Omaha Forums

Ironwood Country Club Closing

Was listening to KFAB this morning and was shocked to hear about it.  Apparently, First National really screwed them over.  The individual they were talking to (who was a board member) said they should not have renovated the clubhouse when they did a few years ago (all the people on the board then are gone).  The gentlemen said they were able to make payments fine, but were working with FNB.  FNB allegedly called them claiming they had a buyer for the note who would not be as accommodating and that they would need to make a lump payment of "x" amount against the note for FNB to keep it.  He said they managed to get the name of buyer and contacted him.  This buyer denied having made any offer.  They called FNB on it, who did not sell the note as they said they would, but the damage had been done.  Some members had left and they could not recruit new ones because of this and they ended going under.

The interesting thing is that he said he knew the buyer of the land (who bought it this weekend) and the study showed that the best use for land was as a golf course.  The flood control issues are big and there is little demand for a business park at 132nd and Pacific.  He said the only other option would be really dense housing, which they would have difficulty doing.

I thought we had a thread on here, but apparently not.  Here is the article from a few months ago:

Ironwood facing foreclosure

http://www.omaha.com/article/20091104/MONEY/711049965

Steve Jordon WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER wrote:Ironwood Country Club will close at the end of December because of an overdue bank loan and is scheduled to be sold at a trustee's auction on Jan. 22, the club's president said Tuesday.

Ironwood President Ron Carson said First National Bank of Omaha is foreclosing on the club's $10.7 million loan. The club took out the loan in 1999 to build a new clubhouse and made other improvements to the property at 126th and Pacific Streets to compete with other golf courses and country clubs.

A group of members, including some of the families who helped found the club in 1924, are hoping that they can buy the property at the trustee's sale, Carson said.

I had lunch with a couple members in November.  They thought other members were going to buy it.

The buyers want the City to de-annex them so that they can form an SID.  I'm not sure thats even possible but I think it would be unlikely even if it were.

What do the developers hope to do? Commerical or residential?

There is a sign on the Ironwood fence that says open to the public.  There were also golfers on the course last week.

$200M Ironwood redevelopement

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100715/N ... ous-center

In a rare development opportunity for Omaha, Ironwood Country Club is set to transform into a $200 million mix of high-end offices, upscale housing, small shops, local restaurants and a hotel.

While the scope and central location of the project set it apart, a five-building religious component — including a new Temple Israel and a three-faith religious center — would make the development even more unique.

The new owners of the golf course property at 12605 Pacific St. gave The World-Herald a look Wednesday at plans that have potential to rank with Omaha's most impressive office, shopping and residential developments, including Regency and the new Aksarben Village.

My guess is there will be no end to the fun of watching the NIMBYs in action.

We were/are working on that at my firm, I never really paid attention to what the finished project was going to look like.

Suggest a thread merge.

I wouldn't merge them as the development at Ironwood goes well beyond the tri faith thing.  I'm interested to see how this one progresses since they aren't as yet following the established City development rules and also have no funding aside from the planned SID which can't happen unless the City de-annexes, which it may not be able to do.  

fun!

Ironwood specs may need tinkering

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100802/N ... -tinkering

Jeffrey Robb WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER wrote:The developers could potentially expand that allotment if it proposes a Main Street-style layout and multistory buildings that mix office, commercial and residential uses within individual buildings, the city says.

Cunningham wrote that the project is proposing an office park with isolated commercial and residential parts.

“The proposed uses are not mixed, let alone integrated,” Cunningham wrote, “and none of the buildings contain multiple uses to be considered a ‘specialty’ mixed-use area.”

Preliminary plat approved at Planing Board yesterday.

Here is the Plat if you want to see the layout:
http://www.cityofomaha.org/cityclerk/im ... ing/51.pdf

Brad wrote:Here is the Plat if you want to see the layout:
http://www.cityofomaha.org/cityclerk/im ... ing/51.pdf

Sad  :(

Is anything going on with this?  I never head that way anymore so I miss the progress.

The new owners have wasted no time destroying the beauty of the property.  They have ripped out almost all of the mature trees.  Have they no shame?

nativeomahan wrote:The new owners have wasted no time destroying the beauty of the property.  They have ripped out almost all of the mature trees.  Have they no shame?

I'll have to drive past there to see how bad it is for myself.  I figured most would end up being torn out which always sucks.  I bet those couple hundred 30 foot trees they tore out will be replaced by 50 10 foot trees...  :?

nativeomahan wrote:The new owners have wasted no time destroying the beauty of the property.  They have ripped out almost all of the mature trees.  Have they no shame?

