Omaha Forums

...so I heard a rumor today that: 1) a sports bar is going in where The Dundee Grill/Wheelers/Bombadia used to be; and 2) Carl Baum Pharmacy (right across the street) is closing, and the space will be used for a full-service mexican restuarant.

Anyone heard anything?

I don't know but I hope thats not true. Most of the restaurants where Bombay(?)/Wheelers used to be never seemed to last more than a year or two but I really don't want to see some crapy sports bar go in there. Dundee needs something better than that. If people want to go to some run of the mill sports bar they can go to any Icehouse/Champs type place out in the burbs but keep it out of Dundee. I can also understand if the pharmacy needs to close because of all the competition from the Walgreens, Shopkos, etc. but still like the atmosphere of having it there. I wish something else like that would come in. I'd take that over a new Mexican restaurant anyday.

Yeah, losing Carl Baum would be a sad loss for Dundee.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1636&u_sid=1416008

More news to follow.....stay tuned for updates....

jjjjhskr wrote:http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1636&u_sid=1416008

More news to follow.....stay tuned for updates....

Here it is: http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1636&u_sid=1416437 Baum Drug is moving to Wohlners

It seems that the restaurants in that location have had ownership/chef problems. Wheelers was great. I agree that we don't need a sports bar in Dundee we need more resterauants or shops. For bars there is already the Underwood Bar and the Dell.

I don't know much about what is planned for the former Wheeler's space, but I do know a person who already has a food and beverage business in the Dundee area has wanted to open an upscale full service mexican restaurant. It's been in the development stage for a couple of years now. This would not be the usual "fill in the blank" slathered in the identical red enchilada sauce from a can. More like traditional true Mexican regional dishes. Kind of a take on what Rick Bayliss does. Maybe this person has finally found the location they wanted for the idea.

From Omaha By Design (not much new info but floorplans of the 2nd floor apartments):

http://omahabydesign.org/Civic_Omaha/HarteBlock.html

Those four apartments on the second floor would be sweet. One of the few places in town that you can walk anywhere and serve all of your daily needs.

Alan Haney, owner of the former Baum Pharmacy building is attempting to have the City Council declare the property as "Blighted" so that he can get tax incriment financing for the property. Granted I'm not expert in that area, but I don't think I would consider 50th and Underwood "Blighted"
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1636&u_sid=1474811

to borrow a few common phrases and paraphrase slightly....

Blight is in the eye of the beholder....

One man's blight is another man's tax burden.....

Wait, where are they moving?


I'm not too upset about this. In the rendering on OBD website it looks like there will be more than one store on the first floor. Move one to get two sounds fine to me.

The latest rumor: Starbucks is going into the former Carl Baum space. Anybody else heard this?

omahapropertymanager wrote:Alan Haney, owner of the former Baum Pharmacy building is attempting to have the City Council declare the property as "Blighted" so that he can get tax incriment financing for the property. Granted I'm not expert in that area, but I don't think I would consider 50th and Underwood "Blighted"

I believe he was awarded that designation, as undeserved as it is.

Wow, that's kind of scary what they're doing with the 'Baum' building. Was that originally the way it looked... if not, I guess they probably did their homework with regards to the structural integrity.

There is actually an antique/ornate metal post that is hidden behind the clock in that picture. I am guessing that it was visible when first constructed but hidden somtime after. I didn't think they were going to leave that part open in the original drawings but maybe changed their mind after seeing the post. Maybe they will still close in the post. Who knows.

TMac wrote:The latest rumor: Starbucks is going into the former Carl Baum space. Anybody else heard this?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

For bars there is already the Underwood Bar and the Dell.

and the 49er

Olde Dundee Bar and Grill

Original construction had the corner open, but not as large as seen in the 2006 photo. I suspect it will be framed in to match original design.

The Dundee Merchants associations has a final say on what goes into Dundee. Hopefully that puts some of you at ease. At least a little bit anyway.

Here are some updates to the harte building. The pics aren't that great but it shows what the building looks like at this stage of remodel. Note the corner of building has the ornate pillar exposed. Coool.

speaking of dundee, does anyone know where that plack is for the bomb that fell there?

