I forget, we can't plan ahead on our road projects. Thats crazy talk.
I think we can rule out the Gretna/Elkorn merger, seeing that they're in different counties.
I really agree with the problem of the sprawl issue. Unless you work clear out west, which most people living out there don't, why would you want to spend 2-3 hours a day commuting back and forth to work? Just seems like a huge inconvenience and a waste of time and money... but hey, more power to you if that's really what you want to do. Just isn't my cup of tea!
This area is going to look so much different in the coming years. It basically seems like this development will butt up against the upscale housing development out there on 234th & Q. I really hope this doesn't become another W. Center or W. Maple corridor... they have a chance to do something unique with this area. I do not want to see any WalMart's, Lowe's, or Home Depot's out here. With housing developments from Elkhorn to Gretna within a half mile of Highway 31 throughout, this will be much needed. It will be an easy shot down the Interstate for those in Lincoln too with only a 25-30 min drive.
God created alcohol to keep the Irish from taking over the world!
I think I would rather the developers foot a portion of the bill for new roads to their developments (which as you'll recall... is now a reality)... than building the roads first and waiting for sprawl to come.
Some details from this fairly significant development story...
-204th between Q and Harrison
-Developer CFM Realty Advisors told to revise plans to meet Omaha by Design specs, specifically citing large parking space separating the street from the store doorsteps. "Aim for more green space and a pedestrian-friendly, Main Street-style layout".
"Omaha's new rules call for buildings to be close to the street instead of behind a parking lot. City planners also recommend that a green space or plaza sit directly off 204th and Q and 204th and Harrison Streets. The city's goal is to create a landmark public square to distinguish the intersections."
-Retail stores opening mid 2007
-Housing construction starting Spring 2007
-239 homes
-35 acre park with lake
-civic use space for school or church
-100,000 sq ft office space
-County Line Market: 870,000 (!!!) sq ft of retail space
Wow... there is about 1 million sq ft of additional retail planned for 180th and West Dodge... another half plus million up on North 72nd... a big chunk in the next phases of Legacy... not to speak of down in Sarpy. Will we be seeing a whole new front of players in retail/restaurants? Or the same old stuff? Hopefully these developers have the savvy to bring us some new, more up-scale offerings.
204th and Q St is getting close to "Elkhorn territory." I wonder how much that will chap their(Elkhorn residents) |expletive| that Omaha By Design is directing the design of retail development along 204th St? Seems it would be like rubbing alcohol on a open wound.
"No stores have committed to the project, Carter said. But he said it could feature discount retailers, a grocery, restaurants and large electronics, office supply or pet stores."
I can look past the fact that it's near the middle of no where if it implements the Omaha by Design requirements to their fullest and is Village Point-esque in quality.
Wow, big time corporate sprawl... Applied Communications (in case you hadn't heard... Transaction Systems Architects just changed their name back to ACI) is going to build a new office in CFM Development's Coventry (correct me if I'm wrong... but I believe this was formerly County Line Market... or maybe the retail element of this project retains that name).
This is no small project... 3-stories, -162,000- square feet... on a 19-acre site.
They plan to re-locate more than 600 employees to their new building when completed in the summer of 2008. This will leave a pretty big vacancy in Old Mill.
Though Transaction Systems has offices around the world, most of its software development and code writing is done in Omaha. Those technology jobs will be among the ones moved from Old Mill to the new building.
Most of the buildings in the Old Mill area they are vacating are 1 story jobs. Perhaps this will present an chance for denser development of the Old Mill area.
But yeah thats some WAY west O business park action. Sprawlzilla rears its ugly head. At least Omaha by Design is after them though.
Sometimes I wonder if some of the posters are aware that there are not necessarily miles and miles of cornfields between 204th & Q and the rest of Omaha. It may indeed be out on the fringe of development (for now) but I'm guessing a lot of people might rather work somewhere around ACI's future location than say somewhere in the heart of Omaha just in terms of transportation. With the completion of the WD project and located on a highway (31) I'm guessing it would probably take about 12-15 minutes to get to at any time of the day say from 108th & Dodge which I'm guessing is atleast comparable to the time it would take to reach East O from there. I know my opinion differs from a lot of others but I would much prefer some of the transportation advantages that the sprawl regions have over my perceived view of the more congested areas. But that's just me!
