Omaha Forums

Shopping center plan must start over

If a shopping center is to replace north-central Omaha's Vickers plant, the project must go back through the city approval process.


The old Vickers plant at 72nd Street and Crown Point Avenue

An existing development at 72nd Street and Ames Avenue sued to challenge plans for the 600,000-square-foot Sorensen Park Plaza project, which would replace the empty plant with a Target, a supermarket, restaurants and other stores.

Tuesday, Douglas County District Court Judge Joseph Troia sided with plaintiff Benson Park Plaza. Troia found problems with the city's public notices for meetings involving Sorensen Park Plaza, proposed for 72nd Street and Sorensen Parkway.

City Attorney Paul Kratz said it will be easy to correct the deficiencies. But the project probably will need to return to the Planning Board, followed by the City Council, Kratz said. "It will make us step back a little bit."

Benson Park Plaza had alleged other, more substantive problems with the project.

Representatives of Seldin Co., which built Benson Park Plaza, questioned whether it qualified for $8.5 million in tax-increment financing, a property tax incentive. They also said then-Mayor Hal Daub had assured them that the Vickers land would remain industrial, keeping it from becoming retail competition.

But in granting a judgment in Benson Park Plaza's favor, Troia stuck to procedural issues.

Woltemath-Otis Development of Omaha is developing the Sorensen Park Plaza project in a joint venture with Kimco Developers of Chicago. Representatives of Woltemath-Otis weren't available for comment.

Benson Park Plaza's lawyer, Jim Sherrets, said his clients were thrilled at the ruling.

In approving Sorensen Park Plaza, the city designated the Vickers land as blighted.

Sherrets said that is a stretch, considering the area's development. If the developers sought public financing again, he said, he was confident "there would ultimately be a finding that the project did not qualify."

In the case of those upscale suburbs... I assume underutilized/underperforming agricultural areas could be exploited to make a case for TIF qualification.

Planning Board again OKs 72nd St. shopping center

The shopping center proposed to replace the former Vickers plant is back on track, although not clear of the opposition that delayed it.

Plans for Sorensen Park Plaza - which proposes a Target store, supermarket, restaurants and other stores for north 72nd Street - won support of the Omaha Planning Board on Wednesday.

The project has been held up since February when an existing shopping center on 72nd Street sued. Last month, a judge sided with the plaintiff, Benson Park Plaza, finding technical problems with the city's initial approval.

Wednesday, Sorensen Park Plaza started over at the Planning Board.

"We believe this is a very important project for the city of Omaha," said Bernard in den Bosch, an assistant city attorney.

The Planning Board endorsed four items: changing Omaha's master development plan to accommodate the project; supporting the project's layout; rezoning the land; and declaring the Vickers area blighted. The blighted designation allows the project to request tax increment financing, a property tax incentive.

Those items now advance to the City Council.

But while the developers tout the project as a great addition to north-central Omaha, questions remain.

Neighbors in the Stillmeadows subdivision, located west of the plant, say a 60-foot landscape buffer would be too small to separate their homes from the buildings, lighting and delivery traffic.

"I don't want big stores up behind me," homeowner Toni Jones said.(typical NIMBYism... "I didn't mind the big Vickers Plant though."

Representatives of Benson Park Plaza, at 72nd Street and Ames Avenue, renewed their opposition.

Before building Benson Park Plaza, the developers say then-Mayor Hal Daub assured them the Vickers land would remain industry - an assurance city officials now say holds no weight.

Ted Boecker, a lawyer for Benson Park Plaza, said the Planning Board shouldn't have considered the plans Wednesday given the judge's order in the lawsuit. A city appeal of that decision is pending.

But Greg Scaglione, a lawyer for Sorensen Park Plaza, urged quick action. He said there is a "substantial" risk that stores committed to the project will leave with more delay.

Omaha World Herald wrote: Project advances over neighbors' objections

The proposed Sorensen Park Plaza shopping center has nearly all the support it needs to gain approval of its development plans.

The old Vickers plant at 72nd Street and Crown Point Avenue

Yet the project remains a source of contention in the area around North 72nd Street.

The Omaha Planning Board endorsed two more parts of the controversial plan Wednesday for a 600,000-square-foot development, including a Target store, a supermarket and restaurants, to replace the empty Vickers plant.

The board unanimously supported the project's final layout and rezoning proposal and voted 6-1 for a redevelopment plan for the site, setting up the developers to receive an $8.5 million property tax incentive.

The City Council, which has supported the project before, will make a final decision in the coming weeks.

But homeowners in the neighboring Stillmeadows subdivision continue to raise concern about environmental contamination being stirred up during construction. Neighbors also say the proposed buffer between their homes and huge new buildings is insufficient.

Neighbor Steven Grasmick, whose property borders the former industrial property, said the developers aren't addressing the neighbors' concerns. Parts of the development keep getting approved with assurances that problems will be dealt with later, Grasmick said.

"I'm just afraid that's not going to happen," he said.

Lawyer Larry Jobeun, representing the project, said the developers have "softened" the project's impact on the neighborhood by adding a fence and more trees to the plans.

Mike Mostek, the environmental lawyer for the project, said the developers will hold a meeting for homeowners where Environmental Protection Agency officials will be present.

Mostek said the development will improve but not totally clean up the contamination. During construction, he said, equipment on the site and on workers will monitor any exposure to contaminants.

Representatives of the Seldin Co., which operates the existing Benson Park Plaza development at 72nd Street and Ames Avenue, also reiterated their opposition.

Seldin sued over the initial approval of Sorensen Park Plaza, forcing developers to start over. Lawyer Jim Sherrets said the $8.5 million in tax increment financing is an improper use of taxpayer money.

The "Sorensen Park Plaza" sits on 80 acres and Otis tells us the planned shopping center will bring in about 800 new jobs.

• Ragains Enterprises LLC, 7440 Crown Point Ave., building, $2,664,883.