I think it is on the north side of Underwood on the Hardware building but I could be mixed up. I doubt we would ever pull that off today. Nobody is willing to stay quiet.

Bomb?

yes dundee was bombed a long time ago

Wow, thanks for the link. Explains things pretty well.

You know - if anyone has any pull around here, there always a chance we could end up in Dundee some day. But things have to work out in the right way for it to make sense.

Supposedly based upon a non-scientific poll done by merchants and residents of the Dundee/Underwood area, most people feel a "sweets" shop or ice cream/gelateria would be a great fit

The retail portion of the drug store space will go quickly I imagine. From what I hear Alan has a tenant that is going to sign on the corner bay here shortly and there is one more interior bay available. I would guess restaurant or coffee shop will be on the corner. Both are about 1450 sq ft. bays.

I can vouch for the fact there's definitely serious discussions w/ a major coffee player in Omaha for the corner. We were supposed to take the inside bay, but at $16+ a sq. ft. in Dundee & without virtually any tenant improvements, it makes it really tought to justify that kind of rent in that area....

Just look around; everyone that has been there for years is now gone because the owners of the buildings have at least doubled their rent rates in the last couple of years. Why do you think the entire north side of Underwood past 50th is empty? Other than the radio stations, all of the other spaces sit vacant...

Sure, there's a few others up there that have lasted, but a lot of them own their buildings. The sports bar on the SE corner has been about 5 different restaurants in the last 10 or so years. Ellada's is probably going to close, which is behind the corner bay that the coffee shop is supposed to take over. Also, if a nice new coffee business goes into the Baum building, don't you think the coffee shop behind AB's 66 will be forced out?

If that's the case, then that bay would have been about 3 businesses over the last 10-15 years (Baskin Robbins, Ashby's and now the coffee place.)

I really like the potentail with that area, but as of right now, the Dundee area sits about 1/2 empty. I need something that makes sense, isn't too awfully large, and doesn't cost $20 sq ft with TI being amortized into the rent....

D

the area is already saturated with coffeeshops we dont need anymore put in a botox clinic or something

Is there any reasons for the unjustifiable high rent? It seems like there is plenty of demand for that area but none of the landlords want improve the space or lower the prices. I don't get it, they're losing more money by not doing anything for prospective tenants. I wonder how long it will take for the landlords to finally do something?

My guess is that someone has dealt out some information to somebody indicating the area is worth much more than the older tenants had been paying. However, it's not an Old Market, 72nd & Dodge or West Omaha.

Sure, IMO it's a much better destination than Benson, especially with all that's happened there over the last couple of years, but they need to be somewhat reasonable.

Let's say you wanted to open a business on 144th & W Maple. There's plenty of bays out there. Most likely, you can negotiate some tenant improvements with the owner so that you can get the space at least partially or mostly finished to move into. In Dundee, they don't want to provide anything. No floor finish, no additional separation or partition walls, no additional electrical, etc. That makes for an extremely costly move-in for any tenant. I'm no Starbucks, therefore I do not have $100,000 sitting around to plop down on someone else's building to make improvements.

Considering most often you sign a 5 year lease, the last thing you want to do is spend that kind of money on someone else's property so that they enjoy the benefits of it in the future.

D

Y'all should take a look at the Ted & Wally's thread. Hint hint

Sure in the heck beats a starbux.

So Ted & Wally's is official. What's up with the other half of that space. I had heard that Jimmy Johns was looking at it. While I love Jimmy Johns, I can't imagine they'd want to locate in a property where there's virtually no parking.

Anonymous wrote:So Ted & Wally's is official. What's up with the other half of that space. I had heard that Jimmy Johns was looking at it. While I love Jimmy Johns, I can't imagine they'd want to locate in a property where there's virtually no parking.

Theres virtually no parking in their current spot! Theyre best thing going for them is the delivery service

Terrific sandwich. Terrible service. Dangerous drive-thru situation.

Just get out of your car, Timmy.