Omaha World Herald wrote:Two major tenants - ACI Worldwide's new headquarters and a Millard Public Schools high school - already have been announced... The Coventry project, formerly called County Line Market, has been in the planning stages for more than three years.
The town center area featuring live-work units, for example, is encouraged but not required by the city. Including that feature with residential space on the upper floors and shops or offices on the ground floor allowed the developer to avoid the usual requirement to leave a gap between office and retail space, Jensen said.
Jensen said the Hillsborough project in northwest Omaha was a similar size as Coventry but was more dominated by single-family homes. Coventry, he said, "has a richer combination of uses than any project since Regency." "This has all of the uses you'd want in a planned community," Jensen said.
KETV wrote:The Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce unveiled plans for "Coventry," a mixed-use development that will sit between 204th and 216th streets and between Q and Harrison streets. The project is estimated to cost about $410 million.
"Omaha is growing west and the (West Dodge) expressway has literally made us 15 minutes closer to anywhere we want to go, so it just makes sense that it's the next logical step," Brown said
Construction at the site will begin in the spring. Chamber leaders said the entire project could be complete by about 2012.
2012? Ugh. I hate these completion dates that are scheduled farther into the future than it will take for me to get a carreer, married, a kid or two, and divorced for the first time. I mean if it's going to be what they say it is, how disappointing.
2012? Ugh. I hate these completion dates that are scheduled farther into the future than it will take for me to get a career, married, a kid or two, and divorced for the first time. I mean if it's going to be what they say it is, how disappointing.
Well, if it was any quicker than that, it wouldn't be what they say!
Here is the latest on Coventry from Omaha By Design.
"Located in Douglas County between Q to Harrison and 204th to 216th streets, the Coventry site totals 383 acres. It will support an integrated blend of corporate office, mixed-use retail, high-density and single-family residential areas, along with civic, religious and public areas, and more than 76 acres of mature woodlands and other natural features.
“The Coventry project is a prime example of how the Urban Design Element can be used to improve the city’s physical environment for the benefit of its residents,” said Connie Spellman, director of Omaha by Design. “The development community plays a key role in shaping Omaha’s future, and their commitment to sound urban design principles will ensure that this future is a bright one.”
I am interested to see how Light Rail WILL BE incorporated into this development in the future. Â I assume that city planning and the developers have talked about this.
Good looking project, even though it's out in the boonies.
Has there been an official tenent list released yet?
Also, as I look at this project more and more, I see that THIS is what Village Pointe SHOULD have been like; a true mix of uses, residences, public spaces, offices, etc. in addition to the retail.
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
Of course Applied Communications is the big 'anchor' office tenant. Â
As far as mixed use... I'd like to now see a development go the next step... and creates something which ties in seamlessly with city streets, placing residential over office/retail spaces. Â If it weren't such a overly fake setting, I could see where people would enjoy walking out on a terrace and watching the shoppers walking below. Â I had hoped that Aksarben Village was going to provide such a setting, however, I'm thinking the residential will remain standalone townhouses and apartment buildings now... a block from the action.
Shoot for the Moon... if you miss, you'll land among the stars.
Although, the original plans for Aksarben Village called for residences right "in the thick" of the development, IN ADDITION to the townhomes and apartments that will serve to blend the development into the neighborhoods to the east of 63rd St. Â As I look at the graphics on their website, this doesn't seem to be the case.
Although, it would only make sense to have apartments obove the retail in addition to office space. Â
I hope so.
"The right to have access to every building in the city by private motorcar in an age when everyone possesses such a vehicle is actually the right to destroy the city."
Lewis Mumford, The Highway and the City, 1963
was at the street of dreams last weekend and in the basement of one of the houses were some layouts/drawings of other developments in omaha. this one of coventry is a little different from the original