Old Mill Area

[Brad]

Someone asked me at work today why the area around our office is called "Old Mill"?

Is there any significance or just a name applied to an area in the 70's or 80's?

[bigredmed]

Long ago, there was a grain mill there. My dad told me that my great grandfather and his brothers used to take grain there for milling from the homestead on 108th and Old Maple.

By the time my dad was a kid (80 years ago) it was already mostly long gone, but the stretch of the big Papio was still referred to as the Old Mill. The retail area took the name as it was already in long use to refer to that stretch of the big Papio.

[Brad]

Great, thanks for the answer.

[Coyote]

I saw an old postcard with a picture of the 'Old Mill' from way back, but wasn't able to secure it. They had the story attached ...

[BRoss]

I heard that when they built the TDA HQ, they found some of the old mill and we're going to do something with it. Haven't heard anything since so I'm not sure how accurate that was.

[RockHarbor]

I heard that, too. On the subject, I really hope they build more taller suburban buildings through there somehow -- like they fit Ameritrade in. Back when that area developed, it was just basically the edge of Omaha, so naturally, more low-rise office buildings went in. Now, it is the center of town, and a prime area for a true "suburban skyline" to form there, right by that 'S' curve on I-680. I want it to look like Overland Park, KS through there -- which I'm sure it never really will. High hopes here...

[MadMartin8]

Long ago, there was a grain mill there. My dad told me that my great grandfather and his brothers used to take grain there for milling from the homestead on 108th and Old Maple.

By the time my dad was a kid (80 years ago) it was already mostly long gone, but the stretch of the big Papio was still referred to as the Old Mill. The retail area took the name as it was already in long use to refer to that stretch of the big Papio.

I'll be darned, thanks for sharing that bigred, never knew that.

[Coyote]

The Old Mill neighbourhood is nestled along the thickly wooded slopes of the Humber River Valley. This is an ideal neighbourhood for families as it offers miles

It offers miles? What kind of milessential? Do you get reimbursed?

[Omaha_corn_burner]

miles of parkland with a myriad of recreational opportunities.

It's some kind of spam bot.
If you type his post into Google, several websites are returned. Feel free to delete all these posts

[Coyote]

miles of parkland with a myriad of recreational opportunities.

It's some kind of spam bot.
If you type his post into Google, several websites are returned. Feel free to delete all these posts

I know, I was just having fun with him/it.

[Brad]

Speaking of old mill, Car VS Building today at the Social Security Office.

[bigredmed1]

I was there on Friday afternoon and saw the Paul Davis sheeting up on the wall. That place must have a history of violence as they had two armed guards at the door.

[Brad]

I was there on Friday afternoon and saw the Paul Davis sheeting up on the wall. That place must have a history of violence as they had two armed guards at the door.

Its a crazy place...

Police and/or Homeland security are there almost weekly.
Fire and Rescue are there 2-3 times a month.
Homeland Security does random/routine checks of the cars in the parking lot with a dog.

a large percentage of the drivers that go there are bad/terrible drivers. There are some people in our building that purposely drive around as to avoid their park of the parking lot.

They never put up a sign saying "We are Closed in observance of (Veterans/Columbus) days" so people get there at 7:30 am, wait in line for 1.5 hours only to find out they are never going to open that day. In the past we would walk over and tell them, but then they would get mad at us. Sorry we were just trying to help. We don't work there.

They also close at noon on Wednesdays and people show up all afternoon and get upset they are closed.

[damonhynes]

I heard that when they built the TDA HQ, they found some of the old mill and we're going to do something with it. Haven't heard anything since so I'm not sure how accurate that was.

I heard that too, when I worked at AMTD and they were building the World's Largest Bar Of Irish Spring Soap. Supposedly they were going to 'incorporate' the remaining millworks into the landscape but by the time it opened, it had been forgotten about.

[NovakOmaha]

Here's an ad from when Old Mill was first being marketed. They actually had a plan but of course when push came to shove they took whatever was thrown at them. Thus the disjointed, uninteresting, blah development it has become.
Enjoy

[bigredmed1]

I heard that when they built the TDA HQ, they found some of the old mill and we're going to do something with it. Haven't heard anything since so I'm not sure how accurate that was.

I heard that too, when I worked at AMTD and they were building the World's Largest Bar Of Irish Spring Soap. Supposedly they were going to 'incorporate' the remaining millworks into the landscape but by the time it opened, it had been forgotten about.