It literally looks like a tornado went through!  They just took a bulldozer and pushed over every single tree!

God forbid they build a few houses around old-growth trees to give the place some character. UGH

Well... I'm not sure but it smells like they are burning the trees today.

Axel wrote:Well... I'm not sure but it smells like they are burning the trees today.

Ah, the sweet smell of progress.

S33 wrote:

Axel wrote:Well... I'm not sure but it smells like they are burning the trees today.

Ah, the sweet smell of progress.

Tree pile is still there... however it looks like the fire department may have been practicing on the roof.  Lots of holes cut in it.

Yeah wow finally went by there it looks really bad right now.

Approved by the Planning board and on to CC with the final plat.  Complete with a tiny tongue lashing for the tree removal mess.

Did anyone else hear what the reason for the removal of all the trees was?

I heard ( and I can't remember where now) that it was due to the Army Corp of Engineers requiring that the property be graded to remove the ponds that were added on the NW side and to re-establish heck Creek, the creek that ran/runs through the property.

Don't know if this is accurate information, but its interesting.

A significant number of trees needed to be removed in order to allow the general grading for development.  They likely went a little overboard because there are rules in place (EPA?) requiring that no removal occur during nesting seasons.  Basically, they had to remove everything by April 1st or leave it through the summer.  They probably erred on the side of removing too many so they wouldn't be restricted in their grading.

They talked about this on Grow Omaha last Saturday. I can't remember exactly what they said, but I think there is a ravine in there that needed grading and they were going to fill in the man made lakes. Check out the Grow Omaha webcast.

The president of Lockwood Development was on KFAB this morning. He basically said that they did their best to save as many trees as possible out of 1190 that were on the property when they bought it - though he never said how many they saved. He also said that they relocated about 200 trees (can't recall the exact number), and when the project is complete, they will have over 2000 trees on the property. He claimed that the tree removal was due to the large amount of grading that was necessary to bring parts of the property even with 132nd street and Pacific street. He said that the retaining walls will be removed in those areas.

Very little was said about the Army Corp of Engineers; but he did say that the creek and retention ponds will be redone. Sewer and other utility work will be done throughout the summer, and they expect to begin construction on the first office building in Aug/Sept. He expects the project to be completed in 5-10 years; with much depending on the economy.

Listen Here

Pretty interesting.  They make a good point, he owns the land and the city council has OK'd everything they have done.  

I am interested to see the final plat

This was the most recent plat that I could find of Sterling Ridge.

And I found their website: http://www.sterlingridge.com/About.html

Looks like this is demolition week

1.Pacific Street retaining walls June 1st through June 10th
2.Pool house June 10th through June 15th
3.Clubhouse June 15th through July 10th

The clubhouse is no more.  What an incredible, incredible WASTE!

http://www.ketv.com/news/29991243/detail.html

It looks like an Episcopal Church, Islamic Center and Synagogue will be going in at 132nd and Pacific. The Tri-Faith Initiative of Omaha has had such a project in play for years apparently.

On a somewhat related side note, Mr. Francis who lives nearby might not be happy with this:

http://www.hawkeyelounge.com/showthread.php?t=68966

Not a Mosque but an Islamic Study Center, they are the more progressive Muslims, but do not have an Imam, yet.

jessep28 wrote:On a somewhat related side note, Mr. Francis who lives nearby might not be happy with this:

I was totally with him for the first, what, 3 lines...  Then.. just.  wow.

Asten wrote:

jessep28 wrote:On a somewhat related side note, Mr. Francis who lives nearby might not be happy with this:

I was totally with him for the first, what, 3 lines...  Then.. just.  wow.

Once you see the whole "Rockefeller" thing, you know some zaniness is about to ensue.  I'm surprised the Rothschilds weren't brought up, for grade A kookery the guy really needed to play the Rothschild card.

Coyote wrote:Not a Mosque but an Islamic Study Center, they are the more progressive Muslims, but do not have an Imam, yet.

A mosque does not need to have an Imam to be a mosque. All it needs to be is a place for prayers. This thing even has a minaret, which looks so awesome.

Axel wrote:

Coyote wrote:Not a Mosque but an Islamic Study Center, they are the more progressive Muslims, but do not have an Imam, yet.

A mosque does not need to have an Imam to be a mosque. All it needs to be is a place for prayers. This thing even has a minaret, which looks so awesome.

Omaha embraces multiculturalism with more gusto than the Swiss, who have outlawed minarets.

Buh... buh... Woland! Europe is so progressive and America is soo backwards! Just look at their cities! Everywhere should be like Europe.  :;):