WOWT wrote:The next major retail project in Omaha could soon be approved by the city council. The plaza would go at the corner of 120th and L Streets and span several blocks.
When finished, the proposed L Street project could be even bigger than the new Sorensen Parkway plaza.
Well there goes our green space. :roll:
Last edited by Coyote on Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
*Sigh* Its a real shame to lose that greenspace. Sure, I don't make a point to have a picnic there with my family, but its nice seeing a big chunk of green grass and trees. I guess we're going to be stuck with another massive stone wall at 120th and L now as well.
The purpose of Omaha by Design is to create places. In some cases that means putting the building at the street, but only when the street configuration allows it to acomplish some sense of enclosure based upon other buildings doing the same. In most suburban cases like this one the idea is to create interesting places on the site. This one has downtown like streetscapes whith on street parking in a couple locations. The boxes are likely to still be boxes and still have lots of parking. Genereally, the whole thing should have better landscaping and materials though as well.
I hope this isn't what Aksarben Village ends up looking like. It's light years better than almost any retail center in Omaha but it is still not what was agreed to with Omaha by Design. Oh well it's a least a step in the right direction.
Although I don't believe the planning board has yet incorporated any of the recommendations made by the Omaha by Design study, into Omaha's zoning/development codes. The actions taken in arm twisting Walmart at the Ranch Bowl site were largely the result of Omaha by Design arm twisting the planning board.
Basically all we have at this point is a 'watch dog' group with it's own ideal planning methodology in hand. We really need for this stuff to be turned into 'law'.
I think a lot of the slam dunk easy stuff has been implemented. It appears that the harder stuff (the more important stuff) has yet to be. I wonder if it has to do with the city not having a permanent City Planning Director.
On the positive side maybe Omaha will someday be the lifestyle center capitol of the Universe.
Technically there is a permanent planning director, he is just within a couple years of retirement. Secondly, even with OBD fully implemented this project would not look a lot different. Not every project will be also to look like Aksarben village, or Village Pointe for that matter... Lots of work to be done, don't get me wrong, and this site isn't some fantastic show piece for the city but its got most of what OBD is shooting for.
Why the rolling eyes? It's considerably nicer than the Walmart/Sam's Club behemoth next door. It certainly is much more pedestrian friendly with it's Village Pointe like 'main street'. Heck, we might end up finding people actually hanging around here between stores. I think it's a pretty nice looking center.
scraper wrote:Since when is this private property "our" greenspace?
Agreed. It kind of bothers me when we tell others that they cannot maximize their profits in any legal means. Instead, they should, at worst, do nothing and continue to simply lose money paying taxes so people can look at grass or, at best, just sacrifice some of their potential profits to make the property look like OTHERS think it should.
While I agree the businesses need to conform to the law. However, so long as they are doing so, you CANNOT blame the company. You HAVE to blame yourselves, the taxpayers and the city for not making stricter laws.
The Lowe's isn't going in with this development...it will be up along 120th, north of "I" street, facing 120th. There's also plans to develop much of the rest of the old Avaya property, all the way over to 132nd. This one is only the beginning...
What I want to see is "I" Street punched straight through. If they leave it anywhere close to the existing alignment, it will be an absolute nightmare. They will also need to widen out "I" east of 120th, and fix the I-80 off ramp/on ramp. I wonder if they'll be able to get the developers to pay for those road fixes as well...
Now, just for kicks, think about this... With all this new development, will anyone want to even attempt to get on or off at "L" street from I-80? Or even come close to this area during morning rush hour? NDOR needs to take all the "L" street on/off lanes off the eastbound main line I-80/I-680 split and move them to the "I" street dedicated lanes. And while they're at it, why dont' they give all the west Omahans a chance to get on the interstate at "Q", instead of forcing them onto Harrison and "L". (Q Street is getting a nice facelift all the way out to Hwy 6 in the next few years anyway...). How about a single point at "Q"??
See if the developers will pony up for that one!! Since Omaha doesn't have the real vision to think about these problems in advance, you're going to be lucky to get a few extra trees, a nice color palatte and some dimmer lights. (oh yeah, and a double decker overpass in 50 years...)
Come on Omaha Planning!! THINK ABOUT THIS AHEAD OF TIME!!!
Millard Lumber bought 70 acres and a building from Connectivity Solutions,
the former Western Electric, former Lucent Technologies, former Avaya building.
I believe that it is the western building shown here and the 70 acres to the North and West of this complex:
Thats exactly the same thing I heard from someone I know working on the project
Its interesting when I was talking to my source, he was telling my about the entrance being real small with a courtyard behind it. I never would have guessed.
That pic makes this project look a lot better than I thought it was going to be. Has more of a town center feel that I thought it would have. Its starting to grow on me.
The L Street Plaza may not be built. According to the article in the Omaha World Herald “FBI will move Omaha offices to Avaya land”, The PBI building will built at the some location, Northwest Corner of 120th and L
What's there right now is bland and boring. This development actually looks appealing.