My dad used to talk about his grandfather and uncles talking grain to the mill there. Closed a long time before the big flood in the 1960s.

[Coyote]

My dad used to talk about his grandfather and uncles talking grain to the mill there. Closed a long time before the big flood in the 1960s.

I just ran across this thread today, while searching the name of “Old Mill”…
Does anyone know any new details about the Papio Creek?

[ChadJK]

Is Old Mill Lounge still open?

[Brad]

Is Old Mill Lounge still open?

Yep, and it looks exactly the same in there.

[ita]

I don't know if anyone caught this in the Grow Omaha show a couple weeks ago with Heath Mello, but he identified the Old Mill area as the next area he would like to see become the next hot redevelopment area. I am interpreting what he said as it was not super clear, but it sounded like he had a conversation with the Mayor about turning some focus that has been so sharp on the urban core the last few years to areas like Old Mill.

[Garrett]

I don't know if anyone caught this in the Grow Omaha show a couple weeks ago with Heath Mello, but he identified the Old Mill area as the next area he would like to see become the next hot redevelopment area. I am interpreting what he said as it was not super clear, but it sounded like he had a conversation with the Mayor about turning some focus that has been so sharp on the urban core the last few years to areas like Old Mill.

It’s a very weird, piecemeal area that could be a strong neighborhood with some good planning. There are some good bones there but a lot would need to be done.

[Athomsfere]

I don't know if anyone caught this in the Grow Omaha show a couple weeks ago with Heath Mello, but he identified the Old Mill area as the next area he would like to see become the next hot redevelopment area. I am interpreting what he said as it was not super clear, but it sounded like he had a conversation with the Mayor about turning some focus that has been so sharp on the urban core the last few years to areas like Old Mill.

It’s a very weird, piecemeal area that could be a strong neighborhood with some good planning. There are some good bones there but a lot would need to be done.

What are the good bones there?

The area seems pretty devoid of any real planning to me.

[Garrett]

I don't know if anyone caught this in the Grow Omaha show a couple weeks ago with Heath Mello, but he identified the Old Mill area as the next area he would like to see become the next hot redevelopment area. I am interpreting what he said as it was not super clear, but it sounded like he had a conversation with the Mayor about turning some focus that has been so sharp on the urban core the last few years to areas like Old Mill.

It’s a very weird, piecemeal area that could be a strong neighborhood with some good planning. There are some good bones there but a lot would need to be done.

What are the good bones there?

The area seems pretty devoid of any real planning to me.

Even with all of the downsizing, it’s got a pretty strong anchor in Charles Schwab, and even as they get smaller the building itself is great and could easily attract other tenants.

It’s also the largest employment center outside of downtown. A lot of those office buildings are getting close to the end of their life cycles, particularly in a post covid office environment that’s changed office layouts generally.

Transportation wise, the road layout isn’t terrible, and it’s close enough to be able to be hooked into the transit system relatively easily. And the big Papio trail is a pretty strong bike amenity that connects the area to a lot of apartments and condos nearby. With a few touch ups it could be even better.

Yeah the big Dodge/680 interchange and the overpass are a lot of car centric infrastructure right on its doorstep, but I also think better urban choices should be made all over the city, and Old Mill is a pretty strong candidate to push the urban core of Omaha out a little bit.

Basically you could probably demolish a lot of the office buildings in phases and create a decent, more mixed-use urban neighborhood in the area, if you were serious about wanting to give it a lot of city resources. It has the ability to be blank slated relatively easily and could change very quickly if there was a decent effort given, as Mello could be implying.

[BRoss]

Even with all of the downsizing, it’s got a pretty strong anchor in Charles Schwab, and even as they get smaller the building itself is great and could easily attract other tenants

From what I've heard, there's more people there now than before the acquisition. There is no chance they would put in another tenant now that they ripped out the access controls to each floor and are now only at the building entrances.

[Garrett]

Even with all of the downsizing, it’s got a pretty strong anchor in Charles Schwab, and even as they get smaller the building itself is great and could easily attract other tenants

From what I've heard, there's more people there now than before the acquisition. There is no chance they would put in another tenant now that they ripped out the access controls to each floor and are now only at the building entrances.

Ahhh yeah, I think I maybe remember hearing something about consolidating all of their offices in the metro? Or am I misremembering the downsizing in Omaha?

[EricHaley]

As someone who once worked in Old Mill, it’s absolutely terrible traffic wise. There is only one access point. If they were to add an additional exit on the south or west side it would make a huge improvement.